The Globe-republican., 1902-07-03

sons grove, and she said no, while
Marrock, who was chief orator of the
day, girded up his loins and strove
nightly. being determined to shake
down the stars
The elders of Smith county ce1ebrat-
ed the Fourth of July in the old-fash-
toned way Patriotism was as ram
pant out there it had been in the
older sections of the country fifty
years before They had no use for
new-fang1ed methods of rejoicing.
What their fathers had believed was
good enough for them. They appoint
ed regular committee to see that the
thing was properly done.
Thus it happened that in Jackson's
grove a large lumber stand was erect
ed which the elders might sit, the
county trustees, the village trustees,
the school trustees, the county judge,
the clerk of the court, the schoolmas
ter and SO forth Item-there was a
smaller stand for the Smithville band,
which was strong and earnest, though
a little crude Item-an open space IN
the front of the big stand reserved for
the readers and speakers Item-a
larger stand to the right, reserved for
the young ladies who should imper-
senate the States Item-a large space
on the ground to one side reserved for
the f1re-crackers, catharine wheels and
what not Long rough boards laid on
trestles served tables for the din
ers- There was any quantity of spring
water, ginger pop and coffee as pot
ables, but whisky nor beer Smith
Vile was moral community
1t was a cloudless day. A thousand
people were in the grove. From far
down the dirt road came the DOM
pah, oom-pah of the laboring band.
AS it grew nearer an occasional bar
of THE Star-Spangled Banner" be-
came audible. Behind it rode the dig
them with grizzled whiskers, showing
the yelIowish stains of tobacco juice
Back of them came the principal fea-
ture of the procession, three farm
wagons metamorphOsed into triumph
al chariOts by the aid of red, white and
blue calico and flowers and filled with
fOrtyfOur gai1y dressed young women
impersonating the commonwealth of
this glorious Union They were flush ed
with the ride and in more than one
instance their diadems mad been Jared
crooked. but were happy and proud.
In their front was Claudia in a gown
cut a la Greek, holding sceptre and
wearing a paSteboard crown golden
gilt and bearing a papier-mache
shield. She was -tCo1um bia.'' Behind
the wagons at a slow pace came the
faithful James in his buggy.
The grove reached, the band
climbed to it's stand, the dignitaries to
the center platform, the girls to their
platform. The bands leader pulled
out his chest, faced the gaping crowd,
swung his baton and the instrum ents
crashed into My Country, 'Tis of
Thee" half tone fiat The people
plunged into the tune haIf tone
sharp. Inc trees trembled, but did not
fail The folks liked their singing so
much that they encored the band and
sang the last verse over again.
Alcibiades Curtius Dickson, county
clerk, a lantern-jawed man with a
voice like foghOrn, read the Declare
ton of independence through to the
bitter end, rolling out the sonorous
syllableS and pausing soulfully at the
end of each sentence. Eliphalet Abso-
lom Raw1ins, county Judge, rose to
introduce the orator of the day, and
spoke for three-quarters of an hour,
touching upon Bunker HUI and the
state of the crops, tossing a handful
of bouquets to George Washin gton
and Thomas Jefferson, devoting five
minutes of thunderous denunciation
to Benedict Arnold and winding up
with a glorious burst over the result
| of the Spanish war Marrok ran his
! fingers through his hair and glared at
him. Finally he got his chance
Now this young man in the seclu-
sion of his law office had been reading
| a lot of cheap literature and worrying
himself by thinking that he was think
| ing The result was that his skull had
become filled with lot OF
/ things that he thought were
| ideas and he felt called upon to
| express them Once started he did
not reck of unpopularity and forgot
/ all about the girl His talk was fiery,
! fluent, occasionally eloquent. When he
! got out of breath he ran his hand
| through his hair and took drink of
water from a small white pitcher that
stood near.
He said that they had sold their
| birthright for a mess of pottage; that
/ the Money Devil had them by the
| throats; that the rich were getting
| richer and the poor poorer
! that their legislators were
bought; that discomfort gnawed
i at the vitals of the land; that a con
science1ess aristocracy of wealth had
/ grown up; that republican simplicity
| was at a discount; whittier were they
drifting? They were drifting to revo-
! luton What would be its end? Pos
sibly a king; possibly anarchy; Ger
tain1y bloodshed, death and woe
There was a large amount of this