Show I HOLIDAYS AND PICNICS I Most of our public holidays have lost their original significance The Fourth of July dear to the heart of every American boy for the opportunity it V I gives him to disturb the peace without with-out being disturbed is now chiefly regarded I re-garded as a day for recreation Very few think of what it really means and I fewer still observe it by taking down the Declaration of Independence and V reading it on that day and reflecting on what our past history has been and wondering what the future has in store for our country Thanksgiving day is no longer observed as a day forgiving for-giving thanks but rather as a day of rest and recreation while presidential and gubernatorial proclamations < setting V set-ting it apart are very perfunctory papers I pa-pers and excite interest chiefly in the date fixed Memorial day too is losing much of its special character By those who would have religiously observed complaint is made that the people don do-n t pay that respect to the dead who died that the nation might live that they should But from a day of re1 i membrance of these dead it has come to be a day of remembrance for all the holy dead and on that day the mothers babe who died almost before it had seen the glorious light of day as well as the mothers son who died on the field of battle is remembered I and flowers are strewn over its grave When all this has been done is it wrong to remember the living to spend V the day in peaceful enjoyment perhaps i per-haps in the midst of the mountains or beside the waters of the lake It is not V I There are those who would make of the Sabbath naught but a day of dole and laceration of the spirit and almost I of the flesh who hold it wrong to worship God in nature and to experience experi-ence peace and joy It is the old Puritainic idea that anything that delights de-lights the soul and does not mortify the spirit is wicked And this is how many woi ld have all our holidays I served Jfly would have all go forth I in sackcl < jh and ashes and do I penance for wrongs that exist only in the imagination as the result of bad digestion People should observe their holidays as a good conscience directs And if to some picnics and outings on such occasions as Memorial day seem desecrations they should remember that those V who indulge in them have no thought of disrespect If many mourn it should be a thing of joy to them that all do not mourn It is the fate of all holidays to soon lose their distinguishing features and all become alike 0 0 I ih THE SALT LAKE HEBAJLD 7 MCXNDAY 3TJKE 8 1896 11 V V V V |