Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-22
HE COULD MAKE A KITE

of his annual leave last week in order to
make and fly a kite for his boy. He got
himself into the job by his big talk about
the kites he used to make and fly when he
was a kid himself.
These box affairs and bird-shaped things
that you up in the air nowadays amt
kites at ALL son." he had told his boy when
the kite season began with the warm spring
days. They may be scientific, and all that,
but they amt kites. A kites a thing with
a tail to balance it in the air. A kite with
out tails a monstrosity calculated to be-
wilder the mind of youth. It's frivolous
thing, too. Why, look here, boy, l used to
make kite twhen L was along about your
age and get it a couple o miles up IN the
air early in the month of May, say, and q
just tie the string to the front fence and
let er soar until the equinoctiai storms be-
gan. Rain would not fetch 1T down, nor
anything else If the wind shifted, why,
the kite would shift with the wind, and
when | got out of bed in the morning there
the kite I'D be, steadiern rock defytng
the elements. The tail would keep it up
and balance it. l was the star kitemaker
of my town. Believe | could make kite
now that 'ud beat out all these here geo
metrical, boX-shaped contrivances that they
call kites nowadays.
1t was right at this point that he got the
insinuating challenge from his boy. and,
of course, he couldn't crawfish. SO he took
a day off for the purpose of illustrating
what a, big bulge the generation of his boy
hood had on the world of today in the man
ufacture of kites.
Proceedings were begun immediately after
breakfast, with the kitchen as the scene
thereof, to the deep disgust of the cook
The star kitemaker of another day dug
around in the cellar until he found a
scanting from which to cut the sticks He
spent a couple of hours in littering the
kitchen floor with penknife ShavingS, ana
then the kite sticks-the two long ones
stood about four feet high-were done. one
of them was split by the tack that was
hammered into the middle to JOIN them To-
Sether. and the man said some things SOFT
ly under his breath and made another one.
1t took him an hour to do this. linen ne
produced his tissue paper.
They use cotton instead of tissue paper
nowadays, pa" said his small boy.
who's making this kite, Bub?' inquired
the kids father, with some asperity. Cot
ton be bowed Cotton cost 40 cents yafd,
or something like that, when us boys used
to make kites back in war times. or a little
after. We didn't even have tissue paper
used newspapers But I'm making trlflihg
concession to the practice of later day
and using tissue paper. The way this KITE ii
soar when l get 'er up win just open the
eyes of your kid chums. I'm a-telling you
that boy"
BY the time he had finished making the
-four paste wherewth to glue the paper 10
the frame the kitchen furniture and floor
were pretty thoroughly daubed and be
smeared, and the kitemakers wife ana the
cook looked upon CUe perrin 49,
CONSERVATION and resentment from the
dining room door. But he was too uusy 10
notice these things. The kite, by the time
the lunch hour rolled around. was all nm
| iShed but the tail. .
Mary, said the kltemaker TO MS WHY,
81 want about a pound of rags-any ola
kind of rags-to tear up for cauaai ap-
pendage for this kite Got any rags oil
His wife was very busy cleaning the Sill
yer lust then but she told him that the
rags were up in trunk in the storerooHi;
He went after the rags himself. He found
the trunk locked. and he was IN hurry
for the rags SO he went to the bed room,
clawed around in the chiffonier. and came
upon about a hundred cast-of neckties
that his wife had saved and begged i"r
the PURPOSE of making sofa pillow
'These are bully" said he to himself,
lust the thing. Save me all of the trouble
of tearing the rags up into strips.
So he snaked the lot. tied as many 10
gether as he thought the kite would re-
auire for a tail and fastened the tail OF
neckties onto the kite without his wife
having observed that part of the perform
ance. so,
After lunch he set out in triumph with
| his boy (who by the way, was aggravat-
ingly skeptical to the success OF the
kite for the big commons to put the KITE
| in the air. A lot of boys were already
there, flying bird-shaped and box-shaped
any manipulating whatever.
THAT kind o. kites may do for weather
sharps to get their reports from the upper
air. he shifted to his son, but science
wasn't mixed up with play when L was
your age. l want you to watch how grace
full this kite of ours is going to sail once
l get er up. That's the main point about
| a kite with a tail-its grace
I'm a-watching,' said the boy, and his
father looked at the kid out of the tail of
his eye. fancying that he detected note
of sarcasm in the boys tone.
The kitemaker let about block of string
out and had his boy take the kite that dis
tance away on the common.
When l holler and start to run, you let
| go of the kite" he told his son. The other
! boys the lot were looking on with grins.
When all was ready he gave a shout and
started lickety-cut. but something hap
pened. The boys feet were wrapped up in
| the kites tail, and the kitemaker came
| near pulling it apart before he looked back
and saw what was the matter. He groWied
| deep, unspeakable things while his boy ex-
| treated himself from the kites tail, and
! then he started again This time the boy
! failed to let go of the kite when he got the
shout, and the string broke. This appealed
greatly to the of humor of the boys
! on the lot, who had their taiIess kites sail
| ing serenely mile so in the air, and
they yelled appreciatively. The perspra-
| ton of wrath and physical effort stood out
| on the grown-up ktemaker's brow, and he
gazed savagely at the grinning kids.
Darned little cubs!'' he muttered. TIL
show em what kite is in a minute"
Then he tied the broken string called
/ ms boy in and gave him some hot talk in a
| low but meaningful term, and tried again.
| This time the kite sailed fully twenty feet
| in the air, then it turned about forty light
| nlng somersaults and dired to the ground
| on the point of one of the sticks, almost
| breaking it,
Il know what's the matter with that
| kite. muttered the ex-star kitemaker 1T
hasn't got enough tail Son, you run back
| to the house and tell your mother that
| want couple o pounds of rags Get a
| move on, now Tell her 1 say L want those
| rags right now"
| He was pretty mad by this time, and the
| suppressed cat calls of the boys in the lot
| didn't make him feel any better His bow
| returned with the rags in a few moments;
| they were torn UP into strips and tackled
| on TO the tail. and once more with a fair
wind. the thing was tried. The kite after
1dlllng as nat as a pancake half a dozen
times, went up a hundred feet and lodged
| IN the biggest tree on Columbia Heights.
with its tail trailing every branch
thereof.
Then the kitemaker invited his son home,
where he hair-brushed him for disrespect
IN Laughing at him, had high words with
ms wife over the swiped neckties, the loss
of which she had discovered. was shifted at
and fiOuted by the cook and was paneralIv