Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 282, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 November 1910 — Page 3

Cranberries for Thanksgiving

reported and cranberry growers have been so increasing their productive areas that despite the increase In demand, due to the country’s increase in population and other Influences, there continues to be year by year a pretty lavish supply of the crimson berries, and most seasons And them available at very reasonable Cranberries, like so many of the other good things of life, are distinctively American delicacies. To be sure, cranberries grow wild in some other quarters of the globe—for Instance In Europe, but It is only in- the United States that they have been cultivated as an article of food. Even here the growing of cranberries is confined largely to three states —Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin. How important an industry it Is may be surmised, however,

Origin of Thanksgiving Festivities By SAMUEL WILLIAMS

HE autumn of 1621 f fggipjk \ waned on a prosperous | community. Plymouth, w;; z / Ma 3 3 • • was both healthy and wealthy. Sickness, though it had ; ' destroyed one-half the company of pilgrims, had ceased, and the

crops, as a whole, had been good, the peas alone falling. All the houses in the settlement had been put into condition and a goodly stock of furs and prepared lumber had been made ready for export to England by the next ship. The waters swarriffid with fish and sea fowl were abundant. The call of the’ wild turkey was heard in the woods and the patter of the fleeting deer was nothing strange. The summer was past; the harvest ended. The pilgrims decided upon a period of recreation. The governor sent out four huntsmen, who in one day secured game to last the colony a week. Hospitality was extended to Msssksoit, of the neighboring settlement, who brought 90 people with him. The guests remained 30 days. The company engaged in rounds of amusements, in which military drills and religious services formed a part. Thus, heartily and loyally,'was Inaugurated the great New England festival of Thanksgiving. For two centuries it has continued to be observed, at first mostly In the eastern states, but it has now become national, its annual return finding a welcome from boundary to boundary, both at top and bottom and either extremity of the nation. Thanksgiving day is peculiarly an American custom, though tjiere are some writers who claim that it la not possible to determine the date of the first John A. Goodwin, In his historical review, "The Pilgrim Republic,” is positive, however, that the first celebration occurred in the fall of 1621, this being followed in 1623 by the first Thanksgiving proclamation, by the governor of Massachusetts. ku 1630 there arrived at Plymouth 1< vessels, bringing with them 880 colonists, making the number nearly 1,200 Instead of a mere 300. On July 8, 1630, another Thanksgiving W|B held in acknowledgment for this BO cession to the ranks of the colonutß. The Dutch governors of the New

from the fact that the Cape Cod district in Massachusetts, the greatest cranberry region on the globe, sends to market as many as one-third of a million barrels of cranberries in a single season. The average person is wont to term all berry areas “patches,” but cranberries do not grow in patches but in bogs and. as may be sur-

Netherlands also appointed different dates for public thanksgiving, from time to time, and In some historical Works there Is record of a dispute as to which of these colonies deserved the credit for having first Inaugurated the day. Most of the best founded historians, however, give the credit to the New England states. The Dutch governors of New Netherlands appointed occasional days of thanksgiving In 1644, 1645, 1655 and 1C64, and the English governors followed their example in 1755 and 1760, and the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States In Its prayer book, ratified in 1789, recommends for 'Thanksgiving day the first Thursday in November, unless some other day be appointed by the civil authorities. There were also occasional recommendations by other religious bodies, but no regular annual recommendation by the governor erf 1 New York before 1817. The struggle' of the colonies for independence marks the beginning of

By SAMUEL WILLIAMS

general observances of days of thanksgiving in this country. The congress of 1777, the one which prepared the articles of confederation for adoption by the colonies, adopted a resolution setting apart ihe eighteenth day of December, 1777?. to be observed as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise throughout the United States. Washington, during his administration, issued two thanksgiving proclamations, one in 1789 and the other in 1795, just after the suppression of the “Whisky rebellion,” which bad threatened the peace of the country, and President Madison issued one upon the declaration of peace in 1815. However, tn the early years of the nation the rule was for the colonial custom to be followed and the proclamation made emanated from the governors. The western states, largely people from New England or New York, early followed the lead of these portions of the country. As we have seen, the annual recommend*

years, however, has witnessed a revolution. Now almost all cranberries are picked by the aid of machines, and because It is tiresome work manipulating these machines It has come About that most of the women and children have been forced out of the industry and the task is largely In the hands of men, the more skillful of whom receive from $3 to $5 per day. The picking machine most extensively used has the appearance of a huge wooden scoop, the bottom of which Is made up of a row of metal bars, tipped with sharp prongs and set close together. In operation this scoop is shoved with some considerable force Into the tangle of cranberry vines and their Is drawn upward and backward with the result that the vines which have been caught slip between the metal bars but leave the berries, which are too large to pass through the openings, as do the vines, and In consequence are stripped from

od, much as raspberries o r strawberries are picked, and most Of the cranberry picking was done by women and children. The “Cranberry King” used to hire as many as 1,100 pickers on his great bogs on Cape Cod and the pickers, many of whom journeyed long distances, “camped out” on the bogs during the picking season. The past few

tlon by the governors of New York began in 1817. From that time the observance gradually crept southward and westward, and in 1885 Governor Johnson of Virginia adopted it, and though In 1857 Governor Wise of Virginia declined to make the proclamation on the ground that he was unauthorized to Interfere In religious matters, in 1858 a Thanksgiving day was proclaimed in eight of the southern states.

Decorative Conceits and Favors For the Thanksgiving Festivities

The pious, hard-driven, worn-out, but thankful Puritans who sat down at their tables one November, a few centuries ago, and made the first Thanksgiving Day, never knew to what lengths they were to drive the ingenuity of their poor descendants. But it wasn’t their fault after all, that the preparer of the Thanksgiving feast today has to attend just as much to the turkey’s surroundings as to the turkey Itself. It was good enough for them to have, a well-stocked larder from which could come the turkey, the celery, the pumpkin pie, the cranberries and all the other goodies which history puts down to their credit. Even the comparatively recent New Englanders were content with all these as long as they Ipoked tempting and tasted good. But today, even the important fowl Itself is hardly more Important than the ribbons,-tie candles, the favors, the adornments of all kinds, which must appear on the Thanksgiving table. “Don’t bother about having too much to eat," an up-to-date daughter was heard to say to her New England mother the other day. “I want plenty of room for the ribbons and the candy boxes.” It’s the same way with other daughters of an esthetic turn of mind, rather than a practical one, and it looks as if their ambitions to "make things look pretty” may be realized this year, for there is a goodly array of Thanksgiving favors and table decorations of all kinds. / ' Of course the turkey reigns supreme, even if it is in paper, and is seen in all sizes, all kinds, roasted to a beautiful dark brown as the cookbook says, or standing Important and majestic with Its big fan-shaped feather tall high In the air. In most cases the favor turkey Is meant for candy, but certain new china turkeys are mustard cups. The pumpkin Is next in importance and Is seen In many of the novelties. There are large paper pumpkins for centerpieces and all \ sorts of small

their stems and remain tn the scoop, whence they are transferred to the tray which each picker has close at hand. An expert picker with a machine will do the work of from half a dozen to a dozen hand pickers. The cranberries as picked on the bogs are placed in huge wooden boxes and transferred to a nearby frame building, where they are passed through a machine known as a “separator,” which takes out all the leaves, twigs and other foreign matter. Then they are sorted for the elimination of any bad or worm-eatep berries and finally are placed In barrels, which are hauled away to railroad yards to be loaded into cars to the tune of from 220_jp 240 barrels to the car, refrigerator cars being used exclusively. Up to the present time cranberries have oeen sold In bulk, but this year sees an Innovation in the appearance of evaporated cranberries, for which are claimed all the advantages of evaporated peaches or apples, and In the introduction of cranberries put up in pasteboard cartons. Bearing cranberry bogs of the most desirable kind cost from S6OO to $1,200 per acre, but in a bumper year a grower may get his money back the first year, and during the worst year the Industry has known in a decade most of the growers made from 10 to 15 per cent, on their Investment, and that, too, in spite of the fact that cranberries were so plentiful that they brought only $2 a barrel, whereas $5 to $7 a barrel is accounted an average price, and there have been years when a famine of cranberries sent the price up to $lO per barrel.

The day had thus naturally grown to be a national institution of almost universal observance, when the Civil war brought to sudden ripeness this along with many other tendencies, and President Lincoln put upon it the seal of his official proclamation. President Lincoln’s first proclamation was In 1862, on account of the first important victory of the national arms. He issued a similar recommendation in 1863.

ones in papier mache or tissue paper which are candy boxes. Fruits and vegetables of all kinds seem td be suggestive of the season of feasting, and many good imitations are found among the candy box collections. Goblinesque little men are made of paper fruits and fixed up to have a very grotesque appearance, and funny little figures are made, of peanuts, and mounted on cards. Nuts are tied up in ribbons and are found to be prizepackages for the receiver, for In them are neatly packed little stick-pins, whistles, etc., all carefully concealed within the paper shells. The place cards allow of a great many new designs, and an especially new feature among these is some small mirrors. The chrysanthemum is the leading flower among the paper bowers; and those in yellow or orange seem to be the most desired shades. Other Imitations which are especially “life-like” are the painted piece of the pumpkin pie, the tin of Boston baked beans, the plum pudding and the ear of corn.

LENT INSPIRATION.

“I am gratified,” said the first prominent citizen, “to observe the undercurrent of joy in the Thanksgiving of the governor. Hitherto the proclamations h%ve been along the old cut and dried, stilted forms, but in this instance there is a certain tone of joyousness, of thankfulness, of pure gratefulness that is really inspiring." “Yes,” agrees the second prominent citizen, “but it’s no wonder the governor felt good when he wrote that proclamation.” “No. He has started on what seems destined to be a good administration, already there is talk of promoting him to some higher office in the gift of the peo ” "And besides,” interrupts the second man, “the governor owns one of the largest turkey farms In the state.

Omi innKwl £3 Jby WILBURN TT TN ■ { Bb i Well-uh, Mistah White Man, I see you* flyln* roun*! To’ dess so high-en-mighty dat -yo’ stay on de groun’, En you' scootin’ lak a eagle bird en’ sailin' thoo de clouds En wavin’ han’s p'omlskus ter de ‘plaudln’ o’ de crowds— But walkin’s gbod en I got mah feetEn de bye-en-bye am mighty sweet But I dess ’leave waft Fer de Golden Gate En I ain’t gwlne fly ter de jedgment seat! Umph-uh! Mistah White Man, yo’ lookin’ mighty peart A-floatln’ en a-flyln’ whilst de folks below Is flkeert. O’ yo’ does It mighty easy en you’ doea it mighty slick Lak a devil’s dhhnin’-needle dat am flyin’ down de crick— But walkin’s good en de road am dry, an today suits me mo’ dan bye-en-bye! En I ’spec’s ter go Ter de Golden Do’. But hit’s afteh dat I Is gwlne ter fly. Lawdy! Mlsteh White Man, I watch yo’ rlz En see you’ cut you’ capehs whilst de big p’Opellehs whizz. But hit mek mah haid git dizzy when yo* twist en tu’n en plunge— En de mo’nehs aln’ gwlne c’lec’ me wld no whiskbroom en a sponge! Oh, de walkin’s good en I guess I know Whah I’s movin’ to es I does move slow — Yo’ kin take de alh Ter de Golden Stalh But I 'loW I’ll walk when hit’s time ter go!

What's the Use?

We observe our friend seated in a gloomy corner, chewing an unlighted cigar and mumbling to himself. We ask him If the world is going wrong with him. “It is," he growls. “Say, do you remember last week I said I was going to lick that editor for printing that stuff about me?" "Yes." “I had a right to whip him, because what he printed was not true.” “So you said at the time. Did you thrash him?” “I did. I went to his office and eternally lammed him.” “Well, you ought to be satisfied. You have avenged yourself.” “I have? This week his paper comes out with a long story about how he whipped me, made me acknowledge the other story was true, made me apologize, apd then chased me until I hid under a box car in the railway yards.”

Ooh!

"Papa,” asks little Percy, ‘“what is a safety match?” Mr. Penhecker looks carefully about to see if his wife is within hearing distance, then takes little Percy on his knee and whispers softly in bis ear: “A safety match, son, is when a bald-headed man marries an armless woman.”

The Scale.

A “carte du jour,’ you know, is where The prices soar up in the' air. A "menu’ is where you may hope To find them with a telescope. A bill of fare Is where you get Meals without being held for debt A table d’hot6—but. then, O pshaw! Tie best to live with pa and ma.

The Brute.

“Yes,” sighed Miss Leadem. "this divan is an heirloom In our family. There is a legend that every girl for ten generations has been proposed to while she sat upon It” The seemingly obtuse youth gated at her dreamily and commented: “Is that so?” Odd, isn’t It how these old families persist in clinging to their banshees .and feuds and other hoodoos?"