The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-07-01
THE GLORIOUS r
Thong hts, Serious and Facetious
Incident Thereto.
The Day as Viewed from Many Stand
Points-The Spartan Mother Young
America" Let Loose h Con-
ventional Picnic.
LOriginaL1

<HkeHH FOURTH OF
July is again ut
g. hand-the plain,
~ nished Fourth" To
every native born or
naturalized citizen OF
this great and glorious
IL. land of the brave and
e$A96AH home of the free-born ca
gle, there is no day in the calendarfraught
With SO much and so diverse interest.
There is no use talking, the Fourth of
July double discounts any thing in the
line of a holiday yet familiar to the
American mind. 1t is OF the Fourth OF
July only tina the American heart makes
its most formidable demonstrations OF
patriotism and shows up what itcan do
And the American heart. by the way-not
to speak boastfully-is capable OF consid-
cradle. All it wants is a chance; and that
chance the Fourth affords.
The Fourth presents as many different
phases as the moon. according to prelu-
dices, favorable or otherwise, through
which it is observed, and these depend large
ly upon the age, nerves and property in
volved OF the person conducting the OBJ
servation. Some, it must be confessed, do
not possess that patriotic spirit which
should temper their Judgment. Many. it
is possible, look upon the national day as
a necessary evil-as grievous as the re-
turn OF a lady's birthday afterforty; some
hail it's approach as the harbinger OF ex-
q~uisite delight-the glad tidings of great
Joy; while many, it is probable, diligently
strive to persuade themselves that it is a
blessing in disguise, deluding themselves
with the fanciful idea that somewhere in
this holiday there turks In indescribable
pleasure which only the continuous 'fizz"
of '.squibs" and other distracting agents
prevent them from discovering. To such
as thus make a chimera of Fourth OF July
joys, it is scarcely necessary to remark
that their expectations are never realized;
the delusive vail of powder smoke and sui
phurous odors scarce ever rises sufficiently
to reveal the hidden joys or dispel the
illusion.
To those who look upon this glorious
anniversary merely as an aggravated
OuLDTtdh Vi 1cciuS anu hIC-SHachCfo, 4 10
probable that no class. is more conspicu-
us than mothers. The regulation Ameri-
can mother, it may be said without ex-
aggeration, looks upon the Fourth as a
terror, a sort of epidemic of punk, pow
der and disfigured small-boys; o. an i'm
~personated DESTROYER OF youth, sizzling
with hot breath and red rockets, going
ebout with ''nigger-chasers," and hor-
rible gun-wads, seeking small-boys to de.
your. The average females conception OF
| the instrument of destruction used by
this boy-exterminator, it can not be de-
MED, are somewhat vague; she does not
know whether it be punk OIL gun-wads
that constitute the most formidable
demolishers OF boyish thumbs and ears,
or whether it be ''squibs" or torpe-
does that most i~nsidiously puncture
the youthful flesh and despoil the
comeliness of the childish coun-
~tenance, but she has an idea that
any OF the fiery mediums through
which the exuberance of the Young Ameri.
can finds vent are wretched denominations,
likely to ''go Off at any moment, and she
abhors them accordingly. In this, it must
be admitted with chagrin, thesAmerican
mother does not entertain that noble and
unselfish devotion to country that ~actuated