Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-12-06

there is one exception. The good gen
tlemen of the days Of yore found an
deliberately carved snuff box quite in
d~ispensable. They busted the contents
from their coats with laced sleeves. ]
accept the past minus the snuff. They
had duels too, at sunrise, I believe.
That I could forgive, but not the
snuff.
I must be getting old myself, for
l began to write about Thanksgiving
Day, and my thoughts played a trick
upon me. They know my weak point.
! remember too well two years ago
today when I stayed at home from
church. There was no Thanksgiving
service to attend in the little mining
town of Aurora, Minnesota. The in
habitants were not the descendants
of the Pilgrims, or even of the same
nationality with them.
One year ago today, I attended a
Thanksgiving service in a Methodist
church in Oklahoma. The Baptist
preacher was the speaker, and chose
for his text something so remotely
far from the subject at hand, and
talked so at length on the Philistines
or the Israelites that / longed for a
simple story Of the first Thanksgiving
at Plymouth.
We are far enough away already
as a nation from any right COM
memoration of this day. This morn
ing, it was with a sincere spirit of
thankfulness that I entered the Con-
gregational church at Northampton,
where the union service was to be
held. Several t%rue-to-type New Eng
land ministers sat on the platform,
and we sang appropriate songs from
"The Pilgrim Hymnal." I waited i'm
patiently for the lovely story of the
first Thanksgiving day as celebrated
by that brave group of hearty pion-
GERS. Here, surely, I thought, they
made a point of repeating from year
to year what seems to me, the most
fascinating story in American his
tory. 1t never grows old. In it is the
element of hospitality, of friendship
with the Indians, of abundance of
the harvest time, of Thanksgiving
and good fellowship.
But the minister chose a different
text and though his speech was good,
I said over to myself the story of
that first gathering ON the "bleak
New England Shore" The west was
too far away from the scene both in
point of time and Of place, and the
East too near to it, for interest.
I heard a lecturer make a rather
interesting statement the other day in
regard to the Indians in the early
days. When they were invited for a
visit to the white people, they stayed
on and on with never a thought of
leaving until the food was all con-
So, he said, the settlers ar
ranged among themselve to accom-
modate the Indians for only a limit
ed time, supplied food for a certain
season, and when the eatable disap-
peared, the Indians did also.
Several of US were discussing
Thanksgiving the other day, an Eng
lish girl, a Massachusetts, girl and I.
The English girl wanted to know how
Thanksgiving originated. / had new
er given the subject of an interna-
tional Thanksgiving any thought be-
fore. I did not realize somehow till
then, although I might have known
it, that we are the only people who
celebrate such a season. My friend
from Massachusetts, explained the
origin of the day, and l thought it
would be an excellent thing of every
country would set apart a day for
especial national returning of thanks.
The other countries have a very diff
ferent history from ours, and would
most probably set apart a day when
they were victorious over some great
enemy in battle.
It seems to me that Thanksgiving
Day is much more important than the
Fourth Of July or any other patriotic
day. These patriotic occasions COM
memorate a stepping stone in our ma
tional life, and so does the last
Thursday in November, but this day
recalls to mind. not only the peoples