Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 22, Number 22, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 21 November 1891 — Page 5
Vol. 22.—No. 22
7
MAN AND WOMAN.
W O the Flr«l Tb»nk«tflTl«#E NOVEMBER '"Min was sinking In thr Western skies.
Mie
I y-,
I 7
Saturday
Another day had gone and no news
With darkness, a pall of gioom acttied over the little
10:hand of settlers, There was so much need that the food had to be apportioncd. linrion Laird had
narried Edward Love's daughter a month previously. She was a beautiful woman of -0 in a sedate lieutenant in Her Majesty army.
As the sun's last k-ums had faded bevond the Western horizon, prayerfuf people wended their way to the quiet iittle chape on the hillside. Ldward Love wus t»o ill to go. At liis bedside were Aii and Burton I.aird. "(in. fear children." said the old man. "and pray for relief, for it is Will to do *o."
And h! it seemed to both. They bent and kissed him with that tender affection only born of poverty and parental lies, ami
then
left him. They Knelt
Ot'ii,• the |imm? altar and watched the ib-
lips
of the od man utter
rds words faintly heard by liel ,s. grew faint and weaker, as arvinjLr men must. I'oth tried
hoi the
I
ha!
to
sing,
but
opened
the melody of
their murmurs died uway under the roof. iiurton Li ird thought his wife leaned more heavily his shoulder.
Then her voice was silent Her face whit ii' under th»"! dim lij' iroin the pulpit. il«»r eyes put on ing look. •She sighed and censed to speak. i. tVitfi a gasp she fell forward on his breast. lie lifted her into hi-* arms as if she was a i'iibo and curried her out into the open uir. 'i hero was a gust of sharp tviud will |uiek revived her.
her eyes.
Ii ii a I on Btr..i.g. As he noted the pallor of her face lis anguish overwhelmed hi in. He called aloud to Heaven to spare the wife of his bosom.
Slie heard him. "\V« have loved each other well," she murmured, and If we must part here it will on.y be to meet In that happy, happy land, where there Ls neither grief nor suffering. The Heaven for which we have sacrificed
1
I I 111 sVdf
earth Us be ours (or all eternity. Weep not. dear, that 1 go first."' I^lturtou Laird felt i» he never felt before, lie saw the sun of the young life sinking faster than that whi ti lmd an hour before burnt lo.v upon the horizon of the New World, and he would be left in dnrkne-s forever more. it us in an is that seemed to tear his soul from within peak not of grief till you have seen the tears of war-like men.
At that instant against the dark horiron of the sky. sweeping down from the I mom of the seething ocean, came the ship so long expected.
From the nn'ks Ih\ond. the lookout had a'ready seen it His shout arose In the distance. •The ship "The ship'"
The ship is here'"
1
The glad tilings swept down the hillnidc and along the valley run wtVhftliiperk
Then frytti the church rushed all the
Weak voiced uttering* of thanksgiv-
teri
lug soon resounded. Burton Laird lifted his wife that she might see the glad sight the ocean presented. •t "Thank heaven" she cried: "von •J will live. Many will be saved, but I must die.'*
Die." cried her husband in awful anguiah. "No. it mast not be aid la hand." "Too late for me, the voice was weaker, but wwirn not at that. I will tell vott how li is Father's life Is far more vahiable than mine, and for four dsrr* 1 hare given htm my share of f.vni Instead of his* ltut that he would •.» •*. j»vne. itnd they Uxsfe to him for a .d and comfort in their trlaiv he win be pdwerfttl the leturv of this \?v WarM—I a woman, yon snW "And 1. your hoftbfe&d, never
dreamed nf SM* giadiv |t«l% tie, v*»w shall ttOt die.** h.sd
I'lmtwinj hitnm'U Walde her W» tint gr»»uu«l he drew tins id!very i»word fr^m he sheath which hv.ng at his "Sde drew the b'^de. a-r«.ms hi* arm j«nl tHen Uic wound a4'siO-*»t the
wl,Uc Hps that nad Mlon rlgxlly E S S E O N
Mie received the hot gush of his life's blood as a child would the milk from its mother's breast. ind without that loathing which knowledge of the truth wo.ild have given her.
And he. bin ing up his wound, bore her into the cliur. and laid her down, wrapped in a blanket Rome one had dropped on the way to view the blessed spectacle of the ship's arrival.
She was saved. Burton Laird knew it. the outside, Her Majesty's governor was pro •laimtmr the arrival of the ship with its supplies and requesting that the following day be made one of Thanksgiving.
And there was groat rejoicing, too. It was• he first Thanksgiving in the New World.
ller llnv of TliunR*jilvlnsr. Very few of us will live to see sixty Thanksgiving days. Fewer still will live to see three score and ten. Only a handful van see a hundred. Those who may see more can be counted on the finger tips. Only one person in America celebrates each Thanksgiving day as a birthday anniversary. That person is Sarah Cool-Heath of Pea pack. N. .1. This Thanksgiving she will celebrate as the HMd anniversary of her birth, she being born on the Thanksgiving day appointed by Washington in ITS:*. She continues to celebrate the feast as that of her birth in stead of the day of the mouth.
Mr*. Heath enjoys remarkably good health for one wo aired. Her sense of alght is ncarlv gone she can bnt discern daylight from darkness. Her memory of event* that transpired nearlv a century ago is excellent, of event* of the jwpeawnt age not as good. She get® about the honae by the aid of two cane*. Her aooeUtc evidently does not fail her, as she has not mtased a meal mover eight years. She lived continuously with her husband. In the house which he built, atxty years, until his death, whteh occurred in ls«9. After that she lived with her sens and one of her grandchildren until Jniy a, a re id a Justice of the Peace David X. Todd her home. There she still lives «od btrjje erowrds visat the plas» on-« a rear to remind the old lady that she Km not been forg*mni in her ilfeclining years.
T*a*fctNl**»«« at tfce Jail. Thanksgiving t)»v Visitor—And what ate to for say gtMwl was? tvdoe*d l"Vi*»one r~~ Not hh«|r ^idtor For nothing"
Colored IVwoner—Ye*, mhi I tried to get turkey for i»a* ThaalufWiaf Oay. twit got aothing. Se«?
COLUMBIA TO UNCLE S'\M:-It Is got tWe Blessings We Are Thankful in 1891.
A Thanksgiving Day Story. WENTY YEARS
more. George Lang looked ,ba,ck through the fifteen years he had passed behind the grim walls of
thought of the twenty years he had still to serve be or society would be satisfied. on mo,'1 he murback into his iron
"It's rather hard tnered as he rolled eoqeh.
The church bells were tolling without. Foot, beats were heard in the streets below. "They're all going to church to give thanks!" Yes. this is Thanksgiving. Oh. that 1 had something to be thankful for. Here all these years suffering for Burt Kergan's crime. I know that it was he who tired Cooke's store so that 1 would be put out of the way. Well. I suppose I must suffer. The truth will never come out now. 1 will never even tell that 1 suspect it."
The convict's brows became knitted, lie w-uld have sunk into a deeper sleeo but for a voice at the cell door. It was one of those gentle voices, so seldom heard in the corridor of a place of penal servitude.
Maude Leslie, the parson's lovely daughter, was making the round as was her custom on the morning of great feasts. She generally brought some good things and was looked upon as a ministering angel by hardened convicts. "I had been dreaming and thought I had nothing to be thankful for. but you arc here. I'm so glad you have come. Your presence is a light into a darkened life that has no fntt .o ho jpes.
The other hung her head. The convict's words had touched her tenderesfc
tMUn^A. fwt a moment she wished ane had not cotne. Then ahe lifted her head.
Tear* were conrsing- down La&gft< cheeks. ••And pa have no hopes for the fo*nreT" ahe aalced. There w*a a tremor in her voice that told of exceptional interest. "•Hope! So. there is noae for tone. I hav* been adjudged guilty of setting I Are to my emoloyea »tore. why ahould I there he hope for meT" I "Bnt are r«m irailtyf I Tne convict lowered hia eyes He would sooner not have heard her aak.
TERRE HAUTE, IND, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER -21. 1891. Part Second
••Are you guilty.'• again sue hskuu this time with emotion. There was a sudden pause. "Twelve men have adjudged me guilty, and so believes the world.'' "Perhaps she was Interrupted. "Oh, no," interposed the other: "Nobody bolioves me innocent. Yes, there is one,'' and ho thought of the author of »U his trouble. "There are two." Miss Leslie waa calm and collected. "Impossible! They would come and tell me so if it were true.'' (Jeorge Lang's face showed anguish. "It is for that that. I am here," the other replied. "I believe you are innoeotit
and What she would have said he did not lienr then. The turn events had taken was too much for him and he -sank itno swoon, from which he was revived an hour or two later.
In the meantime Maud Leslie had returned to her home and told the story of an innocent man sufferings. ltev. Dr. Leslie was a jt st and good man. He Iwcamc deeply interested in his daughter's story. He. too. belie ed George Lang innocent. Hut what could he do? It would obably take years to prove Lang guiltless in the eyes of the law-.
Before he ascended the pulpit that day lie had decided what to do. 5»e.cr before was such a thrillimg sermon prcacl.e 1 St. James. After referring to »he day, the good man told of two young men in iheir earl3* morning of life, who loved the same girl: of how one set lire to a store that the other might se.it to prison. He told of the temporary triumph of the conspirator, but s.aid that the day for retribution was coming.
The sermon created a terrible sensation. It was published in the leading papers the next day and everybody wanted know wfto the principals were.
Burt Kergan had long since married Voilet West She had long ago dismissed Lang from her memory. The day following
Thanksgiving she picked
np the morning paper. The flaring headlines over 1 »r. Leslies sermon first attracted her attention, she read down the column. It became quite plain to her. Her husband was guilty of an awfnl crime. She sank back, and her cries for help soon brought him to her side. She was revived, but it was only of short duration. "What does it mean?" her husband asked, as she opened her eyes. "What haa happened?" "Readr* and she handed him tha paper.
She watched the hot flush in hia face as he read between the lines. He waa guilty: she knew it now. "You are guilty don'tdeny it now." She fell back to rise no more in life. Violet Kergan, a victim of her husband's plot, was dead. ••YeaJ am guilty." the husband said, bending over the prostrate form-
Just then two officers, who had been admitted, stepped into the room. Burt Kergan raised hia eyes. Hia cowardly heart weakened. He fell pierced to the heart with the exposure of his crime. »«I am guilty," were hia last worda.
The same day tieorge Lang waa released from prison- It waa made an occasion of public rejoicing. "W®"1 no one more heartily jotaed than Maude Leslie.
A rear afterward* and when the ehurchbells were tolling the glad tad* tag* of Thanksgiving. Ma taag took advantage of the occasion to aak fco" gtvenesi* for a liberty ahe had once taken.
The* the told how she had *f**»d at
his ceii door a year beiore and listened to his own confession of ini ocence. "And that is how you knew 1 was innocent. Maud, you are forgiven. Listen to the bells. I^et us go. \N have much to be thankful for."
And so it was all their lives.
IN ANCIENT TIMES-
There wm a Fount or Tlmnknalvlntt From Time Immemorial.
Thanksgiving Day is not an American idea. Ages and ages ago in empires long since fallen one day of each year was set apart for thanksgiving to the Creator, in this country it was net observed in the West and South ti«, alter the war, but in New Kngland it may be said to date from the middle the seventeenth century. Over •(.(W)0 years ago Moses instructed the Isrcalites to keep a feast after tliey got established in tlu* llolv Land. They called it the feast of the Tabernacle, and for eight days, following the close of till rvest, they dwelt in booths in dc liuitly of cen boughs, and leasted oil oru, wiue. oil and fruits. ii 'iie ourse of time a spiemlid ritual lo tlie ftast wns adopto !. including inujh singing in icsponsive choruses, fcoineuhat later the Greeks held a nine days feast of similar (diameter, in .. liich slaves were allowed to take pa,.-,, and all criminals except murderers. The Romans had a similar feast in honor of Ceres. go dess of (jruin.
The axons had a "Hart est Home, and .tlte: them the Knglisli. which festival "..as observed a sort of tvay in some of the Amcrjcan colonies
In the year v.M the t'ilgrirn fathers tried to celebrate, but it was rather a gloomy affair. In J'itf.'l a ship^ loaded with provision: tailed to arrive and 0oBradford appointed a day of humiliation. fasting and prayer, but the expected ship ai rived and so they made it a day of thanksgiving.
Ninety Indians, under Chief Vatmaaoit. took part. In 1»-*i the Puritans ran out of provisions, and Fob. II was named as a day of fasting and prayer. As in the other case, the ship arrived, and they had a feast in stead. June 1ft, 1037. there was a general service in all chnrchca of New Kngland. to give thanks for the great victory at Fort Mystic over the Pe,|UOta, and on the :2th of October following a general service and feast, in honor of peace and the settling of some religious differences.
Forty yeara later »ov Androa ordered the people to give thanks on the first day of December but they hated Andrew and didn't thank worth a cent. Several persona were arrested for treating the proclamation with contempt, but thia struck the home authorities aa rather ludicrous, and hia conduct was disapprove!
Thereafter Thanksgiving waa pretty generally observed in all England' and the States settled by her, the governor naming the day.
George Washington recommended to Congress the naming of a National day in 17m, for the adoption of the constistitutfera. It waa done and the day waa generally observed. In 1795 the proceeding waa repeated, .lamea Madison appears to have iawoed the first Presidential proclamation on the subject, in ifcis. in honor of the return of peace. Forty-«ighl yeara passed before President Lincoln iaaued the second one, in Since then every President baa followed the euatom and tne day ia Nationally observed at la*t.
There ia a valuable fioatiog wwk looae or the Atlantic. It haa a evfo of mahogany lumber and waa dotted .March 31. Sine** thim it h-«* drifted m*les and waa bust *c*n Attg.
THE DAY IN BIG CITIES.
TteaiiHugtvInc Day as tbwrvwl by Scion* of Wealtlw
Thanksgiving day in largo cities is always anxiously looked for by fchs poor and needy.
On this day of all others do the rich let loose their pocket-strings. That ia their way of returning thanks.
In New York the members of wealthy and charitably disposed families go about the highways and byways, leaving a little with this poor family and a little with that one. In this way all the poor are given a material reason to also join in the Tnanicsgiving.
The offerings generally consist of money. The distribution of clothing and food generally takes place oil Thanksgiving eve.
Of course the money tinds its way into the colters of the saloon oftener than that of the grocer.
But what matter it to tl:c giver.' He or she has done a kindly act. The amount distributed uniong tho poor bv the rich of New York Thanksgivht^ Day is enormous. The Vandorbilts never give less than s,m,000. The Goulds give a like amount, 'l^e Astors often give as much as •?!(),000. Perhaps the total amount would run into the millions.
Chicago millionaires always see that the poor within the city's gates aro well cared for on the National Thanksgiving Day.
Statesmen and politicians !-eldom forget the nc^dy on this day. Probably the most liberal figure in political life is Gen. Alger of Michigan. He manages to spend between SfiO.OOu and §100,000 a year among the poor of Detroit and other cities. The great portion of this is distributed on Thanksgiving Day.
TliniikMUtvlns liiy In the Clmrrlio*. Thanksgiving Day is not observed with church services by all the Christain f-ects. The Episcopalians were the first to reeogni. the Presidential proclamation. The Lutherans and Methodist Kpiseopalians were the next. Tlic Presbyterians and Itaptists observe the day without display or church service. The Catholic church has its own days of thanksgiving, varying in the different dioccs, from one to three a year. Of late years, though, the tendency of the church litis been to observe the day proclaimed by the President. The recent Lay congress strongly advocated a strict observance of the day. Hisliop John S. Foley, of Detroit, .Michigan, was tha first"to order services throughout his dioccs. That was in 1880. Since then proclamations from the bishop to the Catholic churches general^- follow tlio one' from the President, to the people.
Tlio day is also observed in many of the non-christian communities. In most of the Jewish synogoguoa services of Thanksgiving are made a Rolein obligation.
THANKSGIVING DAY AMONG THE HEATHENS.
A Nlorj Without Word*
Mr'
s?