1398 
Vht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
N'ovoniin-r '25, 1!)22 
Boys and Girls 
By Edward M. Tuttle 
To all our boys and girls, this Thanksgiving Day 
Gratitude and glee, in fullest measure be, 
Thanksgiving Joy 
Cartloads of pumpkins as yellow as gold, 
Onions in silvery strings, 
Shining red apples and clusters of grapes, 
Nuts and a host of good things; 
Chickens and turkeys and fat little pigs, 
These are what Thanksgiving brings. 
Work is forgotten and playtime begins, 
Front office and schoolroom and hall 
Father and mother and uncle and aunt, 
Nieces and nephews and all, 
Speed away home as they hear from afar 
The voice of old Thanksgiving call. 
Now is the time to forget all your cares, 
Cast every trouble away; 
Think of your blessings, remember your 
joys. 
Don’t be afraid to he gay; 
None are too old and none are too young 
To frolic ou Thanksgiving Day. 
author? 
Maryland. Sent by < taka cox. 
hr aim by t ndrew Alinsick (I / t cars) 
Connecticut 
The Thanksgiving Spirit 
Once more it js the season of Thanks¬ 
giving. From the youngest reader of Out 
P age to the oldest grandfather of the big 
Hunw. Nkw-Yokkkk family each of us 
Can find very much for which to he thank¬ 
ful. Even though some things may not. 
he just as we could have wished them, 
that is no reason to be fretful or un¬ 
happy. Look for the bright things and 
you will find a-plenty, lie glad for life 
and health and home and food and cloth¬ 
ing. Be glad for family and friends and 
work and play. Be glad to belong to this 
great smiling land of ponce and plenty. 
And when you have tilled your own heart 
full of the Thanksgiving spirit 
Pass It On 
Let those you meet feel your joy and 
gratitude. Say a kindly word of greet¬ 
ing to each one. Watch for chances to 
make others happy. Some have burdens 
heavier than yours. Perhaps you can 
lend a helping hand. 
Let the dumb creatures, the animals 
and pets about you, feel your thanks to 
them. They have served you well. The 
horse whose back you ride, the cow whose 
milk you drink, the cackling hens whose 
eggs you gather, the eat that rubs against 
your legs and purrs, the dog that is your 
faithful comrade—all these and others 
deserve your good care and kindness. 
The Thanksgiving Feast 
All boys and girls love the bustle and 
the plans for Thanksgiving Day. What 
fun to Jielxt in the kitchen, or to set the 
big table, or to bring in a few bright 
decorations, or to welcome the company 
and entertain them ! What fun when ail 
is ready at last to gather around the 
Thanksgiving feast, to eat and talk and 
laugh and sing! How good to look hack 
and say what a happy time it was! How 
best of all to feel that wo have helped to 
make it so! 
Our Page This Month 
Many readers have helped to make this 
page. Your editor has had so much to 
choose from that he has fell rich indeed. 
1 want to thank each one who wrote. 
Whether you find printed what you sent 
is not the important thing. Of course I 
have to make a selection, for Our Page 
can only hold just so much. But every 
letter has helped to make the choice bet¬ 
ter. On page 1 -40<> you will Had a list 
of those who sent Thanksgiving sugges¬ 
tions. We all owe them a vote of thaaks. 
Thanksgiving Day 
(a story) 
One Thanksgiving morning mother 
called, “Henry! Mary! Get up now. 
You know we are going to the farm to¬ 
day. You must get up so we shall he 
ready when the wagon comes for us,” 
"AH right, mother. We will get right, 
up.” they said. 
At the breakfast table Henry said: 
“I can hardly wait until we get to the 
farm.” 
At last the wagon did come, and Jtow 
happy everyone was! The ride to the 
farm was joyful, but eold. When they 
had crossed over the bridge by the farm 
and could see the house, there were 
auntie and uncle and grandmother and 
grandfather on the porch, and cousins 
Will and Helen. 
Through the gate they went. "Hello, 
everybody!” A merry handshake, and 
then they were taken into the house. 
Taking off their wraps, they sat down 
by the old fireplace to get warm. 
Polly, auntie’s parrot, said: “Come 
in! Come in! Shut the door. Cold 
day !” 
“Oh, Polly, you funuy bird!” cried 
Mary. 
“Mary,” said Helen, “would you like to 
gu up to the playroom?'’ 
“< )h, yes. of course we Should, very 
much,” said Mary. So Helen took Mary 
and Will took Henry. They went laugh¬ 
ing up tin* stairs. The playroom was n 
small sunshiny room on the second Hour. 
The children had been allowed to pick 
out the wallpaper that they liked best. 
The border was made up of animals and 
(lowers. The paper was covered with 
pink roses. There was a small stove 
over in the comer to keep the room 
warm. Helen had a small table and four 
chairs. She also had a desk with it chair. 
There were games played and they also 
played at keeping house. 
After it while tin- children were called 
for dinner. First then* was it large tur¬ 
key brought in, with gravy and mushed 
potatoes. Then there were squash aud 
cranberry sauce, cabbage, canned com 
aud many other good things. Then in 
came a big pumpkin pie and a cake with 
whipped cream that melted in your 
mouth. 
After all were through eating they 
went into the parlor. Helen and Will 
and Henry and Mary had written to 
each other and had planned secretly a 
- —. 
“All Mas to Go Down "Now to’ One 
to do Halinya'it to Kill Wlno-I:—Watch 
'iia." 
•; ra a 
Out!” 
_ ■»_ 
■! Why I min’ 
lPd ’im ?’* 
V___ 
"Yassuli—Pis Yero is 
do Turkey Yo’ Oran’- 
pa Tot’ Me to Kill.” 
Drawn h// Elizabeth flanouny (l \ Yearn), A 'nr Yurt; 
short program. Helen played the piano 
while the rest of the children sang. The 
afternoon passed quickly and happily. 
'Then it was four o'clock came milking 
and other chores. 
They all went out to the big barn. 
First came a visit to the horses; then to 
the darling little calves. The children 
stroked their soft coats. Then there was 
the milking machine to he watched. 
After chores they had supper, and later 
a tire was built in the fireplace. They 
nil sat down and told stories. They 
played a game where some one starts a 
Story and then someone else lakes it up 
and continues. 
vkrna Colvin (12 years). 
New York. 
Thanksgiving Day 
l’ies of pumpkin, apple, mince, 
Jams and jellies, peach and quince, 
Purple grapes and apples red. 
Cakes and nuts and gingerbread— 
That’s Thanksgiving. 
Turkey! Ah. what a great big fellow! 
Fruits all ripe and rich and mellow. 
Everything that's nice to eat, 
More than I can now repeat— 
Thai's Thanksgiving. 
Lots and lots of jolly fun. 
Games to play and races run, 
All as happy as can be—- 
For all thi< happiness, you see, 
Makes Thanksgiving. 
We must thank the One who gave 
All the good things that we have; 
That is why we keep the day 
Set aside, our mothers say, 
For Thanksgiving. 
— By K.UGKNE FIELD. 
Sent by arm oku (1) years). 
New York. 
JDcty. 
Drawn by Margaret Halter (Id Years) 
.Maryland 
The First Thanksgiving 
(an essay) 
The Pilgrims came to America in De¬ 
cember. It*20. The first Winter they had 
a very hard time, and about half of the 
people died. 
The next Summer they planted their 
crops. In the Fall the people gathered 
all that they had planted, and there was 
more than .enough to last them through 
the Winter. So they decided to have a 
holiday and thank God for all that He 
had done for them during the Summer. 
They invited tin Indians to come. The 
Pilgrims hunted wild turkey and other 
things, such as rabbit and squirrel. The 
Indians brought: five large deer. 
The people feasted and played games 
for three days, and every day they 
thanked Gotl for His goodness. 
At first Thanksgiving was only kept 
by the people of New England, hut now 
it is kept by tin* people all over America. 
By M MUON hoj.mkk (It) years). 
Vermont. 
Thanksgiving 
A hustle in tlie kitchen. 
A smell of cakes and pies. 
Children looking everwhere 
With happy, wondering eyes. 
Apples ill the evening. 
Plenty of noise and play ; 
All this fun at grandma's 
On Thanksgiving Day. 
AUTHOR? 
Sen t by m a m ik atki n s< > \ < 1 •'! yeti rs 1 . 
M ichigan. 
Thanksgiving 
(an Essay) 
When you say that glorious word 
which means tin* fulfillment of the Pil¬ 
grims’ struggle, do you visualize only 
heaps of goodies, or do you consider the 
grim determination, the wonderful faith 
and the unspeakable courage that brought, 
such a day into existence? Von must 
realize that every national holiday has 
■been brought into existence by some 
heroic struggle or some groat belief that 
has played upon (he heartstrings of a 
people. And so it is with Thanksgiving. 
The Pilgrims sulVetvd and labored in that 
vast wild country that (here at last they 
might have freedom of worship. 
Cun you imagine the terror that 
clutched every heart when the grim hand 
of Winter snapped the gentle threads of 
life in that barren land with only a hand¬ 
ful left to mourn aud wish for a like 
fate? 
Bui its Springtime in her kindly gar¬ 
ments stepped forth (hero was a renewal 
of courage. Every person in that Pil¬ 
grim colony worked with his whole being, 
praying that at last a foothold might lie 
gained. 
The weeks crept by until the arrival 
of late Summer. Fall was marshalled in 
with her spicy breath—crimson, golden 
and green robes fluttering vividly in the 
breeze. And behold '. The prayers of 
the little hand of wanderers had been 
answered. For on tin hillside, gleam.ng 
in the sun. was a golden harvest of corn. 
Throughout the woods tin* gobble-gobble 
of the turkeys sounded on the frosty air. 
From the open cabin doors came fra¬ 
grant odors. In this little community 
there was great rejoicing. The people 
Drawn by William hook (9 Yearn) 
New York 
were glad with a prayerful gladness that 
comes only from the heart. So on that 
wonderful morn, over 200 years ago, the 
sturdy Pilgrims trudged gravely to 
church with a strength of character and 
a grim determination clearly portrayed 
on their mobile features. All thought of 
physical satisfaction was lost in the 
vaster project, of giving thanks to llie 
Master of Destinies. By this fruitful 
harvest the Pilgrims realized that their 
suffering was not for naught. They 
realized they could now withstand the 
gruesome Winter. At loM the founda¬ 
tion of a colony was started in which 
they could live true, steadfast lives, hav¬ 
ing what had cost them so dearly—free¬ 
dom to worship God whom they so re¬ 
vered, By LUCILLE CARRIER. 
Massachusetts. 
Billy's Thank-you Day 
(A story) 
Billy sat in an easy chair in the 
library. He had been looking forward 
for so long to the time he would have on 
Thanksgiving. lie was to go to bis 
grandfather’s on Thanksgiving Day. All 
Ids little cousins were going, too. But 
the thing that he was so sad over was 
that he was taken sick the night before 
and the doctor would not let him go to 
his grandfather’s. He felt very badly 
over it. 
His mother had just gone into the din¬ 
ing room after some goodies for Billy 
when she Hooped to pick up an empty 
basket. Then she went into the kitchen 
aud got a nail of beans. She brought 
them to Billy and said: "Think of as 
many things as you can for which to be 
thankful, and count a bean for each 
one.” 
Billy answered: ”1 don't know what 
I have to la* thankful for when I can’t 
go to grandfathers.” 
Just then his father said: “If I were 
you I would look for the biggest beau 1 
could find and drop it into the basket.” 
Then his mother said : “T would find 
another big bean and put it into the bas¬ 
ket for your father as well ns for your 
mother.” 
Before night the pail of beans was 
empty and the basket wa> almost full. 
Billy' didn’t have a very lonely Thanks¬ 
giving Da; after all. 
By JULIA DAN forth (11 years). 
New York. 
The turkey is a mournful bird 
From all that 1 have heard, 
if he could live this daj to see 
How very thankful he would be! 
Sent by FLOSSIE rank (11 years). 
New York. 
Thanksgiving Day 
God of oceans, plain*- and deserts, 
God of meadow, field and wood, 
All You make aud till You give us 
Is most perfect and most good. 
All we have to do is love You, 
Being grateful, as You give 
Never-failing good and blessings 
All the happy days we live. 
We, Your little children, thank You. 
And we take this way to say 
That our hearts are vein grateful 
On thi> dear Thanksgiving Day. 
New York. 
At t UOU? 
Sent by RUTH TRUF.lSHAI.3, 
The Nature Puzzle 
The names of those who identified the 
bird described by John Gebmau as the 
woodcock will he found oi page 1100 
Several also enclosed drawing*-, but there 
seems to he no good place to pt*t otic this 
