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•November 24 1916 . THE people of the United States celebrate Thanksgiving day with more and more accord every year. Indeed, one might My they have more and more reason. The fathers of New England, hem med In betweeu a wilderness and the sea, watched their doubtful crops In anxious memories of other years of famine. When they found that once more there was flsh enough and pork enough and corn and beans and pump kins and squashes and turnips enough to carry them through the winter they met to thank God, knowing full weil how many hazards they had passed through, for those days as compared with today were days of pinching pov erty. The New England historian. Dr. Palfrey, says, with a certain dryness. which shows probably some personal preferences, "Baked bean 3 point to the time when It was desirable to make the most of the commonest vegetable by flavoring It with the flesh of the commonest animal." All this is happily changed. For the world. Indeed, the old peril of famine to well nigh forgotten. And why? The American of today gives thanks that famine Is well nigh Impossible. First of all. he remembers that he is no longer dependent on the crops of a few hundred square miles or the fish- Ing voyage of a single summer. Thanks to the providence of God as It has worked In history and to the work of brave men who believed they were children of God, the petty colo nies which were thus described are now one r.ation. Of that nation the meanest citizen, the most foolish, the weakest auJ the poorest, has every right and privilege before the law which belongs to the strongest, the richest and lue wisest, though he were born in the purple of luxury. To the widow's sou of the poorest citizen of that nation then, there will come his daily bread in answer to his daily prayer, though it come from the mill- Ing of California wheat or be the salmon caught at the falls of the Spo kane, without let or hindrance from any power of earth. If there is food in plenty in one region, as by the fall of an avalanche down a mountain, it will certainly seek consumption in an other region. And this the American boy and glfl owe to the good Prori dence and to the brave men who made this country one and have kept it one. It Is too much the blindness of our time to speuk as If such a simple busi ness as daily food came to us as a mat ter of course. There is. Indeed, a care less habit in which Americans often speak, as if. because they are Amer icans, they hiive everything without so much as asking for it. Fourth of July orators and street corner braggarts alike talk uf the natural products of this country almost in the tone of the emigrants rt'bo expect to pick up h donbloon upon the sidewalk. One is tempted to ask such braggarts why the country did not produce such wealth 100 years ago or 200 years ago. Why was Dakota then a desert? Why were the hilis of Alabama only a hid ing place for a few thousand Creek Indians? Why did they not forge the iron under their feetV Tfhj did not the Iro<fuois Iri~ western New York pick from their trees the peaches and the pears such as have been growing there this autumn.' The answer Is this: All the wealth of America comes to her from the work of ber men und women. The victory wiiich .yields it Is their victory. It is the victory of spirit conquering matter. It comes in the daily miracle of dally life, where children of God, led by God, taught by God. alive in his life and fellow workmen with him. carry out his designs and subdue the earth. It b neither sensible n>r grate ful to spe.ii; of teeming grui.aries, of increasing trade, of new mines, of oil, of Iron or of gas as if these things were wealth In themselves They are only wealth whfu man strikes the rock and its waters flow. And this man must be not the savage man who cares mily for his own personal appetite It must be man. the child of Ood. seeking a fu ture better than today, determined to bring in a nobler age than that which he lives ln. It is just and proper th»t all people should consider the source from whence our happi ness has come and set apart a day on which to return thanks unto God for the goodness with which our country has been bleasad. After th« Dinner. The after dinner amusements can be of the sportive kind, suitable to the day. There might be potato races, each potato bring canted on a spoon; guessing tlie number and weight of potatoes concealed In ■ heavy canvas bag or seeing who-could grab up the greatest number of potatoes from a barrel in a gKen time on the end of « hatpin and carry them to a basket at the other end of the room. NEWYORK'W ON THANKSGIVING ON Thanksgiving day the visitor to New York city, especially if he extends his observations to the poorer districts of tIR city, is much amused and interested by the ragamuffins who form a quaint and distinctive part of the city's celebration of the day. These ragamuffins are youngsters of both sexes who dress In all sorts of queer and elaborate costumes and parade the streets. There is no concerted general parade, but merely local uaemblafM, seldom over ten or twenty in number. Most of the groups are smaller. To "dress me up" the rasamuffins often add beg iring for small coins, fruit, candy, etc., and It Is this feature of the annual masquerading tliat has led in recent years to a demand for its suppression Often New York parents will give per mission to their children to masquer ade, but they add strict inJurKti >ns against begging. They are willing to let Johnny or Jennie enjoy the day In the ancient, time honored manner, but they set their faces against mendican cy. "You may dress up and go out, but you mustn't do any begging," Is the order. Many of the young ragamuffins find their greatest Joy in arraying them selves in the clothing of the opposite sex. Half grown boys trail long skirts behind them or imitate the fashion when It calls for short skirts. And the hats they wear are wonderful and fear ful creations. The little girls like to don trousers and discarded men's hats Often the boys and girls Mack their faces, but not many masks are seen Well known characters are frequently Imitated, and In the recent past a cer tain "movie" comedian with a funny A FUNNY RAGAMUFFIN. walk ami a laughable little mustache has been much in evidence on Thanks giving day in the New York streets. This Thanksgiving mummery In New York, which is not found in any other city, is a local custom, dating back sev eral decades to the old target compa nies which used to shoot for prizes. They were ward bodies in the days before the districts known as wards were abolished. On Thanksgiving day these target companies assembled and paraded from house to house, visiting the prominent men of each ward. These men, city officials, judges, poli ticians, etc., gave prizes which were shot for later in the day, and the day's festivities wound up with a ball. The target companies 'were succeeded by companies of men called "ragamuffins" or "fantasticals," who dressed In fan tastic garb on Thanksgiving day. These adult ragamuffins have now been succeeded by the youngsters who 'dress up." In a recent letter an old New Yorker writes thus of the ragamuffins: '•I was Interested In reading your article on the subject of the Thanks giving day mummers, and 1 am rather surprised that some ancient person In the Greenwich village could not give you some information as to the origin of the custom, which, as far as 1 know, is local to New York. "In my boyhood in the early seven ties there used to parade through the streets on Thanksgiving day bands of grown men, some on foot, some on horseback and others in the two wheel ed butcher carts of the day. clad in eccentric and fantastic clothes. These bands or companies called themselves the 'fantastical^' and were called by the people of the street the 'raga muffins.' They paraded In ■ spirit of more or less glee and were received with good nature ami amusement. "I used to be told by my elders that the fantasticals paraded in derision and mockery of the militia parades of the time, but their humor was proba bly leveled against the militia of at: earlier date and possibly In memory of the general muster and training of l still earlier day." She Xcavemvortb echo. M^^^&^O IT was In November and only the day before Thanksgiving. On the morrow aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and all relations would come and spend the day with Mr. and Mrs. Church well and little Florence. Mrs. Churchwell was the oldest daughter of Grandma Grey, and for that reason all the relatives spent the eventful day lit her house. Florence was a sweet little girl, much loved by all, and now that she had only one day to wait before tie reunion of the family she was In great excitement. Of course It was Florence who, on the following day, had to help Nora eet the table, and It was Flor ence who had to taste the candy to see If It was sweet enough. At 10 o'clock the next morning the family started to arrive and kept on coming until noon. Florence all this time was much fondled and petted, and Cousin Ned declared that there would be no Florence left if the hug ging did not stop. Games were played, songs were sung, and all was fun and merriment "Oh, look," said Cousin Alice, "It it snowing." And, sure enough, the snow was coming down in big flakes. The children all gathered around the win dow to watch the storm, when Cousin May saw a poor little girl trying to walk 'against the wind. She was shiv ering with cold, and her only wrap was a thin cotton shawl. "Call her in and give her something warm to eat," said grandma, who had gone to the window when she heard the children's exclamations of pity. "Yes," said Mrs. Church well. "Annie, call her in." The maid addressed went to the door and pulled in v half frightened and half frozen little girl. Meanwhile, Florence had gained permission not only to wait on the little girl herself, but also gave her the dollar she hau saved for Christmas presents. Flor ence went out in the ball to meet her and led her into the breakfast room, where before her Rhe put all kinds of goodies. Mrs. Churchwell said that she had warm clothes for her, and grand ma said she would inquire into her story and see what she could do. Aunts, uncles and cousins all deter mined to help in some way. After eat ing a warm dinner Florence took Edith, for that was her name, into the parlor, where she was plied with questions. She told Mrs. Churchwell that her name was Edith Oreyton and that she lived in an alley right in the middle of the next square; she also said she had two brothers aui one sister, all of whom were younger than herself. Her father was sick, and her mother had to wash to earn a living. After hear ing the narrative ami taking down her address. Mrs. Churchwell and Grand ma Grey took hei upstair*, where they dressed her in train) clothing and promised to call ami sec her mother. In the playroom that afternoon Flor ence sat surrounded by her cousins, to whom she was telling an idea. It would be less than a mouth till Christ mas, and why couldn't they all try to earn some incncy and take Edith a Christmas basket. This was voted ou unanimously, and eight little children went to their homes thinking of what they could do. That night, after the snow had stopped falling and the moon and stars had come out to play, the moon gazed down on the two happy children, one happy thinking of the good she had done and the other happy thinking of the good that had beeii done for her, and the moon smiled to himself and said, "For those two tots this has been a happy Thanksgiving.' —Buffalo Express. 00000000000000000000000000 o o o Thanksgiving is an occasion of 9 ° national interest, yet it possess** o O a significance that is entirely in- o O dividual. With many of us g 5 things have gone well this year. o O The table is laden with plenty. O ° There is meat in the larder and ? c there is grain in the storehouse. / o c OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOC Local Thanksgiving Days. The practice of having local Thanks giving days has prevailed to some ex tent in America. On Oct. 10, ISI4, the mayor of Baltimore, upon the sugges tion of the city pastors, appointed the following Thursday "to be observed as a day of thanksgiving to the Adorably Disposer of all human events on ac count of our recent deliverance from the British fleet and army." That was for Uie escape of Baltimore after the attack on Washington in 1814. A few months later the newspapers stated that "both bouses of the Ohio legisla ture on Wednesday, the Bth day of February, pursuant to a resolution pre viousiy adopted, moved iv procession to the Presbyterian roiMlUnl house iii Chilliootbe and rendered public thanks to Almighty God for granting such bril Hant success to our arms at New Or leans in the recent victories obtained by General Jackson and hU> compatri ots." C'hillicotbe at that time wu tb* capital of Ohio SONG OF THE GLAD FOLKS By FRANK L. STANTON. 1 reckon the folks'il enjoy the Thankagivin 1 — So many of 'em are glad that they're livin'. Here, in a world that's bo happy. no skies Beam any brighter than Love's sparklin' eyes. Day time or night time, They're flndin' the bright time, An' any time Love comes is always the right time. TEIXINO YOU BULL, TO COME TO THE TABLE BY TALUCT AXU BILL. With the fields Bayin" "Plenty," an" tellin' you still To come to the table, by valley and hill. An' the winds singin' Joy as they re sweep: n' along, I reckon we're here fer a Thanltb givin' song. So, day time or night time. We're reapin' the bright time, An' any time Love comes is always the right time. —Atlanta Constitution. Get butter wrappers at Echo office. CITY OR AY LINE Baggage Transfer All kinds of hauling promptly and carefully done Auto for Mire Will go anywhere, any time L J. HOWERTON, Prop. License No. 2 |j!!!j ' (([IB 1S U « '■•* SEATTLE'S NEWEST FIRE PROOF HOTEL Centrally located, light, mod ern rooms. — Everything First , clan. 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Sec ihem. &£ ihe [ Besjt Theatres Peach Blossom, or Wenatchee's Best The smoky haze in the air, the cool even- • ings, the frosty nights, warn us that summer is past! Baking days now take their place as the big days in the household. Home-made bread, cookies, pies and cakes are wholesome, delicious, and can never be supplanted by any other foods under the sun. Our flour is best for home baking. Wenatchee Milling Co., Wenatchee, Wash. - Even a Child Can make good biscuits with ytf^ HARRINGTON'S Best Flour. ,tj^3 It is so easy to make a pan of _^/^>\^ JJ light toothsome biscuits if you if"" 1 '"= Jb If X have the right kind of flour and m . .' If Qu-^^a , ours is the right kind. f Jf 1/ I \ ! Prove it to yourself by order- // , \\ I *" I 1 ing a sack today. tm I \\ I -1. / Leavenworth Mercantile Co. | SOLE AGENTS FOR LEAVENWORTH ■ Building Material If you are figuring on building material get our prices be fore you buy. 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