Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-08-17

4 y =
| lst. Louis Republican,
That Monroe street goat proved
himself on the Fourth to be as patri-
otto as anybody i'm st. Louis, at least
he made as fine display of bunting
as any house on Fourth street.
There was a novelty about his bunt-
ing, of course. The bunting on the
stores down town showed stripes
frequently perpendicular, with a
batch of stars in the corner, while
the goats bunting was strictly In q
horizontal line, and the only stars
connected Herewith were those OBJ
served suddenly by the various hunt
| ers.
The goat probably wouldn't have
been so patriotic but for the boys.
He was nibbiing the scant heritage
beside the street on the morning OF
the Fourth, when he attracted the
attention of group OF tho worst
youngsters In the ward. and they re-
solved upon the brilliant expedient
of tying a bunch Of crackers TO his
tail, just to see what no would do.
They surrounded the goat, and, after
infinite strategy and a final desperate
battle, captured him. Then came
the task of attaching the bundle of
crackers to the animals tail, and
difficult task it proved.
Goats in general have no tail TO
speak of, and the Monroe street goat
In particular Is caudally deficient.
His tail is sonly an inch long, per-
fectly smooth, and with an unwaver-
ing tendency to point toward the
zenith. The boys tried for half an
hour to fasten on the crackers with
out success, until finally one boy,
who had learned TO tie some kind OF
sailors knot, accomplished the feat
thoroughly and satisfactorily. Then
the crackers were ignited and the
boys formed hollow square about
the goat awaiting developments.
At the first fizz Of the burning
crackers the animal leaped perpen.
dicularly five feet upward and came
down stlff-legged, casting at the
same time dreadfully interesting
look over his shoulder at its rear.
AS the fizz changed into flaming
sputter it leaped higher still and
came down more stiff-legged than
before, and then began shying about
sideways.
The boys. previous to aflixing the
crackers, had taken the goat into a
yard with high board fence about
ii so that 1t couldn't get away, but
they still remained In hollow
square to observe the phenomena OF
the occasion more closely.
Soon tho first cracker exploded,
and then followed a frightful scean.
The goat took in tho situation fully,
and then became baneful Nemesis.
With revengeful "bla-a-ah," and a
rush he knocked corner boy out OF
that hollow square and rod away,
and then wheeled like lightning and
charged again. The boys started for
that fence in wild stampede, but
not ono of them reached ii. The goat
shot about like giant boomerang,
and every time he struck boy that
boy went To grass total wreck.
tho crackers roared and famed, and
the goat resembled comet with
frey tail, careering through the air,
| rs he bounded from side to side, and
smote the hapless boys.
Before the bunch OF crackers was
half gone every boy was down, and
all afraid TO get up before the ra-
ging beast, save one boy who was
| lying close to the fence, and thought
he might get over before the whirl-
wind would reach him. He made
the attempt, but wasn'tquick enough
and dropped just i'm time TO let the
goat pass over him with terrible
force and pass through the fence
like cannon-ball, carrying off a
board as he went. The boys rushed
to the gap thus made, and saw ball
Of fire far down the street, going at
the rate OF 900 miles an hour, and
they saw no more goat on tho Fourth
of July. On tho next morning,
however, the animal was feeding
about in his accustomed haunts, and,
but for the blackened stump Of q
tail and sinister CLEAN In his eye,
no one would have supposed that 1t
had added In celebrating the Cen.
| taunial Fourth