The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-26

upon us. Not so for me. When the
robins begin to yodel in the ~treetops
| and the heavy wagon wheels rumble on
mind fixes itself on the good people
of China who We're Of an inventive way
some few centuries ago-and I smell
! frecrackers and not violets.''
So spake "Jack" Raymond, man
ager Of the Minneapolis Orpheum, as he
raised thewindow of his office and shifted
his hat and said: eff I know any
thing about weather, and I have made
a conscientious study of the subject
for. fifteen summers, this is going to be
a long, dry season, and I'll bet the
boys down in the Chicago office are
guesses on when, the governor is going
to put the road show out. 81
"Ever travel with a fireworks
show7 There 8 nothing like it in the
show business or out. Extra hazard
ous,' the insurance. people would call
parison to it steady diet of cayenne
| pepper would be mild. Handling ex
plosives is uncertain enough in itself;
but handling people and explosives, too,
maketh the young to grow old and
passeth the time of day like sky
rocket covereth space. Excuse me for
! quoting scripture.
|
| fireworks show, you we missed strange
phase of life. 1t is Just like a circus,
only more 500 And the manager as
sumed an easy attitude, much affected
by masculinity, lighted his pipe, and,
bs ne ch gGgtef ba hs head sa on the back
smoke at his heels and spun this plain
"There is really only one big fire.
works company in the world, and only
one company which puts out a big fire
works road show every summer. One
summer [ was managing this concern g
we halted for two weeks at Philadel-
phia.
"Perhaps- you have noticed, at the
state fair, for instance, that about an
hour before it is time for the show to
begin. several rockets are fired into
the air. That is done to get the
wind and to determine just about
where the skyrocket sticks are coming
down. It. small item to the unini-
tiated; but each Of these sticks is All
inch and a quarter in diameter and
eight feet long, and as they go about
thousand feet high they come down
game, so far as the fireworks people are
concerned, is to keep them from COM
ing down and spelling some disinter-
ested party. Accordingly, we generally
try to find an open lot, adjacent to the
snow grounds. where skyrocket sticks
of an impression on the public.
The Episode of the Fire Sticks.
eve arrived in PHILADELPHIA behind
hand and barely opened the show on
time: Consequently we trusted to luck
and let the skyrockets off at what
looked like safe angle. Then we
went to bed.
"When I came down to the Lot the
next afternoon J. beheld across the way
stately looking mansion surrounded
by a. beautiful expanse of green lawn.
There was something peculiar about the
place. l looked again, and then lost
most of my breath. The roof of that
mansion, the roof Of the stable and
the surface Of that beautiful lawn were
skyrocket sticks until the place looked
like pincushion.
why don't you send man over
and take those sticks out9' I demanded
Of the superintendent:
" Tried to, but the family's away
and the Waterman kept us off with a
gum, was the answer.
Xxx That III be nice,' thought I, see
ing visions of two dozen shyster lawyers
camping on our trail with million dollar
damage suits. 'I'll look around bit,
said I to myself.
"I'd look around; and the first native
L queried about the ownership of the
place replied: "That9 Why, that IS
Cassatt s place. He's only one of the
main, pipes Of the Pennsylvania sys-
tenn.
"In the course of the day we made
arrangements with the Waterman to re-
move the sticks-but the manner of our
making this arrangement is a profes.
sional secret. Now this professional
I secret is valuable. one to fireworks
lodging damage suits. Some claims
4 are just, but some of them arise in the
4 imagination Of the cheap damage suit
! lawyer, to whom travelling aggrega
4 ton is like a lamb delivered for the
i slaughter. Which brings us down tc
I our celebrated escape from Wichita.
The Escape from Wichita.
"There are doubtless many excellent
people in Wichita; but fortune did moi
lead us in their ways when we visited
that beautiful Kansas city. Indeed
the uncharitable might insist that We
fell among thieves.
eve had an open week between To
peka and Fort Worth, Texas, and ar
for the date, explaining that it would
be a great race meet week and thai
the local public would be added to by
] many thousands of country neighbors
So our agent closed a contract, selling
the show for $4,000 for the week
And thus we arrived. s~, =. ".:-.s.:' .
EThe contractor was to supply every
thing, including lot, advertising ant
band. The lot was an abandoned corn
field, with soft loan miles deep. Every
wagon stuck to the hubs and what wa
said by the attaches of the show is no
for publication nor remembrance Blu
we got the show up, somehow. Ant
then it rained. And on Tuesday nigh
it rained. A fireworks show is not
l bowling success in rainstorm, AM
| there was no show on either night.
| "The party with the $15, 900 guaran
| tee began to get nervous. When
learned that his signature on a con
tract wasn't worth Is cents, let alon
$4,000, I also became nervous. ~
| Wednesday night was fair and W
had good crowd. About a four thou
/ sand dollar house. Mr.. Guarantor sait
he wouldn It bother to count the tickets
but would take the money. / said hin
nay, and slowed it in the bottom Of
a trunk in my hotel room. Up to
O'Clock Thursday evening the day wa
& idea! and the town damned with pee
s pie in to see the race meet: coal
81 count $4,000 house without leaving tn
IS hotel office. And at 7 o'clock one o
q those Texas northers descended upo
"a the place and blew the show all owe
the county. Mr.. Guarantor turned