Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-06-29

. TO see you our nations glorious birthday.
[ THE FOURTH OF July COMMITTEE or PoT
I LUCK.
/ This reply had the precise effect intend
/ cd-namoly, it assured the Gapers that
! the Pot Luckcrs were as good as them
/ selves at blufling, and big Jake Tohmer s
I fat sideS shook with laughter when as
| their chairman he read it to the committee
| Some ore suggested that perhaps Pot
| Luck had accepted the invitation in good
! faith
/ Jake roared again. Good faith moth
/ in'' said he. They want us to think so
and 20 ahead and prepare for 'em, and
then not Pot Lucker come near our cele-
bration. That's their game We wasn't
born yesterday; not all of us. The idee
of a boom at Pot Luck! That's too
good. s"
And so things went on, the Gapers
max ing preparations for their usual
crowd only, while Pot Luck strained it
self to add men enough to its population
to ''eat the Gap out of house and home, "
as Ike Bledsoe put it.
Two days before the Fourth Jake Toh-
mer's boys, Fritz and Jake junior, went
fishing far up the creek toward Pot Luck
and came home almost bursting with ex
citcmcnt.
ing into his fathers grocery, "the Pot
Luckers are goin TO bu st our Fourth wide
open.
go long, you young rascal" said his
father. What you tryin to play on your
old dad now? They amt goin to cele
brate at all up there. -
That's just it, dad, and say, the
woods Is plumb full of men up that way.
l never saw such droves of 'em, an me an
Jakey heard 'em talkin, an they re every
one of 'em goin to march down on US
Fourth of July mornin an eat an drink
up everything in sight, run all the Gapers
off the dancin floor an off the grouns an
just Tar'lyze us gen rally Them's the
very words they said, amt they, Jakey?'
a great light suddenly flashed upon the
mind of Jake senior Not waiting to hear
Fritz's news confirmed, he spread a big
sheet Of wrapping paper on his counter
hastily pcnciled cali for meeting that
night not only of the Fourth of July COM
mittee but all good citizens of the Gap,
and tackled it up outside his door.
Jake's grocery store wouldn't begin to
hold the Gapers who answered the call,
and the public pulse ran so high that it
seemed nothing but bloodshed could result.
Some of the more impetuous Gapers were
for arming every man and going to meet
the Pot Luckers half way. This was given
up as too hazardous. Pot Luckers were
known to be fighters to a man and would
doubtless greatly outnumber the Gapers.
Others suggested moving TO a grove a
dozen miles down the river early in the
day and thus escaping the ravaging horde
from Pot Luck. But this smacked Of
cowardice and could not be considered for
a moment.
The chagrined Gapers blamed their
committee for getting them into such a
dilemma, while accusations of bungling
and stupidity passed freely between the
committee members themselves. Big
Jake Tohmer was almost the only man
present who did not lose his temper, and
when the meeting seemed about TO break
up in free fight he banged loudly upon
his grocery counter with a sugar scoop and
as chairman of the meeting commanded
order.
What 'Ceptin johnson was TO Pot Luck
Jake Tohmer was to the Gap, and the
noisy crowd was hushed to silence when
he rose to speak.
'Feller citizens, said big Jake, II own
I'm as much to blame in this matter as
any one; perhaps more. 1 don't believe
any of you will can me a coward, and you
all know l amt a man to set my Judgment
up against the will of the majority. What
goes with the crowd goes with me, but if
you'll allow me to say so, it's just struck
me all of q heap that we amt been treatin |
the Pot Luckers just right fer some years
back
'Now, about this celebration. We |
wasn't satisfied to beat 'em so bad that |
they didn't have the heart to try to cele-
brate at all, KNOWN our attractions would |
draw all the crowd from the country round |
about Not satisfied with this, as 1 say |
we must taunt them by sendin that sham |
invitation. That of itself was challenge, |
and they're only takin it up as they have |
a right to. Now, I'll tell you friends, to |
my notion there's Just one way fer us to |
get out of this scrape like men. That is |
fer US to pervide the best there is in the |
land and enough of it fer every Pot Luck |
er that comes and treat 'em so white that !
every man of emil go home a friend in |
stead of an enemy. Why, what's all this |
Fourth of July business fer anyway? 1t |
amt the lickin our great -granddads give |
the Britishers but the peace and happi |
ness and prosperity they had to fight fer; |
that S what we re celebratin Now, gentle |
men, don't pertend to dictate that course |
we ought to take, but If there's any one |
present with a better plan out of the diff |
Guilty l should be pleased to hear from |
him.
Dead silence prevailed for some mo-
ments after Jake ceased speaking Then |
the leaven of brotherly love impaired by |
his speech seemed all at once to leaven the |
whole lump. His plan, put in the form Of |
a motion, was carried with applause that
shook cans of tomatoes and boxes of sar-
dimes off Jake's grocery shelves, while his
stock CT lanterns and tinware suspended
from numerous hooks in the ceiling nod
ded and changed in approval like so many
liberty bells.
Then the Gapers set to work in earnest.
The time was short, but what they lacked
In time they made up in energy. The hot
July sun had barely pushed its face above
the eastern mountains on the morning OF /
the Fourth before the picnic grove at the
Gap swarmed with people of both sexes
putting the finishing touches to the extra
for entertaining the expected
horde from Pot Luck.
Two big fat steers instead of one, six |
fat sheep instead of three and a dozen in
stead of six fat young porkers were al
ready smoking over the barbecue pits,
done to "a juicy brown crispiness known
only to the art of Jose Pacheco, while long
rows of tables groaned under the weight |
Of other good things. Everything the
larders of thrifty Gapers could supply was
there, with such boxes and baskets of |
fruit and such stacks of melons as only |
the foothills of California could furnish.
A scene of equal hustle and activity,
though animated by far different spirit,
was transpiring up among the pines at Pot
Luck that bright July morning where
their chosen leaders were marshaling the
invading hosts.
'Pack your gunsY OF course; every
man of us, " said Ike Bledsoe in answer
to a query as the column began to form.
g I'm a peaceable citizen, and we amt
huntin fer trouble, but we may want to
fire salute, you know. Leastwise the
woods is full of bears, and we may be late
gettin home 1 was freed by "A grizzly
once just because I'd left my gun to
home"
Bursts of laughter greeted Ike's ironic-
al declaration of peace" and rs the an
wills at the Gap began to boom and echo
across the valley and up the canyon to-
ward Pot Luck "a motley army 500 strong
Of almost every race and color under the
sun and headed by the flfes and drums of
u strolling band of minstrels marched with
swinging stride down the winding road
toward the Gap.
The Gapers heard their coming miles
away and, forming as many couples as
there were ladies on the grounds, went
out to meet them with waving banners of
welcome and lively burst of music from
their own excellent band.