Show 0 4 4 2 41 J J q ay y F AV v d e an X x t 4 IN Y 4 aa Br icardi gae fiert pt step T by ELMO SCOTT WATSON the official observe ie nee et r the second sunday la in may as ag mothers day Is regarded as a modern modem cu custom it Is in reality a revival r of one of the oldest feasts celebrated by mankind for the gifts of lowers lowen en candy and the like which we send ain on mothers ers day correspond to the ancient cake a feature of mothering day of the early britons on mothering day sill all young persons away from home visited their parents taking along gifts of sweet confections confect ions of honey in the form of alenel cakes still farther back in antiquity the people of asia minor held a feast early in may to worship rhea the great mother of the gods and this feast liter later became the feast of hl HI larla an annual event on the ides of march in greece and rome just how much these ancient rites contributed to the modern modem celebration of mothers day it la is impossible to say eay for there Is some dispute as to the origin of the idea which resulted finally in setting aside the second sunday of may for honoring the mothers of the nation no less than four cities in as many different states claim that honor for one of their citizens up in albion N Y they will tell you yon that it originated there and otter offer the following facts in support of that statement george M pullman dedicated a home on en the st lawrence river to father and mother this was opened for a large family reunion in august 1888 in 1894 1804 a church was built by mr pullman in albion in memory of his parents he put a great deal of thought sentiment and time into both buildings the home and the church these two things and the manner in which the work was done made such an impression upon the people at albion that at the first anniversary ot of the mothers passing on it was decided to call the sunday nearest that date mothers day and they voted that hereafter in that church it should be an annual event no one at that uwe time had any thought of how far reaching this observance would become or that it would so appeal to all lovers of mothers as the yearly celebration has now blown bbown down in henderson ky they clairn claim the honor for mary towles wilson born and reared in ia this little city on the south bank of the ohio river in the COs she labored earnestly to have april 20 her mothers natal day observed in the schools in the manner in which the day Is now celebrated in miss then a school teacher published a book setting forth her ideas alms and objects dedicating the volume to her mother with a hope for national recognition she traveled extensively and addressed various educational meetings throughout the country in her effort to have the day observed in the schools it was wag in the little center street school of henderson that the first observance of mothers day was held by miss and in 1894 1804 she succeeded in having it celebrated in the public schools of springfield ohio in 1899 she became a candidate for superintendent of public instruction of kentucky and it was then generally discussed over the state that fhe bad first conceived the plan of celebrating mothers Mo thera day mary Toles tow les married judge marshall wilson of florida and gave her life to the cause of motherhood when her first child was born still another claimant to the honor Is indianapolis rad ind which comes forth with a citizen who it says Is the father of mothers day recently representative louis ludlow of indiana in a speech on the origin of mothers day put forward the indianapolis citizens claim to the honor ills speech as reported in the con Cress loual record follows mr speaker one of the most blessed of all anniversaries Is mothers day the very name of et i this anniversary makes a thou sand bells to t tinkle in our decol lection it sends us as back to first principles and revives all of the hallowed memories of childhood it brings before the vision of evry one brie of us the sweetest face we have ever known we see bee her smiles and tears and once more hear bear her ting ring her lullabies lull it makes our hearts throb and our voices choke as we recall the unfathomable devotion of mother how she tolled and suffered and the privations she endured that we might be fed and clothed and trained to ao 30 do the part of honest est lind and upright citizens in the varied activities of life it Is to me a source of special pride that the city which I 1 have the honor to represent in the congress of the united states was the birthplace of mothers day dar A silver tongued orator of indiana frank E nering biering first coined the sacred phrase which Is now recurrently heard around the world the order of eagles of which he has long been an outstanding leader took up the slogan and giving expression to the mother love that is in the hearts of all of us it has striven worthily and accomplished a great deal toward throwing the encircling arms of love and protection around the poor and aged mothers of the land A most interesting account of the origin of mothers day is contained in an editorial that appeared ln in the indianapolis times on february 7 1930 mr royd gurley the author of the editorial Is a patriotic and brilliant newspaper man who in 1928 was awarded the pulitzer Pull tzer goldmedal gold medal prize in competition with all of the editors of america for the most distinguished public service rendered by the newspaper profession during that year the editorial in the indianapolis times Is as follows A REAL HEAL anniversary this city has many anniversaries which it celebrates in pride and thankfulness the birthdays of 0 those who served the nation and humanity well of 0 soldiers and ot of statesmen who won glory and gratitude of poets who wrote tones songs that are immortal authors whose messages remain for or the ages today Is a different sort eort ol of anniversary niver sary it Is the birthday anniversary of an idea which became an impulse an impulse that became a great movement on the evening of february 7 2904 IS 04 the english opera house was crowded those who assembled belonged to the lodge of eagles the speaker was a young professor or from notre dame notable chiefly as a belne being the first arst protestant n t to hold such a position in that u university niver ve sity ralty otto de luse bad found him at sonth bond and been impressed by his oratorical charm he did not suspect that the event was to make history it was on that night that frank E hering in a burst buret of oratory traced all the goodness of men to mother love all the advancement of civilization to the sacrifices of motherhood all the hopes of the future to the influence of mothers mo there he urged that in every eagles lodge one day be set bet aulda each year in which men would aerne remember their mothers and in that memory lilt lift themselves from sordid thought to higher planes of action the idea caught and held attention it was an appeal to something fundamental it tapped the wells of all inspiration so it happened that in many eagles lodges long before mothers day became a national institution programs each year were held to bonor the mothers of men the idea that found expression in the english theater bad become a movement when a few years ago the american war mothers became interested in tracing the origin of this national anniversary they searched the records others claimed recognition to this honor but the war mothers one of ct the few bodies chartered by congress decided that frank 13 U hering was the real father of Ni mothers others day last fall they sent a committee to his hones home in south bond bend to pin upon hla his breast their medal of honor awarded to but thres others all from military life ills his Is the only award to a civilian an idea once started does notel it grows grown out of it almost as a corollary came the national cr crusade a that has resulted in such laws in several states and seems fated to become a law sooner or later la in all states without mothers day and the sentiment it brings to the surface in mens hearts the old age aee pension movement might never have appeared from that same Mot mothers bers day there can be predicted other movements that will seek to soften the burden of sacrifice that will remove the menace of heart heartbreak brea kand and woe that will rob motherhood of much of its sorrow and leave leav it only its glory it to IB well to remember anniversaries especially of imperishable ideas idea it la is also well tor for indian indianapolis ap to remember in pride that with her other contributions to pro progress giess and civil civilization it the birthplace tor for a great idea from which has come better things for or all the fourth city which claims the honor of having given ghen to the nation this red letter day on its calendar Is philadelphia the quaker city points out that the movement which resulted in congress passing a joint resolution authorizing a mothers day find and in president wilson issuing a special proclamation designating a sunday in may as the date thus giving the observance the official sanction of the government of the united states was started there in by one of its daughters miss bliss anna jarvis jarels miss jarvis mother who W ho died in ili 1007 had been active in t the he worl work ol of the church find and sunday school of a small town in virginia on the anniversary of her death the pastor asked the daughter to arrange for a special serece sen ice in the church where her mother had been a leading spirit in comp complying lulng with the request she began to realize the growing g lack of tender consideration of absent mothers on the part of t children who bad left the home root roof and strayed out into the world each with a different interest miss bands tan is talked the matter over with a friend saying she would like to have one day of the year set aside especially dedicated to the best little mother in the world through the influence of this friend and others who had become interested the first observance of the day was held may hay 10 1008 1908 in philadelphia with special services sn in all the sunday schools in the city so popular was the idea with the people that miss bliss jarvis became eve even more interested and began a widespread publicity of the event she wrote letters or interviewed people in all walks of life tor for a proper observance of the day by the time another anniversary had come around many individuals and organizations observed the second sunday in slay may with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the best mother who ever lived As a result not only the entire nailon nation but many foreign countries 0 observe this day with appropriate ceremonies pennsylvania was the first to make it a state holiday this was in 1913 in the same year the mayor of boston set an example of gling giving a free frea picnic in a park when all mothers and their children were given a big dinner by the business men of city the object was to give a day da of rest and recreation to mothers who have not had a summer vacation away from the city and who get few opportunities to do so on may a resolution passed by the senate and house of representatives senta tives to make the second sunday in slay may a national holiday dedicated to the memory of the best mother in the world your mother president wilson was authorized and requested to issue a proclamation to display united states flags on all government bullings bul Illings in celebration of the day it Is IB said that when president wilson signed the proclamation he turned to william jen jennings clings bryan his secretary of state elate and said bryan the finest thing this cengr congress ess has done god bless the mothers each year the idea grew more and more popular until in a few years there was iwas scarcely a small church or an organization throughout the land that did not make some observance of the day and then came world war and it was during this time that the day was more universally observed than at any previous time coys boys in france were requested to write their mothers on that day and so great was the response that shipload after shipload of letters landed at the port of new york to be distributed all over vie the nation to mothers whose sons had gone across at the be beginning inning the slogan adopted was as it still Is in lionor honor of the best mother who ever lived and the badge was then the white carnation it Is said that this flower was chosen because I 1 it t was the favorite flower of a president famous for his devoal devotion on to his bis mother william lIc Kinley who mho habitually wore it a w white b ile caros caritis tion in her honor |