The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1893-06-28
A MILD INToxIcANT.

ments made from the same piece of s'do-
mestic." In the case of the girls it took
the shape Of owns-called dresses in
Woodville. On the boys the same figure
and fabric appeared as shirts, though for
the youngest not enough time had been
allowed, and his collar was pinned on,
to his great annoyance and occasional
agony. The rest of the children were
either small enough to wear the CASTOR
clothes of the elders or large enough to
wear purchases of their own. OF course
the man with the biggest family had q
money premium, and Of course he mo-
nopolized it, as If the bearing and rear
ing were all results of his own fair hand
work.
Squire Stradley had consented to read
the declaration, and he did SO with
strength and Judgment which showed
that he at least was as good patriot as
the first man who ever "held these
truths to be self evident" Then came
prayer by the most daring minister in
the place--a man who lived in hope of
some time being hauled up before the
conference en- a charge of heresy. When
he concluded, the glee club sang Amer
lea" with the tenor perpetually wander
ing about in the vocal clouds that circled
above the bass and air and wondering
what had become Of the chord.
''Now we will all sing that last verse
together" said Lawyer Waite, rising inn
pressively, ''and the bands will accom-
pany us. Twill recite it:
Our fathers God, to thee,
Author Of liberty,
f To thee we sing -er-er--
And there he stopped, for he couldn't
remember the succeeding words to save
his life.
"Long may our land be bright"
prompted the tenor, with his book be-
fore him and his finger ON the line. And
after that the master of ceremonies went
swimmingly through to the end. He
suffered fortunes for his lapse of men,
ory, but no one minded the break. Ev-
erything was forgotten in the song that
| followed.
Then came the Grafton. The master
| of ceremonies was the orator and intro
duced himself. He attacked the original
foe of Americas eagle and vanquished in
turn each enemy, moral or material that
ever had threatened. Then he announced
that dinner was ready, and the shifting
throng surrounded the two long tables
or lost itself in little groups about the
grove and ate from baskets that had been
days in filing, but which stood depleted
after an hours feast.
Other sports followed, and when the
interest tagged the sun was down, and
every one took a good position for view
| ing the fireworks. This had been the
grand effort of the committee, and nearly
| 800 had been raised-through the hard
| est coaxing-for the purchase of rockets
| and candles and pinwheels that would
| show all the colors of the rainbow. 1t
was unfortunate that the committee
didn't know as much about firing as it
did about buying, for one of the first
things done was the dropping OF light
ed torch in heap of explosives, and q
volcano resulted. 1t was the widest
scene ever known in Woodyille. Sam
Gill was burned in the face, and Charley
Fullen had the skirt of his coat scorched
a cinnamon brown before they could es-
cape the misdirected fusillade. Then
the air was red and blue and smoky
from the cracking, swapping, roaring
box of fireworks and that was the end
Of the days festivities.
While it was admitted the law frowned
upon the sale of liquor on the Fourth, it
had been noticed ever since noon that
some one had a limitless supply of mild
intoxicant, and by the time the day was
done the men were as wild and inebri-
ated as were their sires on training day.
But it was Fourth of July, and no one
charged it up against them. The wag-
ons were filled with farmers and their
families; the buggies which later gen.
Grafton had chosen, instead of the spring
less, comfortless chariots for lumber,
crowded the narrow streets and hurried
out into the country roads. There were
songs and jokes and world of fun, and
then the all pervading night swallowed
and silenced all heritage Of day.