The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-07-04

venting uSe1ul tnlnSS ike automatic
plows that would plow whole field in
the night time while the farmer lay in
bed asleep, and automatic fish poles
that would bait their own hooks and
throw out their own lines and pull in
their own fish and take them off and
bait the hooks over again, still Uncle
Dick was ready at minutes notice to
drop all that sort of thing and invent
something TO give boy pleasure. And
you will agree that a nephew who has
an uncle like that has a treasure.
Jimmy Broderick knew this and he
took great care of Uncle Dick, carrying
an umbrella for him when it rained and
watching to see that he ate his meals
regularly, for like all great inventors,
Uncle Dick could not take care of him
self very well.
What would you like for the Fourth
OF July, Jimmy?" asked Uncle Dick
about a week before that important
day.
Il would like most of all to have
great big sky rocket" said Jimmy.
You shall have one" said his uncle,
tory shop, which is the funny name
that he gave to the little room where
he invented things.
The telephone bell rang a good deal
that day. On the very next morning a
big truck arrived from the city with
two big casks on II. They were painted
red and marked Danger! Powder" in
hig 1ottaru rThara u,ara algn bnno ,nIIe
of thick pasteboard, each sheet big
enough to make the whole side OF a
house, and there were so many of
them that the horses could hardly pull
| them.
Uncle Dick rubbed his hands and
chuckled like anything when he saw
the material.
You shall certainly have sky.
| rocket" said he to Jimmy. And the
best OF It is that the greater part of
the country for hundreds OF miles
| around will have one, too"
Jimmy was very curious and stlll
more puzzled, but he knew that Uncle
Dick did not like to explain his inven.
tons beforehand, so he asked no ques.
| tions, but merely kept his eyes open
and did not go out OF sight OF the in
ventory shop all morning.
| Before noon a great gang OF men ar.
rived, and under Uncle Dicks orders
they began to carry all the material to
the pasture, where they deposited it
| around huge old dead pine tree that
stood smooth and straight reaching
into the air fully 80 feet without a
branch to break 1t except on the very
| top, and that was soon gone, too, for
| Uncle Dick sent men up there and
they Topped it of so that then the
tree stood sleek and smooth like a
| mast.
| Then the sheets of pasteboard were
laid on the ground and rolled into a
great cylinder 30 feet long and at least
ten feet in diameter.
AS soon as a sheet was rolled into
shape the men tied II tightly with
| yards on yards of rope and then an,
other sheet was rolled around the first
and more rope tied around that and
so on until all the pasteboard had been
used up. and that was such a lot that
1t took the men all day with the hardest
kind OF work.
The next day they opened the casks
Of powder and began to load it in and
| in, hour after hour, until the last grain
was pounded in good and hard, and
Jimmy's Uncle Dick said
so! There's 500 pounds of powder
in there. That ought to make her fly
But how about the stick?" thought
Jimmy. He did not say it, knowing
how easy it is to spoil an inventors
ideas by interrupting him with friv
olous conversation.
He was to learn very soon how about
! the stick, for as soon as the mighty
| cylinder was all finished, Uncle Dick
had derrick rigged, and up went the
big thing until 1t dangled alongside OF
the dead pine tree near the dizzy tor
| of It,
Then mighty cables were sent uT
and the men lashed the loaded paste
board cylinder to the tree until It was
completely hidden by ropes.
Now for the fuse" said Uncle Dick
He set the men to work untwistinl
ropes until they sad more than 30C
feet all unraveled Uncle Dick wen
up the derrick and put the end of the
unraveled rope into the bottom part o
the rocket. Then he poured kerosene
oil all over 1t and rubbed gunpowdel
into it,
so" he said. coming down hand
over hand. Now she's finished, all ex
cept her looks"
He got great load OF shingles and
built a little conical tower nearly as
tall as a house. This was painted red
and when 1t was hoisted to the tap OF
the tree and set on the rocket 1t looked
beautiful.
That afternoon Uncle Dick sent out
invitations both by mail and by mes
senger to places as far away as zoe
miles, saying:
Jimmy Broderick respectfully in
vites you to his Uncle Dicks farm tc
see him set off the biggest skyrocket
in the world on the evening of the
Fourth OF July"
Uncle Dick also sent word to the
| papers about II, and ON the evening OF
the Fourth more than 10000 people