Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1908-01-22
A PAIR OF SLEEVE
PROTECTORS
The Eat MANS Memory Wac Stirred


$ I saw a chicken butcher wearing a
pair Of those basket sleeve protectors
: and / stood and laughed like fool,
said the fat man with the white
woollen mittens. First time I'd seen
a pair of basket sleeve protectors for
years-don't get to markets much
and so just had to laugh. Tell you
why. When | was tyke ] used to
look with wonder and awe upon fell
low who wore. a pair of basket sleeve
protectors. l considered that a fell
low with a pair of those things was
all right all right, and then plus some
more.
They had kind of a jounty, devil
may-care air about EN- that can't de-
fine, but it was there, and fevered
and reverenced 'em. | made up my
mind that if ever grew up and got
the price, me, too, for pair Of those
basket sleeve protectors, no matter
what sort of work Id happen to tackle
to make living
Queer dickenses, boys, hey? Mem
Der those patent pencil attachments
that marketmen used to have-may
have EN- yet-hitched to their aprons?
Well, l thought those were pretty
nifty things, too, and | used to secret
ly banker to own one of EN-. Made
up my mind that | would own one Of
'em, too, when l got to be man
but somehow or another l never
seemed to want one after reached
the shaving age.
Guess some of my ambitions as
boy were pretty crazy, anyhow l was
SO jealous of the first boy ever met
that could spit through his teeth at
mark and hit it that hated him. That
same boy pretty early In life got q
job driving delivery wagon for
grocery Well pretty soon after he
got that job he was wearing a pair of
those patent elastic shirt sleeve sup
porters, or holders, or whatever you'd
call EN-; things with clutch at either
end that pulled the cuff of the sleeve
back from the wrist. This boys pair
of those things were of ping elastic,
and how he used to fiaunt them before
my eyes!
HE knew blamed well that those
ping elastic sleeve supporters looked
finer to me than any Star of India
or Victoria Cross could possibly look.
and be knew, besides, that because
had to go to school and wasn't earn
ing anything there wasn't a possible
chance on earth for me to get pair
like 'em-and so he just held EN- over
me and made my life miserable. Yet |
when l got to the wage earning age |
l never seemed to care at all for |
a pair of pink elastic sleeve support
ers.
Another boy that l hated had |
maroon colored Cardigan jacket. That |
was before the day of sweaters. This |
hated boy wore the Cardigan jacket |
beneath his regular outer coat and so
he didn't have to wear any overcoat.
That l considered was a gorgeous
blessing-not to have to wear an over
coat to school. l despised this boy
AO4 AoNAh6 IL III AuC IhdL way any
how, his maroon colored Cardigan
jacket had a couple Of pockets in
front that he kept full of all kinds Of
junk-sometimes he even carried mice
to school in EN-. And that made my
indignation all the greater-the fact
that he had those fine covered up
pockets to his Cardigan jacket.
zone great triumph did come to my
tyke life, though, and that was the
fact that l was the first boy of my
school to own pair of copper-toed
boots. Well, 1 sprang the first pair,
as say, at my school, and guess l
didn't break the hearts of all the
other boys or nothin'. Besides the cop I
per toes these boots had red tops,
with silver star and crescent
on the red tops, and that
made the blow all the more frightful
to the other tads that had to see me
stalking around in those boots. After
a while, though, nearly all of the other
youngsters showed up with copper
toed boots and thus took the wind
out of my sails.
eve never see boys wearing peaked
caps any more-notice? l don't mean
these dinky little cloth caps with
peaks to 'em, but regular soldiers
caps, with glazed peaks. First boy
that turned up in our neighborhood
with one Of those things on made
sensation all right. This same boy had
got hold of carpenters pencil some
where, and he'd stick that carpenters
pencil underneath his forage cap, with
he sharpened end projecting in a
mighty blase way that certainly
caused us to regard him as some pun
1ins. l was always crazy for car
oenters pencil when l was boy, but
never got hold of one. Never did
nave much luck when I was a boy,
anyhow, because my folks were too
planned respectable.
CAS- a matter of fact--you can be-
ieve it or not, but I'm telling you the
ruth-they wouldn't let me at the age
# ten apply for the Job OF brakeman
m a passenger train. That, i thought,
vas the finest job In the world
brakeman on a passenger train. Inst