The President issued the Thanksgiving Day proclamation, setting aside Thursday, Nov. 24, “to be observed as a day of festival and thanksgiving by all the people of the United States at home and abroad.” The proclamation was issued from the State Department this afternoon by Secretary Hay. It acknowledges the debt of the American people to God for the blessings upon the nation during the past year in which “reward has waited upon honest effort” and calls on the nation devoutly “to give thanks to God for the benefits he has conferred upon us as individuals and as a nation and to beseech him that in the future his divine favor may be continued to us”.

50 Years Ago, 1954

Nobody knows when the first election was held. Apparently as soon as men got together, they started voting. Even the early kings ran into situations in which they figured it might be smart to see what the boys in the back ranks would have. They sometimes voted in a way that would be frowned upon in most well-run precincts today, by banging on their shields with their swords. The Greeks are believed to be the first to have had a secret ballot. Even they voted with a show of hands on matters of general interest. The word “vote,” by the way, was slow to making its way into English. It is from the Latin “votum,” meaning a vow or desire.

25 Years Ago, 1979

For the first time in more than 20 years, Maine’s largest electrical utility is rebuilding an old mill dam because once-outdated small hydro-electric stations are looking profitable again. Central Maine Power Co., after four years of applying for licenses, began rebuilding a 170-year-old dam on the fast-flowing Androscoggin River, calling the $21 million venture a “step towards energy independence” for Maine. The company says when the 12,000-kilowatt dam is complete in 1983 it will mean an annual savings of 150,000 barrels of oil.