The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-03-12
The Things That other soys Had anc
Tie Wanted sna Couldn't Get-A FSt
Mans Mer7ory Deeply Stirred by a
Pair 81 Sleeve Protectors,

aSSlt XII 8l2s i StAiIII l dill GILL L ue-
hae, hui it was there, and l revered
and revereaced 'ern. l made up my
mind that If ever grew up and got
The price, me, 100, for q pair of those
basket sleeve protectors, no matter
what sort of work I'd happen to tackle
Queer dickenses, boys, Ell? Mem.
Der those patent pencil attachments
that ularketmen used to have-may
have EN- yet-hitched to their aprons:
Wei. / thought those were pretty nifty
things, TOO and l used to secretly
banker 10 own one of 'em. Made up
my mind that / would own one of 'em,
100. when ! got to be a man, but some.
how | seemed to want one
when / reached the shaving age.
Guess some of my ambitions as a
boy were pretty crazy anyhow. l was
so jealous of the first boy | eve met
that could spit through his teeth at a
mark and hit it that l hated him. That
same boy pretty early in life got a sob
driving a delivery wagon for a grocery.
Well, pretty soon after he got that lob
he was wearing a pair of those patent
elastic sleeve supporters. or holders. OF
whatever you'd call 'em-things with
q clutch at either end that pulled the
cuff back from the wrist. This boys
pair of those things We're pink elastic,
and now he used to launt 'em before
my eyes.
He knew blamed we'll that those
pink elastic sleeve supporters looked
finer TO ne than any Star of India or
Victoria Cross could possibly look, and
he knew besides that because had
to go to school and wasn't earning any
thing there wasn't a possible chance
on earth for me to get a pair like EN-
and so he Just held 'em over me and
made my life miserable. Yet when |
got to the wage earning age l never
seemed to care at all for a pair of pink
elastic sleeve supporters.
Another boy that l hated had a
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 for
having it on me that way. Anyhow,
his maroon colored cardigan jacket had
a couple of pockets in front that he
Kept full of all kinds of junk-some-
times he ven carried mice to school in
EN-. And that made my indignation
all the greater-the fact that he had
those two fine covered up pockets to his
cardigan jacket.
One great triumph did come to my
hke life, though, and that was the fact
that | was the first boy Of my school to
w a pair of copper toed boots. Well,
l sprang the first pair, as / say. at my
school, and I guess / didn't break the
hearts of all the other boys or nothin'!.
Besides the copper toes. these boots
had red tops. with a silver star and
crescent stamped on the red tops, and
that made the blow all the more fright
full to the other lads that had to see
me stalking around in those boots.
After awhile, though. nearly all of the
other youngsters showed up with cop
per toed boots and thus took the wind
out of my sails.
"We never see boys wearing peaked
caps any ~more-notice? 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 a sensation, all
right. This same boy had got hold of
a carpenters pencil somewhere. and
he'd stick that carpenters pencil I'M
derneath his forage cap, with the
sharpened end projecting in a mighty
blase way that certainly caused US to
regard him as some pumpkins. | was
always crazy for a carpenters pencil
when / vas a boy, but / never got
hold Of one-never did have much
luck when / was a Coy anyhow. Ny
folks We're too blamed respectable.
las q matter of fact-you can believe
1t or not, but I'm telling you the truth
they wouldn't let me at the age of
ten apply for the job Of brakeman on
! a passenger train. That, / thought,
was the finest job In the ~world-brake.
manton q passenger train-just swing
ing a red lantern all the time. and
wearing a peaked cap mostly or the
left ear, and the peak pushed back so
as to show an oiled hang plastered
down, and sitting On a wood box In
the smoker talking to ~fellers. and car
rying q pair Of red flags around every
where, and all that. But the main APP
peal, Of the brakeman's job was the
pair OF red lanterns.
HOh, well, that pair of basket sleeve
protectors that saw at the poultry
market the other day certainly car
ried me back a long way, and ! was
still laughing like a fool when l stroll.
ed away."-Charleston News and Cou-
rier.