From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Nov. 22, 1914:

• “Several of the merchants of Lawrence have made plans to close their stores all day on Thanksgiving Day, on Thursday of this week. Thanksgiving day being a holiday by proclamation the merchants have agreed to go together and enjoy a day at home away from their business and think of the good business they have had during the past year.”
• “For the first time Lawrence will have four services in town on Thanksgiving day this year. It has always been the custom here for all of the churches to go together and have a union service, but these services have become so popular that the attendance is so large it is impossible for them to accommodate the crowd in any one of the churches. There is also another objectionable feature of having the services at one church, and that is the distance a great many of the people have to go. This year the services will be well distributed over the town.”
• “Bernard Knoll and James Lovers of New York are here today on their way to San Francisco. They are walking all of the way and they are making their expenses as they go. If they get through without having to draw any money they will each receive a prize of $500 from the Tiffany company. They left New York on June 16 and expect to get to San Francisco in February for the opening of the Exposition.”
• “The ladies of the Plymouth church who are gathering clothing for the suffering Belgians ask that everyone give all that they can. The need is great and any good clothing will be appreciated. They will be at the church tomorrow morning at nine o’clock and anyone who has a few articles to give to the Belgians may take them to the church or notify some one at the church.”
• “London. — Why England should restrict recruiting to men of the minimum height of 5 ft. 6 in. in days when battles are fought with long range weapons instead of broad swards and battle axes is puzzling many young patriots of under size who are anxious to go to the front. The old rule has already caused medical men to protest both in print and to the Army Medical Advisory Board…. What is needed these days is not brute power to wield heavy weights, but a wiry physique able to stand bad weather, irregular feeding, broken sleep, long marches and brains to take cover and shoot with skill and patience. The short man weighs less, needs less food, is easier of transportation, stands hard marching without his feet giving way, offers a smaller mark to the enemy, keeps himself warm in a smaller space and can shelter in a trench better than a big man. The heavier the man, the more food needed to keep up a given amount of physical exertion, and a man of 170 pounds requires a fifth more food than one of 140 pounds, it is scientifically estimated.”