Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-03-04
THE TEA-KETTLE LIGHT.

TIE ETEA-KETTLE LIGHT.
rye extract from the March st. Mich
o,.s mart of story of a country boy
who started gas factory by himself.
His name was Joe, and he lived IN
New Hampshire. One winter, he earn
estly wished to attend school; but tins
seemed impossible. for his spare tlme
would be taken up in splitting shingles
He tried but in vain. to do the splitting
,,v fire-lieht. Lamp, he had none; can
dies were too dear; he must have some
thing else.
Weeks before. he had been surprised
at a strange light flaming high ABOVE .
eha1ring heap of birch wood. He touLo
that this was caused by the burning OF
oas which came from the birch-bark.
Wby could he not get more of the same
light. split his shingles by it, and so save
time for the winter schooling? He re-
solved to try; mysteriously told his
brothers and sisters that he was going 10
ston the cracks in certain old tea-ket-
tie and disappeared into the wood-shed.I
Lois called after him that if he didn't
aorease his tea-kettle well, IL would
stick" -. a.
aHe's going to make a tea-kettle dump
linpr shouted Deborah.
Rnt Joe. out in the cold wood-shed,
tent mastering dough over the cracks III
the tea-kettle. This well done, he began
e,,tt;no into small pieces the birch-bark
he had saved, so that 1t could De crown
ed closely into the tea-kettle. by tne
time he had filed it, supper was caliee'
and Joe, going in, set his patched contri-
vance close by the fire.
"Well, joe" laughed his mother, -Wnat
now? Are you going to turn blacKsmith
.Joe. Joe" piped Moses, will you be
a blacksmith or blacksmith, mother
saysT ,.;s Too
smiling back. "And I'd like to be
lightsmith, too, pretty well, if L could.
After supper was cleared away, and
the bio kettle was taken off the crane,
Ioe hing on his tea-kettle, bread dough-
hireh-bark. and all, swung it over the
Are and sat down to watch the result OF
his operations. -, u,.od
Moses.
why, don't you see? It's an old tea
kettle" ,...,o1
dith. Ioo !.
aManie-bark is best to makefnk of
isn't il mother ?" queried Debby..
-Yes. indeed, Joe, and you don't have
tn burn it-only steep it, and put In a
little copperas. o.,,
er," Joe answered, though must niiAs
some before long" ,
Then turning to his fatner' nc saiu:
You remember how the coai-piI W
burned last week got 'beWltchea, 9oh
Won? Well, think it must nave Deel
the green birch-barks which DON I sup
pose ever before got piled into coal-pls
that caused the light somehow, tnougI
! don't know exactly how; ana an
irving to see il birch-bark won't make
light here as well as there.
Joe spoke with deprecatlng Tone Iol
he knew his fathers violent antipathy
toward all snew-fangled notions:
aWeIl. YOU are Ounce, to be sure
Don't Won suppose that If blrch-DarH
had been good for anything but torch
somebody would have found it out be
fore thisP Young folks, nowadays
think they know more than their fathers
II twasn't so when was a boy. 1ouC
better inst put that tea-kettle out OF the
way and go to work: ;,
The KEYNOTE had been struck by his
father. and every voice In the housenoio
Joined in making fun OF him ana ms
cracked kettle. Joe was lrrltated, o.
Course hut was so full of his new ides
that he hadn't time to get angry, and ht
comforted himself with the belief that Il
might be his turn to laugh before long
Vet he knew he never would hear tht
last of it ii his experiment failed. Ht
watched it very anxiously. At last, his
father imperatively ordered him to takt
his Kettle away; but he was SO earnest
in his nleading for time to give his ides
a fair trial that his mother lnterposeo
out of pity, and his father cohsebeeu V
let him alone, thinking he wouid Ihu'
be more cOnYlnc6u IioS nS ""S
ing up a crazy notion.
go Ioe. thankful for the respite, KEPT
intently watching the flames reach VI
toward the queer, patched object on tht
crane. baking the dough-cement harder
and concealing it with a deposit OF SCOT
Soon a trace of steam issued from the
sDout. and became new center Oh IN
terest to him, and new subject IOl
ehaffing by the merry circle OF sisters.
aWben the steam passes on the gas
will begin to come" explained Joe, qui,
etlv Then there was new cause ol
alarm Jane became more and more
neryous-"fidgety," as her mother said
because company was coming, anu nel
brother and his old tea-kettle would be
town talk" This nearly stopped ms
proceedings, but he managed to save ms
machine a little longer, and James
ayoune man" still delaying his expected
coming: and as the clouds Oh steam
began to grow less and less, VIII Wiz
ssrsnoe earnestness, that even the
tbonehtless little ones respected, Joe
begged for only ten minutes longer; ano
warned Jane and her tongs away from
interfering. in a tone SO quietly stern,
that she never thought OF answering
him. but sat down immediately.
The girls went to work on their gram
-. s,.ss,,, hut soon got back to the