Show t I 1 e t it 1 it op n HE two dozen and more men who have in the tle cou he u of a century and a decade served as presidents of the united states have man mant tested quite a variety ot of tastes and preferences in their observance of our great national holidays or rather all the holidays save one the one excel tion in the category of hoi hol has been ing one and all our presidents have bare save under the most unusual circumstances observed the november day of prayer and thankfulness in pretty the same way indeed it Is something of a marvel that men of widely differing tern tem pera ments living at different periods of our history have found it possible to conform so closely to what has now almost become a set of unwritten rules at the white houe none of the veteran employed emp loyes of the pres identical Ident lal ial mansion has even been able to ad vance a wholly satisfactory theory as to why our chief magistrates have followed so closely in one another s footsteps in the ob servance of thanksgiving when they have allowed themselves considerable latitude with regard to other holidays such as fourth of july one supposition Is to the effect that the religious significance of 0 thanksgiving prescribes a certain form of observance another theory Is that it Is 13 the tact fact that thanksgiving Is so pre emi bently a family holiday a day for family reunions and finally and perhaps it is the most plausible pla usable Is the premise that precedent once firmly established at the white house Is pretty likely to be rigidly ad heared to whereas the program of a president ot of he the united states on the last thursday in november does not differ muen from that of many an ordinary citizen the thanks 1 giving event requires attention from jilin earlier than from the average individual i who perhaps does not give it a thought until the good wife reminds him that he had bet er engage a turkey or the son and heir begins to disc discus ilso the prospects ot of the thanksgiving day football contest the tore fore thought ot of the president in the matter arises from the responsibility chich rests upon him for the issuance of the official thanksgiving day proc la matlon mation which fixes the date and formally calls upon all the people of the country to assemble in the churches and give thanks for the blessings of the year As it Is there Is no surety and little likelihood that a busy president will on his own initiative assume the role of herald of the thanksgiving accordingly one of the clerks at the white house whose duty it Is to keep tab of the dents dent s engagement and act as a human memorandum rati durn pad reminds his chief along about the first week in november that it is time to issue the customary thanksgiving proclamation or perhaps the proclamation beautifully engrossed comes over to the white house from the state department all ready for the president presidents signa ture and this lets a secret out of the bag namely that no all of our prest presidents lents have writ ten their own proclamations roosevelt who rather prides himself on his lit arary abilities insisted on doing so but most of 0 the occupants of the white hause have been only too glad to fall back on precedent and allow this call to be properly phrased by a man named smith who holds a confidential position in the state department and has been for lo 10 these many years acting as the chief executive executives s proxy in writing holiday proclamations and composing those ceremonial letters of congratulation or con dolence which our ruler Is called upon to send every now and then to sovereigns overseas with the proclamation out of the way the prest dent does not need to bother any further about the preliminaries tor for thanksgiving not even as to the turkey for the feast since kind hearted admirers of the chief magistrate can always be depended upon to send him especially choice gobblers as gifts why one pr prosperous farmer in rhode island has not missed a thanksgiving for considerably more than a third of a century in the donation of a white house thanksgiving bird apparently he does not let his own politics in clience the size of the birds he sends either for grant and cleveland and roosevelt all received from this so irce turkeys that tipped the scales at close to 36 pounds apiece thanksgiving day when it arrives is a morn ing when the president does not navy havia ta to tamble U 0 t r arf fv 47 wr wl it Is pretty safe tor for the president of the united states to count on a house ull full of people on thanksgiving the holiday Is recognized as the occasion tor for family reunions and when as in the case of roosevelt and taft there are a number of children the young people have all come home for the occasion like as not accompanied by school friends who account it a real treat to be i entertained at the white house over a holiday in the case of presidents who like Mc mcfinley hinley have had no living children there have usually been nieces and nephews and other relatives to make up a merry circle and one mistress of the white house the belfied mrs hai haes es made it a custom to entertain at dinner on such occasions all the employed emp loyes of the presidential offices and their tami faint lies however in justice to latter day first ladles adles of the land it should be explained that such hospitality would be no slight chore when there are dozens of employed emp loyes A to say nothing of the couple of dozen police men who are detailed to guard the white house in some adminis tra tlona it has been the custom to spend the evening of ing day very quietly at the white house but latterly with the principal meal of the day postponed until J nightfall it has been the rule for the din 4 X ner party to adjourn to i the spacious and his torte east room for so caal festivities of one kind or another there inere Is always music on such occasions the 15 gold piano being ready to handin hand in one corner of the big room and when young people have been in evidence as at every WA I 1 j thanksgiving celebia 1 P tion in the white K house during the past N decade there has us bally been some ing the old fashioned dances such as the virginia reel being the favorites on such ac cassons president taft apra ra r ayr ZV 7 r 17 OR A RIP f out of bed at any particular hour because the president has no office hours on to some of our presidents euch such as roosevelt who were never tempted to oversleep this Is no special boon but it Is something of a blessing to the present occupant of the white house who Is by preference a late riser the white house offices are op open e n on thanksgiving as they are on ever every ae other day day and night in the year and the president may stroll over to dispose of the most urgent mall mail and telegrams but there Is nothing obligatory about this and there have been thanksgivings on which the chief magistrate has not set foot in his fits w workshop the gnp on preeminent pre eminent and invariable duty of ali thanksgiving morning tor for the president Is at at divine worship having advised other people to repair to the churches on this oc caslon to give thanks it would be accounted odd it if he did not do likewise no matter what the weather conditions very often the president has walked to church on thanksgiving and he Is al most certain to find his route lined with spectators who avail themselves of a ej certainty that does not characterize a presidents president s churchgoing church going at other times almost all our presidents from washington to lincoln attended thanksgiving services in quaint little st john s church nick named the church of the presidents which stands just across the park from the white house but later presidents have worshipped in different edifices president tatt taft goes to a uni tartan church about one third of a mile from the presidential mansion but mrs taft and miss helen go to st john johns s to occupy the pew that for nearly a century has been reserved tor for our presidents president s families of late years the president has on some thanksgivings attended two church services in succession and this brings him home late tor for luncheon just here should be mentioned one of the few changes that have ever taken place in the white house program for thanksgiving day lears ears ago it was the invariable custom to serve the thanksgiving dinner at noon but latterly most presidents have preferred to have dinner sen seri ed at 7 or 0 clock in the evening an american president is allowed some latitude as to the manner marner in which he spends the after noon of thanksgiving day he may spend it visiting ting with his family or reading but almost invariably the later afternoon Is devoted to a constitutional A long walk Is an excellent appe tizer tor for the turkey and cranberry sauce al though some of our later presidents including both taft and roosevelt have ridden horseback in the twilight of the autumn holiday it may be added however does not need the char liable consideration of square dances he Is adept at waltzes and other round dances and trips the light fantastic with the enthusiasm or of a man of half his weight |