The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-22
WINNER or TIE NlULLYGPLDS

and your crowd to race us in tubs to- morrow Sikes' field is flooded dandy ans just right. wen chip In for canful of 'muIiies' an the winner q the race can have tho buncf."
 Mikes reply was equally characteris- tic. Sure, said he, "we'n be ail-fired glad to come over and lick you fellers in the race"
 So we do not express wonderment this morning at the strange spectacle of score of boys lodging along the less frequented byways of the town, each burdened with tub. "borrowed" for the occasion. It is unnecessary to ao4 that the common destination was Sikes' The meadow included two fields. All the way round the border of the mead ow rose high embankment From tnls the ground sloped from all sides toward the center, forming a sort of natural basin. Every time this part of the coun- try as visited with heavy rains. the water conveniently collected here in a large pond to contribute to the enjoy ment of Bonneville boys ,.
 When each clan had summoned It's full strength of members. the tubs were mutual agreement, Robbers" and "Pt- rates" delved side by side in the mud and in the. marshy places for mui- lygrubs" Such progress was mace ,as In that within half an hour a general council was held. Equal shares or '.mullygrubs" collected by the rival companies were carefully counted and placed in a large can half filled with water. This was consigned to little Tommy Bowes. the one member Of the Robbers" who today was q spec tator, with the injunction to let not one "mully" escape, under penalty or having "'is head punched goodn hard" Tommy had been rather down fact that his feeble, strength you'd not permit his bringing tub all the way to the meadow-that is. suppos- ing first of all he got away from home ment. And no wonder! Wasn't he royal custodian of the prize? With solemn pride he crawled out upon the fence which divided the meadow and took his post at the point where was to be the finish of the race.
 After a final testing of the stout cudgels which were to serve as poles" the contestants crawied down the embankment and into their tubs. but not without difIiculty.- for any one who knows will tell you It IS quite feat to safely enter tub that always insists upon spinning round like a whirllgig. No one minded a ducking, however. so that within a minute or so the competitors were lined up (the Robbers" to the right preparation for the start. Fifteen minutes were consumed In false starts, during which there arose consider able argument of decidedly heated nature.
 But a general fight was avoided. and the next instant they were ,off. A wonderful race 1t was, too! Such a splashing! Four of the tubs were overturned at the very outset. Ac- cording to the established rules, these unskilful ones were obliged to retire from the race. Invariably their anger and modification was so great that they accused some of their enemies of upsetting them. Thereupon deadly combat followed Thus half of those who entered the race were out or 1t within the first five minutes.
 All interest began to center upon Bill Mumford and Mike Flannigan: A few others were still afioat in theiI Aunwieldy craft, 1t is true, but these two were far beyond reach of the trailers behind them. The efforts oi the captains were encouraged by tre- mendous hurrahs from their support CTS. Excitement grew apace as the two tubs fioundered along, side by side. Occasionally pole would sltT from it's position on the bottom or one of the tubs would strike a snag Then the Robbers" would hold theiI breaths, while the "Piratess would cheer vociferously; or the Pirates' would be plunged into gloom and the "Robbers' into rejoicing, as the case might be. But always the plucky captain righted his vessel without falling overheard and continued or his astrenuouS voyage. Nearer and nearer they came to the goal at the fence