Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-23
THE OLD-TIME FOURTH

sswhen was tyke Us kids used to begin
to figure on how to grab out q few packs OF
firecrackers for the Fourth OF July ceiebra-
tio1 along toward the middle OF june said
the man verging upon middle age. by
that time. generally. the circus would have
come and gone, and the problem OF how to
mako the circus would have been solved
The flrecracker problem was just about as
hard-a ieetle harder. II ANYTHING for. you
see most Of the junk. such ~ old iron and
rags and bottles and such like. would be
corralled and sold hi the little town by the
youngsters lighting for the price Of the cir
Gus ticket. 20 that when the matter OF get
ting hold OF the price OF rome nrecracksrs
csme up we had to do some tall digging to
raise the funds The tads growing up now
adays don't know anything about tho plans
and schernes the kids Of another generation
had to work to have their fun. The parents
of most Of the boys OF today stake them to
about all the flrecrackers they need and can
use. But only the extremely opulent par
ents OF the day when was growing up did
anything so reckless as that Of providing
for the amusement of their young 'uns, and
most of the tykes had to cook up some kind
OF a dodge to get their own firecrackers.
flrecrackers at that day. too. were ten
cents bunch, whereas I've seen 'em sold
Tor as low as two packs for nickel In
recent years-a heap OF q difference to
boy ambitious to get all OF the noise that he
caa out OF his money. They were three
packs Tor quarter In my growing day, and
three packs were generally as many as we
ever dreamed of. I remember that the first
time l ever saw boy fire or a whole pack
OF nrecrackers at once-he was a Fauntle-
royish little rich kid of our town. was so
tremendously impressed with the barbaric
iavlshness OF the performance that II took
me long time to get over It,
We used to crawl out of bed just about
the rosy hour OF dawn on Fourth of July
morning and repair to sil old cistern, COW
cred over. and with a heavy rock on the
p aaa 70 Keep EN- down. and begin our
celebrating there. There wasn't any kick
from the old folks about the early morning
noise. The old folks of that day didn't hay..
81 many nerves as they have today, and
49, n III inquired noise to be part of the
game OF growing young 'uns
vince, out how fine that first mack of
nrseracKers, when stripped of its smooth
req paper covering. did look in the light
mornings! Maybe I'm wrong. but # seams
10 me, somehow or another, that the fire.
crackers when I was growing I'm made
more noise than do the frecrackers of to-
hrecrackers that were fastened on to each
package Wed always save the green and
the yellow ones till the very last, for every
noy Knew perfectly well that they made a
NOBODY ever told US that, but we Just knew
1t. and we priced 'em highly for their ex-
ceptlonal merit as SURPRISING noise makers
AFTER setting of three or four. very
last just as long as possible we'd get the
wash basin, the one that rested on the
bench back OF the summer kitchen and
mat we all had to wash out of. and we'd
nre a rev on under that. SOS to get full
action on the noise thing. When the old
folks I'D get up and begin to hunt around
for the wash basin they'd find It on the
oid cistern cover. with a lot of powder
nf IN.
not, few holes blown In it, But there
wouldn't be much Of kick from the old
folks, at that, They'd all been young, and
they remembered their own youthfuI
Fourth Of July celebrations. -
OF all the dogssI owned when I was
at that age, not one of 'em but was crafty
enough to crawl under the front porch or
under the shed, with the sound of the f1rst
firecracker on Fourth OF july morning ana
stay there. firmly declining to come out for
PUNISHMENT, until the next day. Fact Is,
mad dog once that began to get sort O.
suiky and worked up three or four days
before the Fourth Of July. and before
single firecracker had been fired He SEEM
ed to know that the bad day for dogs was
az nand, and 1t got on his nerves. But 1t
didn't take any of his foxiness away. He'd
plant two or three bones under the front
porch on the day before the Fourth Of July.
ana when we got up early on Fourth of
July morning to begin the shooting we'd
find him under that porch, although II
wasn't his regular sleeping place at all.
and there he'd remain. blinking and MUNICH,
ing on the bones he'd cached until the next
frecrackers set of under him, or while
attached to his tail, before I got him, and
ne knew. I'm not much of q gambler but
Ia be willing to bet any kind Of q new
nat that no dog of that day ever went
through the experience of having a bunch
Of firecrackers attached to his tail and SET
on twice In succession. After a dog fell
for that gag once he knew enough to duck
a., fN- ~.
his life
Didn't wear many clothes during the
scnool vacations In those days, but what we
did wear used to catch on fire at least a
dozen times on Fourth of July, or We
wouldn't figure that we'd got our moneys
worth. Only two garments, in fact fez the
fire OF the crackers and the punk to feed
upon. put they were enough. and we'd be
smother slow-burning flames or smudges
In our clothes at frequent intervals In the
progress OF the celebration around the old
cistern. The kids nowadays miss one of the
great delights OF shooting of frecrackers
by not going barefooted while doing It. we
were always barefooted throughout the en-
tire summer, OF course, and on Fourth of
July we were always stepping on pieces of
burning punk or halves Of exploded crack
ers. and the dancing around with the pain
of these burns contributed toward the
JOY it was to take foot burned In that
way to the old well and draw bucket of
cold. clear water from the depths. and
then dump the pailful on the burned and
aching member!
Day after the Fourth OF July was al
ways kind of cave OF gloom. In my tyke
day. just like the day after the circus. We
took a melancholy pleasure in trotting
around the ruins of the evanished circus
ring on the day after the circus, and on the
day after the Fourth Of July we'd extract
the same kind of a sad delight in scouting
around among the ruins Of the frecrackers
hot 6a4 honr, lot off on ba
Intellectually trying to pick up one that had
failed to go off. Once in a great while we'd
actually pick up a whole firecracker that
had been accidentally dropped on the day
before. And. say, right now, today, 1
wouldn't have half SO much fun In picking
up a bright new $40 gold piece on my way
to the Office as / did a couple of times on
the day after the Fourth of July, when
came upon sure-enough alive and charged
firecracker that had got lost out of the
bunch on the previous day."
Greatest Long-Distance Runners.
Ernr Lodi