Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-05-22
Copyright. by Joseph b. Bowles)


When the staring and farins cir
Gus advertisements first made their
appearance on the dIngy biil'boards In
the neIghboring towns. there was i'm
mediately great excitement In the
community. and much talk about who
was going with who. and what the
girls were going TO wear. There WIS
quite ms much heartburnlng among
the girls as there would be at any
fancy.drcss ball at Newport. and the
amount of crisp sarcasm ihdulged In
by the girls was as Is usual In such
cases made and provided. II the boys
were short OF money. there was the
usual scramble to get some. and any
chance to get out and do little extra
work was always snapped up In a
hurry.
CIrcuses were always n long ways
on, at some one of the larger towns.
but such an event drew on the neigh
borhoods for 30 miles around. Those
who went from the smaller towns tisu'
ally could 20 by rail: but the main
body OF the circus soers went In
bugIies.
Al We had seen tiger or two In
g ,r time. these events did not excite
us beyond our control. but we rather
lost caste. I Imagine. by our staying
away from where the monarch Of the
Jungle and the corru.n'ed'hidcd
rhinoccros dispoEted themselves. and
tn. bareback ridcrs contoftcd. A
long line Of buS.ics. with a joyous
iy an,icipa,ory couple In each vehicle
would pass the house In III. early
dawn. and II We happen to be mp. ~-
would he greeted always with "aint
you .oIns to the circus9" a liberal
apend.r'' among the swains was sure
to max. hit. as u was supposed a
line could be gotten on his liberal
iiy as n husband In that way. Red
lemonade. peanuts. taffy. the conccr;
after the show. dinner. the "nyins
dutchman." the sid-.shows. tho for.
tun. tcilcrs-~eii. there were several
ways In which the -nimblc shilling"
could be Induced To change hands. and
aianE abou, midnight the RIGS would
come fooplns hack. an occasional
yell from some jolly t.o'hario notify.
Ing us OF tho passing of home bound
couple.
Tn. hand concerts" were always
ris-a al tho towns where they boast
cd of a to~n hand: and they we're at
tended by the boys and EiTis for
miles around. Th"s. In our section
were held Invariably on Saturday
nights Tn. hand gathered at III.
tie pinss pavilion on one aide of tho
public s,,uaf- opposite the courthouse.
and there iiscouts-,i sweet music fTpin
about -isht 10 ten .. IN. The rural
svains came in great droscs. busy.
laden. and from all points of the cuun.
~. They bought the sirls SUPPER a;
the hotels OF restaurants. Ice cream
at tho drug stores. and lemonade. pea
nuts and popcorn wherever thes-
necessities could 10 found. There
was visiting among the various neigh.
boThoods. aud a p-raicious amount af
reckless DRIVING sbpu, at racing speed
around the dusty streets aud corners
OF the to~n.
Sometimes a boy who had been bit.
ten with dpsirc to BE- "A had maa'
would set into an argument with the
police force. one In number. and bc
escorted to the town jail. there to
rumiBatc until the next Monday morn.
ius. but usually there vas very liits.
trouble at the concerts. The music
was the bcs, they had. and II you did
not like II. yuu could Ep home. We
attended at least one band concert
that remember. The music vas of
tho "catch,astat order. Queens.
bury rules. classic holds barred. aad
every fellow for himself uatr the
finale. when they were all SUPPOSED.
TO unite for the end OF the piece.
a, the country dances the suains
appeared in full force. dancing until
daybrcak. and with their bcs, "bIbs
and tnckrEs." The dances were the
most important Of all rural functions.
and by the time fellow began to
tske Eiri regularly to these events.
there vas no doubt bu, that he had
been hooked. played and landed. .
and that there was something shortly
to be heard Of In the matrimonial line.
And yet. as everywhere. the course
see some one OF the boys driving
swiftly past with a new girl on the
seat beside him. aud the girl he used
to drive with appearing in public
with another cavalier. and by these
''prssents~Wr knew that the silken cord
had been lOosed' and that Cupid had
received another back set
The 'Hsh fries we're where old and
young cougTceated. but the boys and
girls never missed these exciting oc.
casions. They were usually held in
some grove near river or lake. and
the men went early TO catch enough
fish TO supply the dinner for all. The
women brought huge baskets loaded
down with everything possible in the
way Of good things TO eat. and some.
times an organ would be brought