1 m m n CDanKsgiving ;i...vii. K NEWELL D WIGHT HILLIS, ' , Wir Plymmth Clmrtk-i Now that 282 year have passed, Thanksgiving has become our first American holiday. It Is essentially the feast of. the family. It celebrates the home and sings the fireside joys. The day really celebrates a deliver ance from danger. The summer of 1623 was unfriendly and the har vests failed. The Indian hunters re treated Into the forest, food and game were scarce, and with terror the Pilgrim fathers looked forward to the winter and possible starvation and death. In their hour of extrem ity the minister announced that on the last Thursday of November there would be a day of fasting and prayer on which they would commend them selves and their enterprise unto God. But scarcely had they reached the cabin where the service was to be held than the smtlncl shouted the announcement that a ship with weather-beaten sails and blackened sides was entering the harbor. The good ship brought food against "the winter, seed against the spring, friends and helpers against the ene my. Delirious with Joy, the Pil grims came together a second time for thanksgiving, and so this day was born this day celebrating the festi val of the family. Ours is the only nation in the world that by a happy holiday glorifies tho home as the first of America's Institutions. If other years have furnished grounds for gratitude, this year gives them by way of pre-eminence. Let us be thankful For four bins stretching, across the continent from ocean to ocean filled with wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, timothy, lover, alfalfa, . cotton sheaves ripened for the hunger of herd and flock, and above all, food for man. For one bin stretching three thou sand milts long ailed with barrels of apples, Jonathan and Spltzenberg and golden pippin; with pear and plum and. peach, with grapes and nuts, with all tho preserved richness of raspberry and strawberry, and the ruddy vegetables potato and beet, carrot, celery and turnip; the pump kin and the squash. For abundant -alns, that Uave filled the livers, ted the water springs and reservoirs, and rejoiced the cat tle upon a thousand hills. For the comforts and conveniences for the home and fireside that have brought universal happiness to cot tage and hamlet and mansion. For the match, that bus brought iiplllig the fire of Prometneus down from heaven and given warmth for cold and comfort for distress. For stoves and coal. Instead of the house blackened with soot, and a meal cooked with freshly cut chips from the tree. For the cable, that has brought foreign capitals near, anchoring Lon don Just outside Sandy Hook, and making Bombay the second turn on the left. Just around the corner. For these steel tracks, that have SVC ,; '': -ti,i brought us fruits from the sunny South, furs from the frozen North, with rice and sugar and coal, and made the people of the tnow and the winter to enjoy the fruits of the tropica. For the reaper, Instead of the sic kle, furnishing bread to the world. For the looms, that enable one man In one year to clothe a thousand mn against the rains of summer and tie snows of winter. For the trip hammer, that has mul tiplied the stroke of man's arm; and ft THANKSGIVING DAY. r v . w, 1 ' JL 1 1 ;-A;V-y the locomotive, that has lengthened the stride of his foot; and the tools, that have hastened the movement of his fingers. For the spectroscope, that has made us at home In foreign planets. For the telephone, that has halved man's labor and fcroueht distant ac nual. tances near. For the Increasing interest In fine arts. For the X-ray, that has made the body transparent to surgeons and physicians. For anaesthetics, that nave less- eued pain, robbed surgery of Its ter- rorB and relieved sufferers of their agon?. I For photography, that preserves for u". the faces of our departed dead. For the lessening of class hatred , and the return of the spirit of (rood will. For the announcement that never have there ueen so few children working In store and shop, or so large a proportion in the school room. For the fact that all the paths that lead to office and honor and wealth are now open to all poor boys. That to the four desirable voca tions called the profeslons have now been added forty more that offer splendid prizes to young men who are fitted tor the task. For the lessening of drunkenness ta our couutry. For the new enthusiasm In mu nicipal reform. For the enormous gifts this year poured out for college, library and church and social refoi m. For the strengthening of the home an oi tne family ties, and the ln creasing movement against easy di vorce. -for the Increasing honor and dig nity that attaches to the Republic. For the press, sowing the whole land with the good seed of wisdom and knowledge; for books and mag azines, thp.t have exalted the imagin ation while they have Inspired the Intellect. For the return of the tides of faith In the church and the decline of Infidelity. For the fwt that the whole trend Is up grade instead of . down grade; that the gains are universal and im measurable. Never -,vere the reasons , for Thanksgiving so many or so weighty. Our people are justified In looking forward to a golden era, when all young hearts shall be turned toward school and church, when all feet will :f V 2k. --.jpyiJ sum be s-ndallod lor a long upward march along the paths of happiness and peace. Thankful to-day for barns overflowing with grain, for stores overflowing with goods, for stuffed shocks and shelves, for homes over flowing with happiness, on which God'r holiest sunlight falls; thankful for laws that are Juat, for liberty that is universal, for new and lustroui forms of beauty and of truth, let uf be chieny thankful for God's un speakable gift in tho Christ, who brought immortality to light and From the Youth's Companion. who, having redeemed the world tronj sin and vice, goes on to plant a great, sweet hope within the heart and points all those who on Thanksgiving Day front an empty chair' point them, I say, upward, where there are other r'&nsions and the Father's House, and where, on a new Thanks giving Day, the Tauilly circle shall be reunited amidst scenes of unwonted Joy. New York World. The Home Festival. Thanksgiving Day la one of those home festivals whoso popularity will never wane while American women love their homes. It la the great family festival of the year. It boars no resemblance to the Harvest Home festivals of England, which were cel ebrated with rout and riot and In public places. While Thanksgiving Day Is recognized and appointed by publis proclamation, it is In no sense a public day. It Is never celebrated by public processions like the Fourth of July. There is nothing to break the Sabbath-like peace of the day except the occasional parties of juve nile mummers in some cities. HAHK'5INrH!NNtftv-r Celery Rchll Pach?5 CVntj Crape Jelly Cheynur JrujiTJ. Giblef Crav Cranberry 5aucf. Mojhcd forato, huhbard Jnuoy, Crofom Onionj. Juccotn t CflbbflS? Salad Crockerj cindjiheef Pumpkin Pte Mince Lsfe Outrernur Ice (nm Home ri'idf Condie kAppfej. Nutj CoJee r FIKK AND TIIK WINDOW POl-.fi. How Sun Fninrlsro Miftlit Have Avoided Mont of Hit Loss. Ssvonly-three per cent, of all the dunmge done by fire to buildings other than that In which It originates l attributable to the window route, writes Commissioner FlUpatrlck. In Insurance Engineering. More than that, forty-eight per cent, of the en tire fire loss of the country In nor mal years Is traceable to lack of window protection. In extraordinary conflagrations the percentage increases at a frightful ratio. It Is fairly established, for Instance, that at San Francisco Are actually originated at eleven different points In comparatively Insignificant buildings. Had the windows In adjacent build ings been protected those eleven fires would .have been confined to those eleven buildings; and the value of those eleven buildings was certainly not more than $100,000. The folly of unprotected windows has therefore cost San Francisco more than 11,000 buildings Instead of the original eleven, and something like $1,500,000,000 of property and business loss! Had the windows of the big so-called fireproof buildings been protected, at a cost of poHslbly $60,000, the contents of those build ings would be intact to-day, and Just that one item means nearly $9,000, 000 lost. Many protections have been de vised and tested; many of them work well, but In most of them, particu larly where anything automatic Is depended upon, there Is liable to be a slipup at the wrong moment. Of course almost anything Is better than nothing. Iron or other metallic shut ters are, at least, fire retardants, though they ultimately bulge and warp and twist and frequently yield to the persistency of fire. The one thing that stand pre-eminently above everything else, con sidered from every point of view, appearance, certainty of protection, availability and everything else, la wircglass. Where even the glass melts it is still held In place by the wire and bars the passage of flame. I know of but one case where It failed. The victim made a great hul labaloo about It and I was rather surprised to hear his story, t'pon In vestigation I did find the wireglass neatly rolled up lying on the window sill. The Intelligent fellow hud used wiregluss, but had fastened It In wood sash! To sum up, put mo down ns a stanch believer in wlreglass In metal lic or asbestos sash for ordinary win dow protection, and where the dan ger Is great double glazed sush and wlreglass. Wages of ltiiHKlnii Furni LuboriT.s. The extreme poverty and the low standard of living of peasants from whom the agricultural laborers are recruited assure a low level of wages for agricultural labor. The average wages will appear almost incredibly low from an American point of view, notwithstanding the general com plaints of the estate holders concern ing the unreasonable demands of the laborers. According to an ofllclal Investiga tion embracing the decade of 1882 1891, the averago annual wages for a male agricultural winker in Russia were less thun $32 and for a female worker less than $18. To this must be added tho cost of subsistence, which Is equally low, being on an av erage $24 for a male and $22 for a female worker for a whole year; so 'that the average cost of employing a laborer for the entire year Is equal to only $55 for the male and $40 for the female. The wages for tho summer season of five months are almost equal to the annual wages, being $22 for tho male and $13 for the female laborer. Bureau of Statistics Bulletin. Tlio Tobacco Factories. While no doubt in ninny of the fac tories tho conditions of cleanliness and health of the employes are all that could bo desired, it is certain that there is an urgent need for re form in this field. A majority of the male population are tobacco users, and should bo safeguarded not only by regulations forbidding the sale of scrap tobacco under the present con ditions, but also providing for the su pervision of tho health of the tobac co workers and controlling the sun-, itation of the workrooms. In the eye of the law tho tobacco user should be regarded as deserving of as much protection as the consumer of food stuffs; and since it is certain that vast quantities of tobacco will always be consumed, it is the part of the authorities to sue to It thut whatever detriment to houlth attends its use is not added to by improper conditions of manufacture. Medical Record. Di'purtmc uUil Style. In one of the lesser Indian cltie; the clerk In charge of tho ofllclal doc uments Is a Hindu with a peculiar knowledge of English. As rats did much damage to his papers he obtained permission to keep two cats, the larger of them receiving rather bettor rations. A few weeks later the head office at Calcutta received this dispatch: ,-I have the honor to Inform you that tho senior cut Is absont without leave. What shall I do?" To this telegram there was vouch safed no answer. After walling a few days the Hindu sent off a propo sal: "lu ro absentee cat. I propose to promoto the Junior cat, and in tho meantime to ttke lnlo Government servico a probationer cat on full ra tions." Tld 15IU. The Air llimto. . But wo overlook tho air. As a rneuus of communication . botwoeu men wo havo soon some beginnings made. But uii au avenue by which they may puhs from one part of the world to another and come Into ac tual, tangible contact with their fel low men havo hardly begun to ex plore It And If from ono part of this world to another, why not from this' world iisoif to other world? Now York American. LADIES IN WAITING. Attending Upon Royalty is Nol Without Its Drawbacks.'.'.'.'.'.' There are two qualifications with out which no woman need hope to become a lady in waiting, writes one who has herself attended upon roy alty. The first Is to make herself agreeable at all times, both to her employer and to the royal household. The second qualification, the pos session of strong legs, may appear an any matter at first sight, but, accord ing to this confession In the Ladles' Realm, when carried Into practice It Is very trying. The woman who has been accustomed to seat herBelt whenever she feels tired of standing Is apt to become nervous and ntralned when she knows that she may not, except under the plea of ill ness, seat herself for at least a cou ple of hours to come. When royalty braces her muscles subjects must not dream of relaxing theirs. Some women can stand; there are others who cannot. Among the for mer Is Queen Alexandra. At the giv ing away of war medals two years ago she was observed and timed by an onlooker. Without showing the faintest signs of fatigue she stood, with practically no change of position, for two hours and twenty-flve minutes. Though Her Majesty now sits during a por tion of the time a court is being held the ladles In waiting remain standing, and this function lasts at least two hours. The writer once asked a lady of the bedchamber who was never ro bust how she had managed the stand ing during the late Queen's drawing rooms. Queen Victoria in her latter years always used a small chair, which supported her, yet was practi cally invisible to those who passed before her. The lady of the bed chamber's reply was: "Old and roomy slippers. I al ways kept an old pair, two sizes too large, which did duty year after year, and were useless for anything else." While on duty the lady in waiting has to be always with her mistress, unless the latter desires to be alone, which Is very rare. Royalties are apt to feel dull when left to the monot ony of their own thoughts and get accustomed to constant companion ship. She must not leave the precincts of the palace, as at any moment Bhe may be summoned. Yet that summon? may not come for many hours nay, many days. If the court happens to be sojourning in the country. There is no possibility of mapping out her day and settling to her own occupations, and no matter what the news may be from home, no matter how alarming or saddening, she must never appear ruffled or unhappy in the royal presence. It Is treason to disturb the equanimity of queen oi princess. There are a variety of duties whlcb fall to the lot of the lady in waiting There ara many letters to be an swered, sometimes of a begging char acter, or sometimes accepting or re jecting appeals to opeu hospital wards, lay foundation stones, to oper bazaars and charity fetes. Sometimes the royal lady doslrei to offer u visit to one of her subjects, or to accept their invitation to honor them with her presence. In such cases the lady In waiting has to writ to the intended hostess, stating an little desires for her comfort and happiness her royal highness if known to possess, the names of cer tain friends whom she desires to meet, which are added to tho list o) guests submitted for tho royal appro val. Queen Victoria often disliked flrer in her bedroom, and In warm weath er had blocks of ico placed In hei apartments. All such little personal fancies must be stated by tho lady lr waiting to tho hostess, that life may, for the time being, bo made as agree' ublo as possible to so honored a guest Sometimes the lady In waiting hai to do some shopping of too delicate ( nature to be intrusted to ono of lessei standing; sometimes thore are pri vate charities to be inquired into. Then there Is frequently the dress ing of the stall which her hlghnesj has signified her intention to sell at, and tho remaining on after the roya' patroness hns left, to see that all th goods are disposed of and the profit safely transferred to the propel quarter. She must also finish ,, articles of needlework which her mis tress has begun and tired of She must bo able to play, If not sing, and be competent to touch up any paint ing or drawing, possibly half executo both, abandoned by hei employer Many royal ladies are inveterate and unwearying sightseers. Some are confirmed burnorsof the midnight oil. They keep their attendants with them till the early hours of tho morn ing, either playing cards, listening to music, or plying the needle, but no fatiguo must bo exhibited. Dress forms an important part In the llfo of the lady In waiting. She must bo provided against all emer gencies. Mourning she must always have ready to don at any moment. She requires a couple of court trains, which can be worn over different dresses. Some ladles in waiting, like their private sisters, borrow . court rain from a friend. The writer once possessed a court train that passed through eight different hands n two years; it attended nearly every draw lng room during that period The pay Is small, but with a strict regard to economy it covers personal expenses, it 0 tt Borvl)e morally considered. Still, after the glamor and gloss of court life has worn off the groan of slavery is sue! coeded by a hugging of the chains There is a morbid taste in the whole matter-a 8iamor whch ,B thralls at first, satiates later b t Mh',C,h V1 Cme8 10 b0 h 'p" binding tie which can be forged. Asylum Inmates Start a Newspaper. J he Inmates of tho new lnsan- asylum at Maueroellng, Austria, tit largest madhouse In the world 'hai started a newspaper. The first num ber proudly declares that it lu nh. llaked "by the mad for the mud." iNeveriueiess the contents arc aston ishingly sane. WILD UK KM 12 AS DKCOVS. Knnsnti's Hchenio to Attratt the Flocks Tlmt Vns Over -Hit Place. Dick and William Frakes, living at Rushvllle, have thirty-five tame wild geesn which they use as decoys In hunting. Twenty of these geese they bought up North when tho birds were young, paying $7 a pair. They crip pled thirteen of the others and raised two;-one old wild goose "set" and hatched out five goslings, but three of them died. All tho geese are clipped that Is, their wings are cut off at the first Joint. Wild geese frequently hear the Frakes geese and light In the Frakes' yard. One night Dick Frakes heard wild geese flying around his house, in answer to the calls of his trained decoys. He went to the door in hi night clothes and killed five. On an other occasion a lot of wild geese lit in the yard with his decoys. He hastily rigged up a fish net, drove them all Into it aad captured three wild ones. The Frakes boys make a specialty of hunting wild geese and like the sport. They take ten of their decoys to the river, tie them on a sandbar, and then wait In a blind until the wild geese appear. As soon as wild geese appear the docoys set up a great cry, and the wild geese always sail around. In April, three years ago, Dick and Mace Frakes killed seventeen geese In one day .eighteen the next and thir teen the next. That was the best record they ever made. In addition to the thirty-five decoys owned by Dick and William Frakes, Mrs. Mace Frakes owns twenty-eight, and one of her old ones set and hatched out six goslings, all of which lived. Atchison Qlobe. Newspapers Vs. Dodgers. A new and interesting objection to an ordinance forbidding the distribu tion of dodgers In the streets comes from Poughkeepsie. A shopkeeper there, arrested for violating such a law, contended that it is unconstitu tional, Inasmuch as It tends to create a trust among the newspapers. This was the shopkeeper's argument: In order to mako money a mer chant must advertise. Two courses are open to him; either he must use newspapers or he must distribute printed matter directly among con sumers of his wares. Of theso meth ods newspaper advertising Is the more expensive, and an ordinance forbidding the distribution of hand- blllB and thereby virtually driving advertisers into the newspapers la nothing more nor less thun a help to a crushing monopoly. ' That this ingenious view would be sustained by any judge in whom dry studies had not extinguished a sense of humor Is doubtful. If the conten tion of the Poughkeepsie shopkeeper were gravely advanced In court the reply would doubtless be that the or dinance prohibiting the scattering of dodgers in the street is an entirely proper exercise of police power. But all legal technicalities aside It Is surprising to hear any man, with intelligence enough to run a store, assert that newspaper advertising costs more than handbill advertising. A newspaper is not shoved upon the reader's attention against hia will. He buys it knowing that much of its space is given over to advertisements. Whether they appear In position alongside of reading matter or are arranged on pages by themselves they are certain not to be overlooked. In fact, readers, women especially, search for them. Was anybody ever known to seek out a distributor of handbills? Is not a dodger poked Into a citizen's band, tossed over his fence or pushed under his front door always and everywhere a nuisunce? And being regarded as a nuisance, can it bo a desirable form of advertisement? Finally, merchants whose adver tising appropriation would pay all the running expenses of a town like Poughkeepsie spend their money in newspapers and would no more think of circulating dodgers than of mak ing themselves known by means of sandwich men and megaphones. And these merchants scrutinize every item of expenditure as closely as any country storekeeper does.. Would they stick to the newspapers If they could find a cheapermedlum? The Fourth Estate. AVhut We Owe to Insects. Professor Darwin said that if it had not been for insects we should never have had any more Imposing or attractive flowers than those of the elm, the hop and the nettle. Lord Avobtiry compares tho work of the Insect to that of the florist. He con siders that Just as the florist has by selection produced the elegant blos soms of the garden, so the Insects, by selecting the largest and brightest blossoms for fertilization, have pro duced the gay flowers of tho field. Professor Plateau, of Ghent, has car ried out a series of remarkable ex periments on the ways of insects vis iting flowers. He considers that they are guided by scent rather than by color, and In tbls connection he is at variance with certain British natural ists. Whatever may be the attrac tion In flowers to insects as yet It appears undefined it Is certain that the latter visit freely all blossoms alike, making no distinction between the large, bright colored ones and the less conspicuous bloom, like those of the currants, the lime, the planetree, the nettle and tho willow. Dundee Advertiser. Only Too Well Satisfied. The husband who is alwaya growl ing over everything from his meals to his laundry looked up from his paper and remarked sulkily; "Madam, 1 see where a Chicago man went from houig, remained thirty years and then returned and gave his wife $5000. It you don't do better you may find me doing the same trick some day." Tho patient little wife looked up from her sewing and replied sweet ly; "AU right, James, but If you will only remain away thirty years you ' needn't troublo yourself about the $5000." And after that he stopped growling. Chicago Daily News. IV, How He Iroposou. They dined all alone t 8.8. On oysters they dined and 8 8 And he naked Ilia dear K8 To tell him hia ft When they 8 t8 t8 at 8 8. Houston Tost. The Office Hoy's Kxcuse. "How Is It you get back so lata from your grandmother's funeralt" "It was a ten-lnnlng game?" Neir York Press." A Difference. "She's awfully skinny, isn't she? "I should say not! She's wlllowfj that girl's dad haa got money." Houston Post. Provocation. Mrs. Knlckor "Does your hus band say things behind your back?" Mrs. Bocker "Only when he but tons my waist." New York Sun. Itrouglit to Hook. Green "What's become of that fine library you used to have?" Brown "Disposed of it. Circum stances alter book-caBes, you know." Boston Transcript. Not In His I. Inc. Lawyer "You should learn short hand and typewriting, Billy." The Office Boy "Aw g'wan! I never cared fer flowers an' candy!" Puck. Swells. She (sentimentally) "How like life are the waves of the sea!" Ho "You bet. Coine to the shore in great style and go away broke." Detroit News. Danger No Name For It. "So you think yachting a danger ous game?" "Dreadfully so. Why, no less than five of our commodores have died of delirium tremens." Life. Rnd to Contemplate, She "He married her for her money. Wasn't that awful?" He "Did he get it?" She "No." He "It was." Judge. Letter of Stress. Knickor "Is the T in golf si lent?" Bocker "No, on the contrary, there are a great many of them sounded." New York Sun. The Divisions. Knlcker "The world is divided into two classes." Bocker "Yes; thoso who trace their descent to William the Con queror or drink." New York Sun. Ineffectual. "Why don't you try the faith cure for the discomforts of warm weath er?" "I have tried it. The thermometer doesn't pay tho slightest attention to It." Washington Star. Accounting For It. "It's bad enough for you to come homo intodcatcd," said Mrs. Lusch man, "but why so late?" "Well, you shee, m" dear, my frlen's foolishly shent me home by meshenger boy." Philadelphia Ledger. Kffect on the Appetite. "George," asked Mrs. Ferguson, "did you read what tho morning pa per said this morning about " "No," interrupted Mr. Ferguson, "and I don't want to read it till after I've had my breakfast." Chicago Tribune. Not the Same Gag. "Yes." admitted the returned va cationist, "the days were hot, but the nights " "Were cool, eh? Same old gag." "I was about to romark that the nights were even' hotter than the days." Louisville Courier-Journal. His Trouble. "Your friend Lamb doesn't look well at all. What's the matter with blm? Dyspepsia?" "Well, you might call it 'financial dyspepsia.' I believe he went la tor pork on Wall street and took too much." Philadelphia Press. Not Scientific. "George, dear, what is the sclen Ufic name for tho mosquito?" "I don't know." "Why, what did I hear you calling It the other evening?" "Eh! That was something that won't bear repeating." Cleveland Plain Dealer. Two Qualities. Gclsomlul was ucarchtng for a wife and Bald to hia friend Harbetta that he wanted one rich and stupid. "And Why?" "Because It bhe Is not rich, I will not marry her, and if she la not stu pid sho will not marry mo." II Mot io per Rldere. Already Invented. "I soo thoy'vo Invented another au tomatic muchlne that takes the place of a man," remaiked Mlus Pappory. "But they'll never Invent a machine thnt could take tha placo of a wo man." "Oh, I don't know," replied Knox, "there's tho phonograph. " Philadel phia Press. The ('otiuiiumliiii'iit He Knew. The rich hostess, ou tho lawn of her beautiful farm,' 'was cathechiulng the Uttlo country weekers from the slums. "And now," sho said, "who knows tne shortest commandment?" "I do," piped a lad In woedcn-sole.l shoes. "Repeat It, ploaso." "Koep off tho rnu'!" shouted tie urchin confidently.- Noi York Pr- v.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers