Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-12-13
BAXTER'S BOY.

consecutive summers. Ii was at one
time quite famous in the neighdor-
hood for his ingenuity. Baxter is,
or was, very fond of referring to him
as ''that Oldest boy of mine-remark-
ably ingenious fellow"
One day Baxter found his boy out
in the woodshed trying to make a toy
cannon out of q beer bottle. The
boy was laboring with q t~hree-corner-
ed file ut the vent where the match
was to be applied. Baxter explained
that the bottle was not at all suitable
for the purpose intended ;the material
was too brittle. But lie would show
the boy how to make a toy cannon
that would entierly be safe. So he
procured Il pine stick and Whitfield it
down until it rescmbled the end of an
axeltrec then he wrapped a sheet CT
writing-paper around the plug just
below the shoulder, making Il sort Of
mould, and stuck q pin through the
paper and into the plug near the end.
He next whitfield the other end OF the
stick in the form of Il wedge, and
stuck it in Il crack in the kitchen
floor. The boy watched the process
with the closest attention. Baxter
then took Il small stGyc-sllovei, piac-
ed some lead scraps in it and PIT it
over the Goals in the kitchen stove.
When the lead was melted he careful
~ pourd it into the mould. Then he
allowed it to cool, unwound the writ
ing-paper, took out the pin, pulled
out tho plug, and said:
"Ihere, my son, Is Il cannon that
won't burst, if it does it will sort Of
tear open, and the pieces won't fly
The boy was happy. He mounted
the gun on wheels and entered upon
the enjoyment of q Fourth of July.
But his salts faction with this new
toy at length grew cold, and he turn
ed his attention to the construction
of a hand>organ cut of an UPSTREAM.
The following spring, when the
barn floor was cleared of stalks and
hay dust and was treated to its an
nual sweeping, HaXtcr's boy found
the lead cannon under the rubbish.
He looked it over and concluded it
ought to be longer and not SO large
roCnd-more like Il riae-cann0n and
less like a mortar. SO he made Il
new model, preparing it after the
manner i'll which he had seen his faith
CT make the other one. When il was
finished he brought 1t into the kitchen
and stuck it in crack near the stove.
His father sat ut the oth9r end of the
stove reading his almanac, and his
aged grandmother WAS s]lceinr with
her 'knitting work. in her Ia0.
Neither saw the movement Of the boy.
: The lead cannon WAS then put in the
old stoyc-shovel and placed on the
0oals, and the boy sat back watched
l it as the lead grew dark in color and
began to loose its form around the
| mnzzle. While h G was thus engaged
Il series of events occurred which
caused q sudden turn in a career
that promised to be one of cxtraordi.
, nary genius.
The boy turned q somersault and
r rolled up against the cellar-door.
t Baxter went out of an adjacent win
t dow, taking the sash with him. Tbs
deaf grandmother woke up and said
"Walk in" then she opened he,
eyes and gasped something about the
"judgment-day."
The neighbors rushed into the yard
and said that a volcano had broken
out right under 3axter's kitchen. Ex-
+, ceisior steam fire-engine No. l got =
r stream through the kitchen-window
) in just three minutes and twenty-nine
seconds. In fifteen minutes the hooE;
and ladder company were in the kitch-
en-, and the grandmother was removed
in an insensible and d~renchel conGi-
ton. The boy was not to be found.
Fragments of the stove were imbedv
ded in the plastering, forming a sort
Of reckless looking mosaic. The
griddles were sticking edgewise be-
tween the laths overhead. An iron
pot was resting on the manteI, top
down, and q haif-boiled ham was
wedged in the end Of a length of
~stoye-pipe. The room had the at
pearance of being clothed in sack
cloth and ashes--without the sack
cloth. An insurance man estimated
the damage by fire and waterat $685.
so. After the estimate of damage
had been made and a council of doe
tors had pronounced the grandmoth-
er's condition serious but o danger
Gus, Baxter's ingenious boy crawl
ed out of q cellar-window. He said
he ssdidn't know it was loaded"
An exchange says the three Re-
publican graces are Hayes, Patterson
and Conover. We think the three