The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-29

e I'D ZNSMA quaint connec. ic,
+ toHn-what viii the boys tell you there
t Roast turkey and 'fixin's, YOU will say
o and tie boys will look at yen and grin Thei
, 60 up to them softly and whisper Thanks
I giving and them
, "Barrelsr
That's what il Is Barrels. Turkey fir
and barrels afterward
As carly as the frs, day Of October the
! Norwich boy begins 20 make plans foi
. Thanksgiving day. and his first and ccnira
fancy turns 10 barrels From that time Oh
to the festival no mans barrel is safe IN Nor
wich
An evil spirit seems to possess it II boy
passes IL la the sobercst style in tine world. II
he 80 much as casts one cOquetting sideiong
glance that way, instantly the barrel begins
10 dance and rattle. AMI 4 no one Is watch
ilg and the youngster rubs Up against II. IL
give, a sudden bop, topples over on IT, side
and scurricj away. or course the boy has to
follow ~ To kick II straight when II gets
askew on Us rumbling course and 10 keep 1t
from prancing against pedestrians, and 10 in
vmiably happen, that the boy has to drive 10
meat. There is little use of attempting 10
control a barrel after il has contracted tho
Thanksgiving fever aud the owner looks for
ward resigneily - its inevitable desertion
from him Is looks very singular 10 a stran-
ger coming into this town at this season OF
the year TO s,e barrels rolling off in every di
rcctiOn, and staid citizens skipping nimbly
and good huIuorediy ont of the way OF the
procession. lie cannot account for the phe-
nomenon.
Perhaps he il curious enough to try and
| find out. But the Norwich boy Is up %
snuff
Say, sonny" the stranger asks, whats
! up' Where are you going with all these
/ baIrel,w
And the boy replies, innocently:
"NOthin's up. mister. The barrel don't
blong 60 nobody nor nothin Found 10
loose I'D the stree. and run il in. Say, there,
Jimmy. give her a lift Let her 90, Gal
iagheri"
And with n whoop the whole company are
of, kicking the whirling things swiftly into
tho darkness, Of q side street
These youngsters are systematic
Tue work OF collecting the booty IS married
from the opening of the campaign % IFS fin
III by thorough discipline and organization
and . hearty respect Tor the rights II each
squad First, ell tho boys in town array
Themselves into about a dozen independent
lsigados, and each force IS duly cmpov cred
- iOos after the barrels IN is own precinct,
and an urwritten law that is at least o
years old lorb.d5 the bands 10 trespasi on
territory not assigned - them. Tue largest
squads arc thus placed. One az Bean Hill,
the ancestral homo OF President Clcye-
land. whose grandfather was a barrel
burner; one at Norwich Town, two M the
Falls, two at the West Side, one az Jail Hill,
in the center of tho city. one at Laurel Hill,
one IT Greenyiile and the rest are scattered
about IN Che suburbs Each band has
hiding place for its collection. called the
Home Base aud 10 each j, assigned the
bill on which the stacks are TO be burned
The preliminary arrangements completed,
the boys 90 10 work with will 10 get their
barrels together
Suppose they had 70 do this How they
would growl.
The custom Of burning bonfres on Thanks |
giving night Is peculiar 10 this town, and its |
origin is lost in the obscurity Of early colonial |
tradition. IL was Old when Benedict Arnold /
was boy, and into the sport he entered with /
Characteristic impetuosty and wilifuiness. IL /
Is mentioned IN the first chronicles OF Nor
wich and Miss Caulkms. local historian, |
describes a fiery encounter between Benedict /
and a solemn constable who undertook 10
rob him OF his barrel, in which Arnold
stripped of his coat and dared the big man 10
10 IA l..., -.
local antquarlans 10 trace the custom
to It's source, but vainly; the only plausible
explanation essays TO connect it with prac-
tice that prevailed IN the hill towns Oh the
Massachusetts colony Of burning bush fire,
early ia November TO celebrate the miscar-
riase Of the Guy Fawkes gunpowder plos.
lt was suspected that as Thanksgiving was
appointed at that period at about Nov tho
CUSTOM attached itself to Thanksgiving. after
It's rigiHal intent was lost. and that il was
imported into this town by the first settlers
little after the middle Of the Seventeenth cen
fury.
But the Massachusetts, rite differs import:
anty from tho Norwich spirit IN that brush
wa burned instead Of barrel stacks. There
IS nothing unique about brush bOnnres,
which were common among The ancient
Bnt0ns and Scots, but a barrel fro is IN
elaborate and startling creation, product Of
he juvenile genius of ancient Norwich.
Boys, think Of II. Think OF hunting, hunt
ng for days together, ior barrels. Think Of
Inc work, and 1t takes work. But then, It's
,reat fun, YOU say.
SO ut Is.
To mako n lofty and successful barrel bon
ire demands native tact, talent and construc.
i've abilities. Tho first thing u 10 Is 70 get
no polo about which the barrels arc u 10
trung Ike giant beads, aud this usually is
ut and peeled a few days before tho
orthcoming ceremony. A slim, straight
hickory, free from knots, and not less than
fly or sixty feet high is selected III tho for
81, and, after 1t has been trimmed and de
Iuded OF its bark, II . trailed into town at
he heels Of dozen stGidy boys. On Thanks.
lving day morning it Is drawn TO the apex
1 the hi.l on which i. 10 ~ do duty, whercon
cores oi citisens have gathered TO lend 4
and in erecting tn star or furnish the nee.
ssa.y advisory remarks 10 tie workers.
Tho barrels are quickly hung about the
ole, ard then comes the hard and delicate
ask OF lifting il into the dug hole which
as already been prepared for It. With long
opes ard sieadying guys, and hundred
aser hands TO help, the great hollow stack