The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1894-07-06

proprlate way was indeed a question
of considerable magnitude. Most of
the boys fathers were railroad men,
and railroad salaries are proverbially
small
With plenty of money the boys
could have celebrated in a way that
would have awakened the sleepy little
town SO effectually that the older in
habitants might have imagined that
hostilities between the North and
South had broken out anew.
To obtain Unnecessary articles with
which to celebrate was the all-im-
portant question before the boys
club, called the "Our Boys" two
weeks before the time designated as
the GLORIOUS Fourth" One of the
boys, Bern Gilman, suggested chip
ping in and buying a lot ofskyrockets
and red fire, but as his father was an
engineer and made big money, the
proposition was nothing remarkable.
The words cred fire" suggested an
idea to another of the club, Jim Slade,
and on his plan of celebration there
was unanimous agreement. 1t was
to the effect that an effort be inaugu-
rated at once looking to the collec-
tion of rs much red fire as possible in
the two weeks yet remaining before
the Fourth of July, and on the night
of that'day letting it off in a bunch.
To the members of the "Our Boys"
there was no necessity to formulate
plans or advance ideas as to how this
red fire was to be obtained They
we're sons of railroaders, and knew red
fire by heart.
Every fiagman. on a train leaving
East or West has among his collection
of lamps, torpedoes, poker and shovel
couple of sticks of this material,
which are used on foggy or stormy
nights to warn the train following of
their near approachto the train ahead.
These sticks burn five minutes, and,
of course, contain large quantity OF
the red powder. All the railroad men
leaving from Columbia on the eastern
or western trips were known, and
very few of the through men, running
from one end of the division to the
other, were not known.
The "Our Boys" Club originally
was ball club, but had been in exist
ence for several seasons as a social or
ganization, minus club house and
A. I,,vrr;oo Of c1nh
Jim Slade, being a member of 6
State militia company as drummer
bow, knew something about organic
inc for effective work, and he it was
that proposed and appointed commit
tees to corral every train that passed
through the town.
Bows born and raised in a railroad
town soon become expert car jumpers
and it must indeed be fast train tina
thew cannot successfully mount. A
rendezvous was selected back of tn,
railroad round house, in the cellar o
a deserted house, in which was to b'
stored all the material secured.
The boys worked like beavers anC
as only boys can work when a Fourth
of July celebration is in the prospec
tive, and at the end of the first weel
twenty-seven sticks had been secure'
and some seventy-fve railroad torpe
does The latter article is also an i'm
portant part of railroader's outfit
and. crossing the vision of one OF tn
collectors, several we're secured, an,
thereafter they were added as a sor
of auxiliary.
AS the day drew near the boys re
reved their efforts and the red fir
and torpedoes came in IN such guam
titles that one or two OF the NOR
timid boys suggested halt. But
Alike the trained bloodhound, the
melt the sport from afar and decide