The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume], November 21, 1916, Image 14

About The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917

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The Evolution of Thanks
giving Documents from
George' Washington's
QuillPen Proclamation
to President Wilson's
Gall to Thanksgiving
Written By Himself On
a Typewriter.
Copyright, 1916, by The international f
, Syndicate.
jfXUR Thanksgiving Day belongs to
1 1 1 1 all the; people of our land, of
II jy whatever, creed or race. Every'
KM one can in his own 'way offer
up his prayer of gratitude for the
blessings which he has enjoyed and
for the national prosperity and growth
which fs her, common heritage with
his f ellowman. The citizens of the
United States will have occasion to
be ' especially grateful this year, not
so much for the increase of our coun
try in material things, t but that
through the guidance of an all wise
Providence we have escaped the rav
ages of war and are today- at peace
with all the world. , ,
Once a year the President issues a
proclamation asking the people to lay
aside their labor and give thanks. The
day selected for that purpose is' the
last Thursday In November a date
set many years ago and followed by
each Chief Executive. While there is
a deal of sameness in all Thanksgiving
proclamations, platitudes, brief or ex
pended, characterize the larger por
"tion of- them, occasionally a new
thought may be injected 'or reference
made to something of particular na
tional importance. .
Originated In Holland. . .
As early as 1575 the people of Ley
den, Holland, observed a day of thanks
giving and prayer, and as the first
New England colonists, the Pilgrims,
' were twelve' years in Holland before
sailing for America, there is no doubt
that the Idea of a dayof thanksgiving
t.ook root in their hearts. . After they
had harvested their first crop in Amer
Outlook for This Year's
Turkey Crop Increase
In Prices This Season
Various Varietie s -Turkey
Raising and theTur
key Market
Copyright, 1916, by The International
Syndicate.
we have not as yet com
i plete figures from which to
(t'make exact quotations as to the
turkey crop for the 1916
Thanksgiving,", said 'Mr. Alfred R. Lee,
"of the Bureau of Poultry Investiga
tions, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
the other week, "all Indications point
to the usual full supply to meet the
Thanksgiving and Christmas demand.
"There are five; States from which
the country gets its main supply of
t turkeys, with Texas leading the group.
The latest statistics we have from
these States give the yearly crop as
iollows: Texas, 360,000; Missouri,
f 12,000; Indiana, ' 203,000; Illinois.
189,000 and Kentucky 188,000. These
figures are not likely to be far from
this year's total, as there has been
po marked change In the turkey out-
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ica in 1621, , Governor Bradford or
dered a day of thanksgiving, and thus
the Day of Thanks became a part of
our national life. The Dutch Gov
ernors of New Amsterdam took up
the custom and days of thanksgiving
were appointed by them' from time to
time.; During the Revolution the
Continental Congress ordered a day
of thanksgiving each j'ear.
Washington's. Proclamation Modern.'
When George Washington became
President in 1789 both' Houses of
Congress recommended that he issue
a proclamation for a day of prayer
and thanksgiving. This he did, set
ting aside Thursday, November the
twenty-sixth, as the day. THe docu
ment was a long one ' and suggested
thanks for- the enjoyment of "civil
and religious liberty," the new Con
stitution and the Constitutional Laws
honestly and faithfully observed. The
next Thanksgiving proclamation was
sent out by Washington in 1795,' and Is
not unlike those of the present day.
In? this he recommends to the people
the giving of thanks to God" for Con
stitutions which establish law. and or
der, and for prayer that the land may
be a safe asylum for the unfortunates
of other countries. .He begged that
people establish habits of sobriety, or
der, morality and purity. He also de
clared ".that ' the nation should give
thanks for its condition when it re-J
viewed the . calamities which had
afflicted other nations. ; He also gives
thanks , for the suppression of the
put from these States for several
years.
"The Rhode island turkey is now
little more than a name, for but few
are raised there. There are, how
ever, turkeys in other States which
have taken the name of Rhode Island
turkey which has come to mean some
thing as a trade name. '
"With the season's normal crop of
turkeys, with prices higher for all food
products and with grain expensive, it
is logical that the Thanksgiving bird
will be slightly higher in price than
last year.
"Ordinarily turkey-raising Is a side
line on farms, It being unusual to see
a flock of over fifty on any one farm,
except in Texas and in some portions
of the far West, where flocks of sev
eral hundreds are . rather common.
California and Oregon raise a goodly
nuinbei- of turkeys. There are In
some States a few people who special
ize in raising large flocks. The Im
perial .Valley of Southern California
is a well-know,n turkey center.
'Turkey Day" In Texas.
"Marketing time for turkeys comes
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Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania.
In May, 1798, John Adams set aside
a day of prayer and fasting on account
of the unfriendly disposition,-conduct
and demands of a foreign power
evinced by repeated refusals to re
ceive messengers of reconciliation'
and peace "on account of depredations
on our commerce and the infliction
of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens
.while engaged in their
lawful business ; on the high seas."
He implored the mercy and benedic
tion of Heaven for our country. The
country to which he referred was
France. ,
James Madison's proclamation was
similar in character when he set aside
the third Thursday in August as a day
of "humiliation and prayer," on ac
count of our war with England. A
year later he issued another Thanks
giving, proclamation in which he im
plored an all wise Providence to stop
the tactics of the British In their
burning of our public building at the
national capital. After peace had
been declared Madison proclaimed the
second Thursday in April, 1815,'as a
day to give thanks for the peace that
had once more dawned upon the na
tion.1 t '
Lincoln's Sorrowful Words.
From. 1815 to 1861 there were no
Thanksgiving proclamations issued by
the Presidents of the United : States,
but during this interval the Governors
of the New England States set apart
days of Thanksgiving. During the
but once a year from the middle of
November to the latter part of De
cember. Most turkey raisers sell their
birds alive to turkey dealers, but the
farmers near the city markets, par
ticularly in the middle Atlantic and
New England States, often dress their
turkeys and sell them direct to the
city dealers or to the consumers, and
In this way command better prices.
"In some sections of the country,
and particularly In Texas, the turkey
raisers have what is called 'Turkey
Day,' which is practically a great tur
key market and comes some time be
fore thanksgiving. A few days prior
to this event the turkey raisers bring
their stock, either live or dressed, to
the chosen center, and speculators go
through the country buying up all
they can gather. The fowls are
brought In great droves of thousands,
and people come for miles to see the
'turkey parades' at the central points.
Flocks of turkeys are driven just like
cattle, and six or eight men can drive
a flock of a thousand birds ten or
-m flk." , .HH-.'-iT'-'v .vtrzr fir v..
mm life,.
early days of the Civil War President
Lincoln fixed the last Thursday in
September as a day for the nation to
pray for the ; restoration of peace.
Other proclamations of a like char
acter were issued during his admin
istration. These documents were all
beautifully worded and showed a deep
er and more sorrowful note than those
of any other Chief. Executive. He re
ferred to the fact that the Almighty
had seen fit to scourge the country
with war, and suggested in the most
gentle and pathetic wording that the
day of thanksgiving should be de
voted to prayer for the success of the
Union cause.
Brought About By A Woman.
After the battle of Gettysburg in
July, 1863, Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, the
editor of the famous "Godey's Lady's
Book," wrote to President Lincoln ..en
closing a copy of' Washington's
Thanksgiving Proclamation and sug
gested that he, too, should proclaim a
day of National Thanksgiving. Mrs.
Hale had long desired that the Gov
ernors of other States should follow
the example of those of New Eng
land, and even before the Civil War
she had written annually to the Gov
ernors of the States begging them to
proclaim a Thanksgiving Day. In
1859 she had succeeded , with all but
two Governors. During the war, how
ever, the custom lagged, and finally
at the close of the conflict Mrs. Hale
took up the matter with the President,
who acted . upon her suggestion and
set apart a day for national thanks
giving, praise and prayer. Since that
time, with the '"exception of Andrew
Johnson, who selected the first
Thursday in December, the day set
for our National Thanksgiving by the
President has been the last Thursday
in November. " N'. . ' 1
twelve miles a day. But It is neces
sary to exercise great care, so- that the
birds may not become excited or be
hurt. ,
"There are six varieties of domestic
turkeys. Of these the most widely
known is the Bronze, after which come
tho White Holland, Bourbon Red,
Black, Narragansetfand Slate.
"We also have the wild turkey, still
to be found in certain sections of fche
country, especially in the unsettled
parts of Texas, New Mexico and Ari
zona and in the large swamps of the
Gulf States Florida and Mississippi.
They are also occasionally to be found
in West Virginia and in Maryland; but
their number in those States is very
small." '
The main differences in the six
standard varieties of domestic tur
keys are size and color "of plumage.
The Bronze turkey is the most popu
lar fowl for table use and is the largest
turkey grown. The Narragansett
comes next in size, the Bourbon Reds
and Slate being medium in weight and
the Black and White being smallest.
Of late years so much improvement
has been made in the size of both
Whites and Blacks that general dis
tinctions as to size are becoming diffi
cult, since the season's products show
many of these which tip the scales at
over thirty pounds.
All Turkeys Froth Three Varieties.
It is the generally accepted view at
the present time that all the turkeys
of the world have descended in some
way or other from the three forms
known as North American, the Mexi
can and the Honduras, or Ocellated
turkey.
The North. American wild turkey Is
the original species of the Eastern
President Johnson's proclamation
was short and contained a suggestion
that thanks be offered because "the
Civil War had not reopened;, also be
cause foreign intervention ceased to
excite alarm." In the year of his
impeachment, 1868, he expressed the
hope for harmony and the forgetting
of political and sectional dissensions.
Grant Speaks Of Civil War.
General Grant's proclamation in
1869 still savored of the Civil War
when he prayed for the restoration
of the people as a nation and hoped
that ' the marks of the past conflict
had been obliterated. In 1878 he
asked the people to pray that the
lingering results of the civil strife
would soon pass away. . Two years' la
ter he ; dwelt on the 'wisdom and
beauty of the Thanksgiving in our
country. A year later, Centennial
Year, 1876, President Grant called for
a special Thanskgiving on July 4th.
The four proclamations of Presi
dent Hayes are similar, as in each he
dwelt especially upon the excellent
crops and the fact that we were at
peace with' all the world. "
Just after President Garfield's death
in 1881 Chester A. Arthur made a
pathetic reference to the nation's loss
in the death of Garfield. A year later
he begged the people to give to charity
on Thanksgiving Day a suggestion
which has been made in proclama
tions of later Presidents.
Grover Cleveland recommended
that the day he one for family re
unions as well as of prayer. When
Benjamin Harrison became the Chief
Executive he proclaimed a special day
of thanksgiving on April 30, 1889, to
commemorate the centennial anni
versary of our Government. His
Thanksgiving Proclamations were sim
ilar to those of the preceding Chief
Executives.
McKinley And The Spanish War.
The always gentle and much he
loved McKinley in 1898 varied from
the conventional form by referring to
the Spanish-American War He . re
gretted that it had been necessary to
take up the sword and rejoiced at
its brief duration. A year later he
made reference to the conclusion of
peace with Spain and of the troubles
in the Philippines. , In 1900 the ex
tension of our commerce and of our
United States, known as Meleagris
Americana. Its colors are black,
beautifully shaded with a rich bronze,
the breast plumage being dark bronze,
illuminated with , a lustrous finish of
coppery gold.
The wild turkey of Mexico, called
by naturalists Meleagris Mexicana, Is
somewhat shorter in shank than the
northern species, in body-color metal
lic black . shaded with bronze, its tall
and other feathers being tipped with
white. This appears to be the first
species taken to Spain and other parts
of Europe. It is" also believed that
the white markings of the .plumage of
this fowl shows its influence on the
variety of domestic turkeys known as
the Narragansett.
The wild spedes known as the
Honduras turkey, scientifically termed
Meleagris Ocellata,, from the eye-like
markings, was originally a native of
Honduras and other parts of Central
America. The ground-color of the
plumage of this bird is a beautiful
bronze-green, banded with gold
bronze, blue and red. with some bands
of brilliant black. The head and neck
of this wild variety- are naked and
no breast tuft is present. Scientists
deplore that this variety of turkey
cannot be bred successfully as a do
mestic fowl in the northern climate.
There has been no disputation of
the statement regarding the original
transportation of the turkeys from
America to Spain between the years
1518 and 1526. History also relates
that they were introduced into Eng
land in 1524. Among the earliest
recorde'd varieties of domestic turkeys
is found the Black Norfolk and the
large Cambridge turkey. Undoubted
ly the turkey had been domesticated
in this country prior to th wH5?-
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t- '"mu:ttt
power and Influence in the cause and
enlightenment of the distant seas and
lands were the themes of his procla
mation. He also referred to the Boxer
troubles in China.
When Roosevelt became President
his first Thanskgiving proclamation
contained a reference to the assassina
tion of President McKinley when he
wrote "This Thanksgiving finds the
people still bowed with sorrow for
the death of a great and good Presi
dent." Each 'year of his official ten
ure he Injected something original in
the document. For instance, in 1904,
just as he was about to be elected
President, he wrote, "Reward has
waited upon hcnest effort," "Much has
been given to us and much will be
expected of us.?
Taft's proclamations were short and
contained nothing out of the ordinary.
Wilson Writes On Typewriter.
President Wilson usually spends
less than an hour in writing the docu
ment, and perhaps another hour in
polishing up a line here and there
that does not suit his keenly analy
tical mind which has such a wonder
ful regard for word values. His first
proclamation was remarkable in
many ways. It was the first Demo
cratic Thanksgiving . Proclamation in
twenty years and was entirely differ
ent from that of his . predecessors.
Two simple Biblical phrases added
much to the document and brought
his feelings in jthe matter of peace.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation,"
and : "Peace on earth, good will to
wards men" furnish the only founda
tions upon which can be built lasting
achievements of the human spirit. The
year has brought us the satisfaction
of work well done and fresh visions
of 'our duty which will make the work
of the future better still. Truly a
prophetic document! '
The early Presidents wrote the doc
ument in long hand while the recent
Chief Executives dictated it to their
secretaries. Washington and Madison
used the old quill pen. . Johnson used
a stub pen and in signing the docu
of those varieties in England.
Turkey Increasing In Popularity.
There has never been a more active
demand for market turkeys than dur
ing the past ten years, and. there is
no reason why this should not in
crease very materially in the coming
years with the growth of population.
The turkey is now used in many
more ways than formerly. It. is not
only used for roasting but also to an
increased extent as cold cuts for sand
wiches and salads, and large numbers
of poults are used as broilers. No
dish is more valued in large cities
than the broiled poult.
Turkeys which are hatched early
in the spring should grow to weigh
from fourteen to twenty pounds by
Thanksgiving. These weights,, are
often exceeded by the best growers,
but the question of profit from keep
ing turkeys simply resolves itself into
the ability of the grower to bring
them to marketable size.
The very large turkeys are not the
most profitable either to grow or to
sell. The medium sizes from nine to
eighteen pounds dressed are most de
sirable for family use.
The Bronze turkey, probably a cross
between the wild and' the tame tur
key, is the largest turkey purchased.
The standard 'weight of the Bronze
bird, which probably inherits both its
bronze-tinted plumage and its weight
from its wild progenitor, ranges from
sixteen to thirty-six pounds according
to age and sex. Probably mors of
this variety are grown each year than
of all the others.
The Narragansett turkey comes next
to the Bronze in size. It is of black
ground color, each feather ending with
a band of steel gray, edged with black.
This imparts a grayish cast to the en
tire surface plumage.
Non , of the several varieties of tur
keys is more desirable than this for
all purposes The standard weights
of the Narragansett birds are, for
males, twenty to thirty pounds, ac
cording to age; for females, twelve to
ment stuck through the paper. Now
the President writes it on the type
writer and perhaps the time is not
far distant. when he will talk into a
disk-like arrangement and it will be
copied from a phonograph. Later it
may be sent to all the cities of the
world . by simply operating a set of
electric buttons.
How The Documents Are Preserved.
, It is interesting to know how the
document is prepared and given to
the public, and how each one is pre
served for all time. After it has been
written the original document Is copied
on the typewriter and the copies are
given out to the newspapers through
out the country with a date of re
lease; that is, a fixed time when it
shall be published. Then it is sent
to the Government printers and copies
are typed on heavy official parrv
The signature of the President is aUo
in type and to the left of the signa
ture and above the signature of t
Secretary of State Is the reservation
for the Seal. These copies are se'ntr
to the Bureau of Archives where the
custodian preserves them. The copies
of the document are carefully kept
on racks while the one bearing the
official signature of the President is
placed in a metal-lined wooden case
capable of protecting papers for cen
turies. The metal cases line the walls
of the . Bureau of Archives. , Every
year experts examine the cases to see
that none of the older copies suffer
from dry rot or other ailments to
which even fine official paper is sub
ject. '
The signatures of the Presidents
differ widely, " for - there one sees
Lincoln's Irregular letters, Grant's tiny .
signature,' Arthur's bold handwriting,
Roosevelt's queer, half legible letters,
Taft's fcig characteristic subscription,
and President Wilson's plain, straight
signature. The splendid condition of
the proclamations Is due -to the ex
cellent care given them by the cus
todian of the archives, who guards
them' as carefully as V gardener,
watches his tender flowers. '
Originally A Wild vaneiy.
The Bourbon Red known also as
Bourbon ' Butternut and . Kentucky
Red is believed by some authorities
to have been originally . a wild form
found in southern Iowa, Missouri, and
Northern Arkansas. Zt has only late
ly become recognized by breeders as
a standard variety. In color it is dark
or brownish red, with white in wings
and tail, tips of feathers bluish
bronze, undercolor almost white, in
some cases buff; in average weight it
almost reaches that of the -Bronze
variety. . - ,
The Slate turkey is In color an ashy
or slaty blue throughout, usually
spotted with black, with the female
generally of lighter , color than the
male. They are average size, the
standard weights ranging from twelve
pounds for a pullet to twenty-seven
pounds for an old male. -
The origin of the White Holland
turkey ! unknown. How they
acquired the name of Holland is un
known, as they are not natural to
Holland. In English poultry books
they are referred to as "Austrian
Whites," and have been reared in
England for over a hundred years.
White turkeys were formerly very
delicate and rather ?mall but with
careful breeding with white sports
from either the Bronze or Narragan
sett varieties, they have Increased In
size and vigor, although the admix
ture of blood has darkened the color
of shanks and plumage.
The Black turkey . was for a tJx
almost forgotten and quite neglected,
but of- late more attention has been
given it, greatly to its advantage and
improvement along the lines of mar
ketable qualities. '
The Black turkey of today Is almost
large as the Bronze, and fully its equal
in many ways. This is due to crosses .
made with Bronze turkeys and to prop
er selection thereafter. Tha dress to
the most salable sizes, and by Thanks
giving the young stock, If properly
cared for, will attain the live weight
of from fourteen to twenty
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