| Show ort 1 0 NN if 7 4 G 4 Z A T WAZ V sy 1 I g mr 4 arz dalp fiorit step 7 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ALTHOUGH tile the official observe JA abuce of the second sunday fall a 1 in may hay as mothers day Is regarded bg ed a modern modem custom it Is in reality a revival v of one of the oldest feasts I 1 celebrated by mankind ri for or the gifts of flowers e rs candy and the like which we send on M moth 0 th ors ra day correspond to tile the anc ancient lent cake a feature of mothering day of the early britons on mothering day all young persona away from home visited their parents taking along gifts of sweet confections confect ions of honey in the form ot of strand calces cakes still farther back in antiquity the people of asia minor held a feast early in may to worship blied the great mother Mothe of the gods and this feast later became the feast of ut ul tarla an annual event avent on the ides of march in greece and rome blust fus how much these ancient rites contributed to the modern modem celebration of mothers day it Is impossible to say for there Is some dispute ris ns to the origin of the iden idea which resulted finally in setting aside the second sunday of may for honoring tile mothers of the nation no less than four cities in as ciany different states claim that honor for one of their aitt tens up in albion N T Y they will tell you that it originated there and offer the following facca in support ot of that statement george georg ge M pullman dedicated dedicated a home chome on tile the st lawrence river to father and mother this was opened for a large family reunion in august 1883 1888 in 1894 a church was built by mr pullman in albion in memory of his parents parent sIle lie put a great deal of thought sentiment and time lato into both bull buildings dings the home and the church these two things and the manner in which the work was done made a uch euch an impression upon the people nt at albion that at the first anniversary of the mothers passing on it was decided to call the sunday nearest that date data mothers day and they voted that hereafter in tint that church it should be an annual event vo no one at that time had any thought of liow how far reaching this observance would become or that it would so appeal to nil all lovers of mothers as the yearly celebration has now shown down in aenderson ne ky they claim tile lionor honor tor for mary towles wilson born 13 0 rn a and ild reared in this little city on tile the mouths bunk of the ohio river in tile COs she labored earnestly to have april 20 tier lier mothers natal day observed in the schools in the manner in which the day Is now celebrated in 1803 1893 miss bliss then a school teacher published a book setting forth tier her ideas alms alma and objects dedicating the volume to her mother with it hope for national recognition she traveled extensively and addressed various educational meetings throughout the country in tier her effort to have the day dal observed in the schools it was in the little center street school of II enderson that tile first observance of ers day was held by bliss and in 1891 she succeeded Eucce eded in lining having it celebrated celebia ted in the public schools of springfield ohio in 1809 she became a candidate for superintendent of public instruction of kentucky and it was then generally discussed over the state that she had first conceived the plan of celebrating mothers day mary towles married judge marshall Mars liall wilson of florida and gave her life to 6 the cause of motherhood when her first arst child was visa born still another claimant to tho the honor Is indianapolis ind which comps 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 tho the congressional record ecord Il follows mr speaker one of the most blessed of all anniversaries Is mothers day dai the very name of this anniversary makes it thousand bells to tinkle ln in our recollection it sends us back to list principles and revives till all of the hallowed memories of childhood it brings before the vision of evry evory ory one of is us the sweetest face we have ever ever known we see her smiles and tears end and once more hear her sing her lullabies lull it makes our hearts throb and our voices choke as we recall the unfathomable devotion of mot mother lie r 11 how she tolled and suffered and the privations she endured that we might be fed and clothed and trained to do the part of honest and upright c citizens in the varied activities of 0 life it Is to me a source of special pride th that atthe the city which I 1 have the honor to represent in the congress of the united states was the birthplace of mothers Mot liers day A silver tongued orator of indiana frank E hering first coined the sacred phrase which Is now recurrently heard around the world the order of engles eagles of which he line has long been an outstanding leader took up the slogan and giving expression to tile mother love that Is in tile the hearts of oil all of us it lias has striven worthily and accomplished a great deal toward throwing the encircling arms of love end and protection around the poor and aged bothi mothers ers of the land A most interesting account of 0 the origin of mothers day Is contained in an editorial that appeared in the indianapolis times on february 7 1930 mr boyd gurley the author of the edl editorial torl Is a patriotic and brilliant newspaper man who to in 12 1028 was aawar awarded d ed the pulitzer Pull tzer gold goldmedal medal prize in competition with all of the editors of america for or the most distinguished public service ice rendered by the newspaper profession during that year the editorial in the indianapolis times Is as follows A REAL anniversary this oil city has many anniversaries which it celebrates in pride and thankfulness the tha birthdays of those who served the tha nation and humanity well of soldiers and of 0 statesmen who won glory and gratitude ot of poets who wrote songs aanes that are ara immortal authors author whose messages remain tor for the ages today Is a different sort of anniversary niver sary it to Is the birthday anniversary of an idea which became an impulse an impulse that became a great movement on the evening of february 7 1904 the tha english opera house houna was crowded those who assembled belonged to the tha lodge of eagles the speaker was waa a young professor from notre dame notable chiefly as being the first protestant to liola hold such A position in ver varsity sity otto do de luse had bad found him at south bond bend 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 G E hering in a burst of oratory traced all the goodness of men to mother lovev love all the advancement of civilization to the sacrifices of motherhood all the hopes of the future to the influence of mothers jie urged that in every eagles lodge one day be set aside each year in which men would r remember their mothers and in I 1 that at memory lift themselves from sordid tho thought u to higher p planes lanes of action the idea caught and hold held attention it was an appeal to something thin w fun fundamental fundament damen 1 al it tapped the wells well 0 of all inspiration so bo I 1 it t happened that in many E logical eagles lodges long before mothers day became a national institution tu t ion p programs each year were ware ha hem li t to dionor the mothers of men th the idea that found expression in the english theater had become a movement when a few years ago the american le an war bl mothers others b became a interested in tracing the origin rig 1 rmon of this national anniversary they searched the records others claimed recognition ni tion to this honor but the war mothers one of the few bodies chartered by congress decided that frank E biering was the real father of mothers daiy diy last fall they senta sent a committee to his home in south bend to pin upon his breast their medal of honor awarded to but three othe others ra all from military life ills Is the only award to a civilian an idea once started does not dle die it grows out of it almost as it a corollary came cama the national crusade that has resulted in such laws in several states and seems fated to become a law sooner or later in all states without mothers day and the sentiment it brings to the surface in mens hearts the old ao age pension movement might never have ap from that same ama mothers day thir there can be predicted other move aro nants t a that tha t will seek to soften ton the b burden u rd e n ot of sacr irce r ice that will remove m aye the menace of heartbreak and w woe e that will rob motherhood ot of much of its iti sorrow borrow and l nd leads it only it t my glory it is I 1 waleto well to remember anniversaries especially of imperishable ideas it la Is also well for or to remember in pride that with bar other contributions contribution to progress prof frea ani and civilization it furnished the birthplace for or a great idea from which has haa corns come better things for all the fourth city which claims the honor of having given to the notion nation this red letter dayon day on its calendar la Is philadelphia the quaker city points out that the movements movement which resulted in congress passing a joint resolution authorizing a mothers day and in president wilson issuing a special proclamation designating a sun adny in slay may as tile the date thus giving the observance the official sanction of the government of the united states was started there in 1008 by one of its daughters miss bliss anna jarels miss bliss jarvis mother who died in 1007 had been active in the work of the church and sunday school of a small town in virginia on jhb anniversary of her death the pastor asked the daughter to ito arrange for or a special service in the church where her mother had been a leading spirit in complying with the request she began to realize the growing lack of tender consideration ot of absent mothers on en the part of children who had left the home roof and strayed out into the world each with a different interest bliss ilass jarels talked the matter over with a friend saying she would like to hive have one day of the year set aside especially dedicated to the best little littie mother in the world through tile the influence of we this friend and others who had become interested the first observance of the day was held may 1 10 0 1908 1008 in philadelphia with special services in all the sunday schools salon is in the city so popular was the idea wath the people that miss jarvis became even more interested and began a widespread publicity of the event slie she wrote letters or interviewed people in all walks of life for a proper observance of the day by the time another anniversary had come around many individuals and organizations observed the second ad sunday in nay may with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the best mother who ever lived As a result no not tonly only the entire nation but many foreign countries observe this days day with appropriate ceremonies pennsylvania was the first to make it holiday this was in 1013 in the same year the mayor of llos ton ion set an example of giving a tree free picnic in a park when nil all mothers and their children were given a big hi dinner by the business men of tile the city the object was to give a day of rest and recreation to mothers who have not had it 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 may a national holiday dedicated to the memory of the best mother in tile the world your mother president wilson was authorized and requested to issue a proclamation to display united states flags on all government buildings in celebration of the day it Is said that when president wilson signed the proclamation on raan lie he turned to william jenning s r brynn ills his secretary of state and said bryan the finest thing this congress has done god bless the mothers each year the idea grew more and more popular until la in a few years there wits was scarcely a small church or on an organization throughout the land that did not make some observance of the day and then came th the world war and it was during th tills time that the day was more universally observed than at any previous time boys in france were requested to write their mothers on that day niad and so great was the response that shipload after shipload of letters landed at the port of new york to be distributed all over tile the nation to mothers whose sons lad had gone 1 across at the beginning the slogan adopted was ns as it still Is in honor of the best mother who ever lived and the badje badge was then the white carnation it Is said that this lower flower was chosen because it was the favorite flower 0 of a president famous for ills his devotion to Ws his mother WIllIa nii mckinley who habitually boia wore 8 a white carus carna tion in her honor |
