Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 277, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1917 — Page 2

What the American Thanksguving Day Means to Suffering Europe

Oar army in France wM celebrate the occasion fittingly and tell their French comrades its significance at This "Yankee Feast Day" will be adopted by nations oar great Red f Cross organisation is helping to fight starvation, disease and exposure at

H RANCE is adding a new feast day to her calendar —Thanksgiving Day. All along the line behind the battle front where the French and British are hammering back the invading Germans, and General Pershing's boys are beginning to “go to it;” all up and down their lines of communication; at all their training camps; at their naval bases and depots; wherever there are Americans in uniform—there Uncle Sam’s boys will be eating turkey and cranberry sauce, and listening to sermons by their chaplains on the last Thursday of November this year. France has never before been In close touch with this, the most characteristically American of all our holidays. Of course their ©hristmas, their Easter, their New Year’s Day, and their various church festivals, correspond to our own. They have an adequate Understanding even of our Fourth of July, for it is close akin to their own Fourteenth of July, the anniversary of the fall of the Bastile and the dawn of real liberty in France. But Thanksgiving Day has always been Uncle Sam’s own private and personal feast day, in which nobody else had a part. It had its origin in no great International, nor even national, event. At first it was not really American in scope, but was confined to the few hundreds of religious enthusiasts who fixed a day of public devotion and | thanksgiving for deliverance from Indians and cold and hunger. Even the materials for the feast were indigenous to America. Despite his name, which would seem to indicate an oriental origin, the turkey is a native of America, and was unknown in the domain of the sultan until imported there. The potato, which plqys a minor but very important part at the feast, though later adopted by Ireland, was discovered in America. So was corn, which in one of its many forms usually makes a part of the meal. And even the tobacco which follows the meal in most homes, was not known outside of America until Sir Walter Raleigh and his compeers took it back to England. Further, the American manner of celebrating this most American of all days has never been of a nature to call the attention of other nations, or of their citizens visiting here. On this day of all days the American has been wont to retire from public gaze, to refrain fromany great public demonstration, and tp give thanks in his own way and eat the meal in the privacy of his own family. The only notable seeming exception to this is the institution called the Thanksgiving Day games of the college football teams. But this is no real exception. The games themselves are always amateur affairs, primarily for the students themselves, and after the game every student who can possibly get home goes into retirement with his family for the great and solemn feast. This year war has brought a change. Young Americans to the number of 20,000 —or is it 3bo,000? Nobody knows, or is permitted to say if he does know —are in France, 3,000 miles from the family circle and the accustomed turkey. Most Americans had little hope that the day could be observed at the front, but General Pershing thought otherwise. “The boys shall have their Thanksgiving Day.” said the general. That was alt but it was enough. It showed that the general had thought it all out beforehand, and that turkeys and cranberry sauce and all the “fixins’ ” for the feast, had been provided months before. Without doubt there will be football games, for many of the country’s famous gridiron stars are wearing the khaki. And Uncle Sam’s boys will sit dowtayto their Thanksgiving Day feast, their bojjigs in France, but their spirits in the old home circle, with those whtrtu they have gone forth to defend. j And France —wha|*of her? It is her first experience with the Yankee holiday. But it will fituier case exactly. Thanksgiving Day haffl its origin in the religious spirit of gpatitude for deliverance from very'real and pressing danger. France today is full ot that same spirit of thankfulness, for the presence of those CWan-limbed, squarejawed, clear-eyed young Americans is the guarantee that Fiance will be de-

WHEN WE LOOK FOR FEELING

A stumbling Block to the Christian Is to Worry Over Inner Emo- . . tlons. Feelings are a very delightful part of our experience- But they may be a very dangerous part. There are times when oiir fellowship with Christ floods US With an overwhelming feeling of fls power and presence. There are jther times when we feel dead and sold; all consciousness of his presence

This was once a picturesque mill and village beside a beautiful forest in France. The picture shows what the Germans did to it; not a house, not a tree left The enemy soldiers are doing their best to follow the orders of their great Bismarck: “Leave them nothing but their eyes to weep with.” The American Red Cross has underway gigantic plans for co-operation in rebuilding devastated sections of France, Belgium and Serbia.

livered frous*the danger of German conquest. Not only in the spirit of feasting, but in the religious aspect of the holiday—especially in the religious aspect —we may expect the French to join heartily with the Americans in giving thanks, and we need not be surprised if they take Thanksgiving Day to their hearts as they have taken the American soldier, and make it their own for the rest of their national life. Not the American army alone is giving the French reason to be thankful to that Providehce which has raised up a powerful ally, but the American Red Cross, which stands ever back of the army and navy, helps to care for them, and takes on its shoulders the burden of feeding and sheltering and clothing the pitiful thousands of refugees. Back of the French fighting lines are now these homeless, shelterless, women, old men and little children, in numbers almost unbelievable. On October 1 the American Red Cross was caring for 850,000 of them, anti more were coming at the rate of 1,000 a day through one city alone, and no one has estimated how many others. The Germans, who had held them prisoner in the lines for three years, were driving them across the lines that the French government might have to feed them.

It was not possiblp for the Red Cross to provide a Thanksgiving Day feast for’ this multitude, even if they had known what it was. But the help given them —the portable houses in which reunited families might find shelter; the little furniture and few tools supplied them that they might begin the family life anew; tjie food to keep them alive and the clothing to keep them from freezing to , death —such services as these have aroused in the volatile and emotional French heart a love for tire American and his Red Cross which may easily encompass also the American feast day. In the one little corner of Belgium which is free from the German heel, there also is the spirit of thanksgiving, though the Belgians know nothing of the For there has come the American Red Cross, and only a few days ago it voted .$589,930 for the relief of the Belgian refugees crowded behind their army in the little strip of soil still held. by King Albert and Queen Elizabeth. This fund will be used especially to care for Belgian children, and to run a Belgian; hospital for wounded soldiers, because the Belgian government hospital is now overtaxed. P For the feeding of the refugees, warehouses are built along the many canals, and supplies will be sent by boat all over that corner of the little kingdom into which are huddled the helpless ones who have fled from the German invader. Serbia, too, has cause to be thankful for what the American Red Cross is doing. Serbian war prisoners in Austro-Gennan camps are on the verge of starvation, and only the Red Cross could reach them. The Serbian government has placed $500,000 to the credit of the American Red Cross, and it has already bought 5,000 sacks of flour and shipped them through Switzerland and Austria, to be furnished the starvlng»prisoners. But of all the nations the Red Cross has befriended, France alone is privileged to, witness a real American celebration of Thanksgiving Day, and of all those peoples the French are most likely to catch the American point of view. It is a safe predict,ion that the French will take enthusiastically to

is gone. Has he changed? Is he less loving or faithful to us? He is “the same yesterday and today, * yea and forever." Therefore we are to rejoice, always, not in our feelings, but in Christ. Dr. W. P. Mackay has spoken a needed word of warping: “I have had to do with many anxious inquirers, and I find the greatest stumbling block of all is this: They wish to be able to feel faith. Even the telephone cahufbt let us see a sound; it can let us hear a sound. You might os weir speak of Jiearing a sight as

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

by Charles Lee Bryson

the idea of a day set apart on which to express their gratitude for blessings received. And if the war lasts another year, and the next Thanksgiving Day finds the American army still on French soil, watch the whole French people seize upon the great American feast day, and celebrate it as enthusiastically as if it had originated in Paris.

THE WONDERFUL BOOK.

It Has the Power to Speak to People of Every Race, Condition and Every Age. The Bible is the universal Book of the wide worldsln—hund reds-of languages and dialects, heathen countries are today reading its pages, and a great army of missionaries is expounding its truths. When Doctor Paton was printing his first New Testament in the Aniwan language, Chief Namakel, an old man, eagerly watched the missionary, and one day he said: “Does it speak?” “Yes,” said Paton. “It can talk now in your own language." “Oh, let it speak to me —let me hear it speak.” Paton then read a few lines, when the old man cried: “It does speak ! Oh, give it to me!” Grasping the book, he turned it round and round. Then, pressing it to his heart, he shouted: “Oh, makwir _ speakto - me“ again!" Is not this the greatest work of the missionary, making the Bible speak to men? It is said that more than five hundred thousand sermons are preached every Sunday from texts taken from the Holy Scriptures. Any but,a divine book would have been worn out ages ago, but the more the Bible is used, the better it is liked. The cry everywhere today is, “Come over and help us I” All the gates are open to the Christian soldier sent of God, carrying with him the World of Power and preaching Christ to every creature.— Christian Herald. • *

TAKE TIME TO MEDITATE

Quiet Hours to Act as a Spiritual Directory to Put One in Right Direction. Not long ago I had an experience that set me to thinking about the use of prayer and periods of meditation. I had an important conference to attend and realized that my time was limited in which to reach the place of my engagement. I found 1 had somehow mistaken the address, and knowing that I was getting late, I thought to save time by inquiring. Several persons whom I met and asked were ignorant of the building I wanted. Finally I became fretted and ran into a grocery store to inquire if they knew the name of the person I was seeking. The grocery clerk did not seem to know, but he said, “Have you looked into the directory?” He handed me the book, and very soon I located my party and went off wondering why .1 had not thought to save my time by consulting the directory before. When’ one thinks about it, Jesus seemed to use the quiet times of prayer as a spiritual directory. Hp realized evidently that, despite the needs that pressed upon him from the people whom he came to serve, it saved time send them away occasionally and betake himself to the still air of the mountain for meditation and prayer. Christian Herald.

feeling faith. ‘Faith Is the substance of things hpped for, the evidence of things not seen.”' So let us believe without feeling and without seeing, praisipg Cod that his perfect sufficiedcy in meeting all our needs all the time is not dependent upon what we feel, but upon What he says:—S. S. Times. v ' ’ !

Charity.

How white are the fair robes of tiharlty as she walketh amid the lowly habitations of the poor.

Popular French Models Copied

New York. —The woman who has been going the rounds will be able to check off on her fingers the French models that have been over-copled already, although the season of wearing new clothes has scarcely begun. She may even know the names that have been given to these frocks in the Paris salon, but if, through lack of interest, she does not go that far, she knows the name of the maker and the source from which the gown sprang. There is the Bulloz gown which goes merrily on its way into the realms of the ready-to-wear departments. Its velours folds clings to many a figure.

This evening gown has a straight silhouette and is made of black chiffon velvet, with bodice and low girdle of white satin. The front of the bodice is braided with black silk, and the short sleeves are of white chiffon.

and the broad gold mesh bag that covers the front of the figure and forms a peplum to the belt, dangles, and jangles at many a restaurant. The gown by Jenny called Ma Cneri, would bring its creator a snug little fortune if she had a royalty on every time it was copied. You know this gown, don’t you? It 18 of black velvet and white satin. It is quite simple, with its slim bodice that runs below the waistline into a rounded curve to which the skirt is slightly gathered, its cravat girdles that loosely encircle the waisL its loose, elbow sleeves finished with a turn-over cuff of white satin, and the broad, folded surplice-bib of white satin put around the neck and tucked into the waistline. Odd Origin of Name. Possibly, however, you do not know why Jenny named this gown Ma Cherle. It is a copy de luxe of the black and white uniform worn by the women who serve the soldiers in Paris at the restaurants and in the canteens. The American soldier has learned to call all these helpful and agreeable waitresses by the one French phrase he has quickly learned,! “Ma Cherle.” So Paris, with its quick love of a nickname, has adopted the title for its waitresses who serve the soldiers. Jenny quickly saw the possibilities of a popular gown in this friendly little salute and therefore copied the black and white uniform in velvet and satin, adding some brilliant, ornamental rhinestone buttons; and the American buyers swung it Into line as the biggest success of this season.

There are two other gowns that were Inspired by the sentiment between the French public and the American soldiers, and these are sweeping upward on the crest of the wave of popularity as well as Ma Cherie. One is Jeanne Lanvin’s Pershing, which is in a remarkable tone of army gray and what is called American blue. It could really be called Maryland blue along with the Maryland brown, for it is the exact shade of the wild ducks that one shoots and eats on the Maryland .shores. This Pershing gown looks somewha,t like an army overcoat. It hangs straight, in the form of a chemise, and is loosely and roughly girdled in. Lanvin has another cowboy costume that runs in the same channel with “Pershing.” It is of khaki cloth trimmed with Itself slashed Into the deep fringes by the Arizona men. It has a sturdy, slouchy, artistic air. It is quite adorable on the youngstejt who pitched on a cowboy hat of black panne velvet as an adjunct to its khaki tones. Then there is another , gown by Bulloz which is well known and which carries out bis idea of using the Persian tree of life as A means of ornamenting the skirt. You may remember that the sensational gown called “GriseUdis" which was worp last season by Mary Garden when she km ng the opera by that name, also had

this symbolic Persian embroidery as Its claim to fame. Blazing Embroidery on Skirt. This new gown is of black tulle and satin, with slight cascades formed by ruffles that go across the front of the figure and ripple down the sides; these ruffles are edged with sliver ribbon, and they display, as though they were a lifted curtain, the audacious and blazing embroidery on the front of the skirt. In the center, just where these curtain ruffles are lifted, there is a huge Persian ornament that might have, been worn by Haroun-al-Raschid. This gown is for the few, not the many. It Is well that a woman should know most of the over-popular French models before she spends money on clothes, because if she is ignorant of these particular expressions of the fashion by certain designers, she Is apt to buy a gown of which she will become exceedingly weary before Christmas. However, she Is the only one who can judge whether or not she wants to wear what everyone else has, or something different. The shops have copied most of the French models, and will sell the originals at any price they can demand. The American copies are not exact and are often more adaptable to our social life and activities than the originals. We have progressed so far in fashions that we take the French silhouette, a peculiar kind of material ox trimming, a high neck or a long sleeve, and we make a salad of our own of these ingredients. This is as it should be.

The originality and Inventiveness of our apparel people have been expended on the one-piece frock and topcoat. This is the fundamental fact that one gathers from reviewing all the clothes by all the people. There are frocks that are warm enough for the street with a bit of fur or one of the swinging, army capes which have not been ousted from fashion by popularity. There are thin one-piece frocks thax need a sturdy coat over them to give protection. There are afternoon frocks that may serve, as far as color and fabric go, for, restaurant and theater frodjk with the addition of a fur coat. The tailored suit Is not offered for any kind of cerepionial occasion. It is worn ’by the Individualists and by those who feel that they are not comfortably dressed unless they are in this kind of conventional harness. One-Piece Frocks Popular. The girl who works, the woman who plays and the millionarle In Red Cross activities are different types of women who go in for the one-piece frock and get the variety which they Insist they need in life by adopting this kind of costumery. Never before has there been such a collection here of one-piece black velvet gowns. They great one at every glance of the 1 eye. N'o one has tried to make them portentlous or unduly ornamental. The severe <j»ones, which are the best ones, have the now famous surplice bodice which Is drawn

Here is a primitive fur collar for the street It is a broad scarf of skunk lined with satin and pulled high over the shoulders to form a large skunk button. Barrel shaped muff made of the same peltry.

across the bust and passed around the waist to tie in the back or brought forward to tie ip the front. The skirt has a bias tunic to give slimness, or it is very slightly gathered and has an almost imperceptible inward curve at the hem. Velveteen is offered for serviceable frocks, and chiffon velvet for indoor gowns. Beige colored frocks trimmed with Kolinsky, putois and Hudson seal are common and yet altogether satisfying. When these thin frocks have fur hems, there is a velvet and fur coat that goes over them. ' i (Copyright, 1917. by the McClure Newapw , ~ . per Syndicate.)

It’s a Year of Plaids.

Plaids are having a strong vogue this season. Perhaps the recent popularity of checked ginghams has something to do With the matter. In any event plaid taffetas and plaid worsteds are-popular for entire dresses and separate skirts, and also as combination fabrics to accompany plain color materials.

ALMOST HELPLESS Mr. Reuter Went Through a Terrible Siege of Kidney Trouble. Doan’s Brought Back' Hi* Health. "After an injury I was in terrible shape from kidney trouble,” says D. Reuter, North St., West Chicago, 111. “I couldn’t atoop because of the awful pains in my back and the steady, dull misery almost drove me frantic. I had to be helped out of bed mornings, g the pains across my kidneys were so bad and nobody knows the agony I f went through. I couldn’t Wy-TTf do anything and was almost helpless; it seemed I would never get well. wfl /By "The urine passed far too often and burned like scalding water. The pas- * sages were scanty and I had no coqtrol over them. At times everything in front of me grew dark and I couldn t see for several minutes. I perspired profusely and I was thirsty all the time. For two years I suffered, trying medicine after medicine without relief. I was just about discouraged and didn t think I would ever be able to work nrynin • “Hearing about Doan's Kidney Pills I used them and four boxes cured me. My kidneys became normal, my back got well and strong and all the other troubles disappeared.’’ Sworn to before me, JAS. W. CARR, Notary Public. Get Doan’s at Any Star*. 60c a Bo* DOAN’S "VRJLV FOSTER-MILBURN co, buffalo, n. y.

New Orleans needs half a dozen new public school buildings. Many Children Are Sickly. Mother Gray’s Sweet Powders for Children break up Colds in 24 hours, relieve Feverishness, Headache, Stomach Troubles, Teething Disorders, move and regulate the bowels, and Destroy Worms. They are so pleasant to take children like them. Used b.v mothers for 80 years. All druggists, 25c. Sample FKKK. Address, Mother Gray Co., Le Roy, N. Y. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 cost $1.580.000,000. skinners MACARONI V kJ < F JWk IVtWY NWIMC/y

Ecclesiastical Confeseionery.

One Sunday A young man from the north of Scotland, wnile walking out with his sweetheart, noticed over a doorway the sign, “Dairy and Confectioner.” Wishing to give the young lady a treat, the youth entered the shop and asked for chocolate creams. 1 “I dinna sell chocolate creams on the Sabbath,” said the old lady behind the counter severely. “But ye selt sweeties to the woman that has just gane out,” said the young fellow, who indeed action through the window. "Ay, some ecclesiastical confectionery. but nae chocolate creams,” said the lady, and went on to explain: “Ecclesiastical confectionery is peppermint draps, pan draps, and ginger lozengers, but nae chocolate creams.

New Cause for Worry.

“With beef so high,” says the Bllvllle deacon, “we could compromise on chicken meat, but chickens air too destructive to rhlse Where farm gardenin’ is goln’ on. Now, turkeys air more reasonable, an’ we’ve had good luck with ’em, but who 1 wants to live on turkey? Es we tackle turkey week in an’ week out, how kin we enjoy Christmas?” —Atlanta Constitution.'

His Money.

“The Lord knows how Binks made his money!” “No wonder he always looks worried.”

of Dyspepsia Coffee Does Not Agree”— says a well known authority. Many who use coffee not knowing that it aggravates stomach troubles — could still enjoy a delicious hot table beverage and escape coffee’s effects by a change to the wholesome, pure I cereal drink— POSTUM || •‘There’s a Reason” | ffl - 111 111 HMOe i Jill Hi i I JII 7’..'