The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-11-29

That's what it is Barrels. Turkey first
and barrels afterwerd.
As early az the first day of October the
Norwich boy begins to make plans for
Thanksgiving day, and his first and central
fancy turns To barrels From that time on
to the festival no mans barrel is safe in Nor
wiek.
asissa5 ssssssss stsfsossess It. If a boy
passes it III the solelest yle i'll the world, if
he SO much Gs casts o2e coquettinS sideiong
glance thGt way, instantly the barrel begins
to dance and rattle, and If no one is watch
ing and TIE younSster rubs up against it, it
gives sudden hop, topples over On its side
and ecUrries away. OF course the boy has to
follow it to kick it straight when it gels
asl1ewon It's run5ling course and to keop II
from praucing against PEDESTRIANS; and it in.
yariably happens that the boy has to drive it
into its lair before it will submit to govern
1nent. There is little use Of attempting to
! control barrel after it has contracted the
| Thauksgiviag fever, and the owner locks foEs
ward resignsdly to its inevitable dese,tion
from him. It looks very singular to stran-
ger coming into this town ct this season of
tho year to see barrels rolling off in every di-
rcction, and st2id citizens skipping nimbly
and good humoredly out of the way of the
! procession. He cannot account for the phe-
! uonlenon.
Perhaps he is curious enough to try fsaa
find out. But the Norwich boy is up to
SNUFF. -. - -
''Say, sonny" the stranger asks, whats
rp? Where are you going with all these
barrels:'
And the boy replies, innocentlyi
t!Hothinis up, mister. Che Barrel don't
loose up the street and run it in. Say, there,
Jimmy, give her lift. Let her go, Gal!
lsghcr!n
And with @ whoop the whole company are
of, kicking the Bhirling things swiftly into
! the darkness of a sido street.
These youngsters ere systematic.
Tie work OF collecting the booty is marked
from the opening Of the campaign to its fin
ish by thorough discipline and organization
and hearty respect for the rights of each
| squad. First, al the boys in town array
| themselves into about & dozen independent
hGigades, and each force is duly empowered
to look after the barrels in its own precinct,
and an uuWritten law that is at least go
| years old f0rb.ds the bands to trespass on
territory not assigned to them. The largest
| squads are thus placed: One at Bean Hill,
s.le ancestral home of President Cleve-
land, whose grandfather was barrel
Burner; one ct Norwich Town, two at the
Falls, two at the West Side, one at Jail Hill,
III the center OF the city, one at Laurel Hill,
one at Greenville, and the rest are scattered
about il the suburbs Each band has 2
hiding place ter It's collection. called the
@Ifome Base and to each is assigned the
bill on which the stacks are to be burned.
The preliminary arrangements completed,
the boys 80 to work with will to get their
barrels together
suppoge they had to do this. HOW they
would gr0Tl.
The custom of burning bonfres on Thanks
giving night is peculiar to this town, and its
origin is lost i'll tie ohscurity of early colonial
tradition. 1t was cid when Benedict Arnold
was boy, and into the sport he entered with
characteristic impgtUosity and villfulness II
is mentiooeJ in the first chronicles of Nor
wich; and Miss Caulkins, local historian
describes fiery encounter bGtWPen benedict
aud a zGlenn constable who Undertook tt
rob him of his. barrel, in which Arnold
stripped off his coat and dared the big man tC
fight. Many attempts have been ma6eby
local antiGCarians to trace the custom
to its source, but vainly; the only plausible
explanation essays TO CONNECT it eitaa u t,f,.c
tco that prevailed in the hill towns OF the
Massachusetts, colony Of burning bssh flre
early in November to celebrate the misear
liage OF the Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot
1t was suspected that as Thanksgiving wa
appointed at that period st about Nov.5 IL,
custom attached Itself to Thanksgiving, afte1
its original iatcnt was lost, and that il wa
imported into this town by the first settlers
little after the middle cf the Seventeenth cen
tury,
Int the Iassa aehusetts rite differs import
antly from the Norwich spirit in that brusl
was burned instead Of barrel stacks, Their
: is nothing unique about brush bepiles
which were common among the Gncien
Britoas and Scots, but a barrel fire is q
, elaborate and startling creation, q product Q
the juvoniI. genius of ancient Norwich.
Boys, think of it. Think Of hunting. hunt
ing for days together, for barrels. Thin. o
tho work, and it takes work. But then, it
great fun, you say,
10 make q lofty and successful barrel bon
: fire demands native tact, talent and construe
tive abilities. The first thing to do is to &c
!. the pole about which the barrels are to b
i strung Ike giant beads, and this usually
) cut and peeled G few days before t.,
= forthcoming ceremony. A slim, straigh
: hickory, FREQ from knots, and not less tina
fifty OF sixty feet high is selected in the fol
: est, and, after it has been trimmed and d,
: nuded of its bark it is trailed into town Q
tho heels Of a dozen sturdy boys. On Thank
= giving day morning it is drawn to the ape
y OF the hill on which it is to do duty, whereo
scores Of citizens havo gathered to lend
; hand in erecting the staff or furnish the ne
:, essary advisory remarks TO the workers.
: The barrels are quickly hung about IL
pole, and then comes. the hard and delicai
=. task OF lifting it into the dug hole'whie
- has already been prepared for it. With Ion
=. ropes and steadying guys, and a hundre
i eager hands TO help, the great hollow STAG
- goes slowly up, the barrels creakins and run
- bling loosely about its staff, and the pole
= left swaying threateningly at the toiln
u pignies at its case. AT last it reaches Il
:, balancing point, slips easily into the eayit
=, with a heavy nlufied ''kerplump," end Il
: worst Of the struggle is over. The loose cart