The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-07-10
ABOUT TOWN.
Reflections and Observations.

The juvenile citizen escapes from school
with joyful impetus that carries him, con-
tent, far into the summer vacation. 80 it
would seem that the scenes had not been
judcously shifted, when, during one early
week OF that golden season, the merry-go-
round, the Fourth Of July and the circus
aggregate three bewildering joys.
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The charms OF the first are inexpicable to
the uninitiaJed. The preliminary whistle
suggests that OF a small steam launch, the
rocking motion adds o the nautical effect,
to experience "the divine intoxication OF
the first league out from land" Tnose ven
turing TO embark would do we'll to provide
themselves with lemons, or any other
recommended but usel ss antdote for sea-
sickness.
1t ls hard lines to be- obliged to choose be-
tween fire crackers and d circus tickst but
such must have been the stern necessity
which the con Junction of two star days
forced upon many u "child OF poor but re-
spectacle parents" One can but hope,
though 1t sounds reasonable, that respect
able parents, poor or Otherwise, urged the
choice of the latter. For our Fourth, ss it
Is observed by young America and other
patriots OF imma5ure MAIDS, Is exceedingly
lngloriOus.
Viewel from a detached and unaccus.
toned standpoint, IL Is incredible tina par.
ents who, on all other days of the year,
enforce rigorous prohibitory law against
the use Of tre and powder az means OF
amusement, on our natiJnal holiday snould
remove those restrictions almost without re-
serve, and permit astonishing license. Noise
iS probably necessary 10 the expression OF
patriotic emotion in the immature. James
WhiIcOmb Riley hits the ju emile attitude
nf fTa1tH. Il an nj m hA 10 aI1ra m do
on any other, when he makes tae child say
80 what did the little boy do
AT nobody wanted him to2
Didn't do nothtn' but romp an run,
An whoop, an holler, an bang his gun,
An bust hre-crackers, an list have fun,
An ats all the little boy DONE"
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And 1t is an all-pervading convictions:
nowadays that children should be heard
too prevalent To be- fought successfully, If
such a course were deemed advisable.
This is only plea for diverdng their noise
into less dangerous channels.
-.
John Quincy Adams, when he recon-
mended this form of patriotic celebration,
had no prophetic vision Cf fhe deadly per
fection to which these explosive toys would
be brought. 1t was far from his intention
to suggest a mode of observance which
would result in heathenish Offering up to
national idols the burnt flesh Of infant VIC
Tins. 1t behooves us to institute some 9th
or method, in good season, efore The ma
lority Of the coming generation be de-
prived OF fractional parts of its anatomy
and handicapped for the race.
-.
"Dull must he be of soul who can pass by
a sight 80 pleasing" as circus in a country
town. Out Of the east it seems to come to
us, at least after it has been unloaded from
the prosaic cars. The Arab, the gypsy, the
unhoused instinct leaps to life in our New
England breasts at the smell OF the savory
glimpse OF fellowship OF man and beast,
the crude color, the picturesque action ex-
hibited at the pitching of the camp in the
early morning.
The parade affords sight of tiny lord, the
elephant" who more than all the other
| beasts is invested with the oriental atmos-
phere and stalks In listless scorn through
| our village streets, as who should say: las
| IL come to this?" The deprecatory camel
| the skulking hyena, the beautiful, restless
cats, the slothful hulks OF the rhinoceros
and hippopotsmus, all have acquired cer-
tain condescension noticeable in tourists, a
tendency to look bored and long unaffect-
edly for meal time.
The glamour OF the performance is nat
urally greatest at night, though the after.
noon show is really more divertng because
attended by children and suburban resi-
dents The latter are rather disappointing
nowadays because they lack that individu-
alty OF taste as expressed in dress and
manner which formerly characterized them
| The far-resching Influence OF the Ladies
Home Journal. Butterick's 8 fashion plates and
other Parisian authorities is doubtless &C
countable for the change. Close harmonies
in color are still attempted, but otherwise
there is a disheartening sameness in wha
| we wear.
-.
The annual party left this morning fol-
the happy Isles of Shoals. 1t is good fol
mountain-folk to be removed into the mids
OF the sea for time to exchange the relent
less severity Of the hills for the shifting
moods OF the ocean. The rhythmical deni
zens OF the sea ought % organize a life-sav
ing service, and come ashore occasionally tC
rescue the lsnd-locked from the dangerous
effects OF too much terra Jirmd-ss men pu
out from land to save the drowning. II som'
missionary mermaids would undertake the
work, its success would be assured.
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