The daily sentinel., 1908-11-05
ENCLAND'S FOURTH
OF JULY Is
CELEBRATED
Especial to The Sentinel. /

loptCldl u L ne SeHt1DeI.
London, Nov 5.-The. glorious
Fifth of November" or Guy Fawkes
day, was celebrated in London and
throughout Great Britain in the GUS
tomary enthusiastic manner today
Parades. professions. fireworks. pa
triotic addresses and general merry
making marked the day. Guy Fawkes
day more nearly corresponds to the
American Fourth of July, in its man
ner of observance, than any other
British holiday, and the American
visitors and residents felt quite at
home.
For several weeks before the
Fifth" the lads scour the country
side for tree trunks and branches,
boxes, barrels, anything that will
burn, in fact. and they train their
finds to some old barn miles away.
where they are stored in anticipation
of the great day and guarded with
zeal that often leads to pretty stiff
fights.
Marauders from other localities
will, If not carefully guarded. secret
ly remove inviting "chumps" as
the logs are called, and add them to
their own collections.
Between this intermittent warfare
and lodging the police aud owners of
woodland property the younger ele-
ment of Great Britain has quite
lively time during the few weeks
prior 70 Guy Fawkes day. s'pf
The day itself is occupied until
dusk in building bonfires. "cadging"
coal. coke and oil and eating par
kin" cake inseparably associated
with the celebrations. This cake is
made of molasses, ginger and oat-
meal or any other coarse meal.
As soon as the first night shadow
falls the fires are lighted. firecrack-
ers begin to snap, and pyrotechnic
displays of every description are in
evidence in all directions.
The fun is kept up with vim
similar to Fourth of July until far
into the night, when potatoes. roast
ed in the fires, are INDUCED in.
The name given to the day is some
what misleading perhaps. and the
whole credit or onus of the plot has
been popularity laid upon the should
ers of Guy Fawkes, whereas he was
far from being the most important
of the plotters and seems TO have
been chosen by the chief conspirators
entirely because of his superb cour-
age and GOODNESS. IL ,.
The plan was originated by Robert
Catesby, n man whose natural atmos-
phere was one of plots, but man OF
extraordinary personal charm. The
Roman Catholics had expected great
things from the accession of James
to the throne. The laws of Elizabeth
were cruel and unjust toward them.
and they were led by James 10 expect
amelioration and tolerance.
Instead of this. the laws against
them were enforced with renewed
Nigor, and the great discomfort re-
suited in the gunpowder plot. The
conspiracy was elaborately and care
fully conceived, and great hardships
We're undergone to carry it out
1t was not until the conspirators,
all gentlemen unused 10 physical
labor, had eXcavated through nine
feet thickness of stone wall in order
to get beneath the house of commons
that they found that a vault under
meath the edifice was to let. The
vault was taken in the name of Guy
Fawkes. and the severe physical work
was ended. Under cover of night
thirty-siX barrels of gunpowder We're
conveyed to the vault, and all was
in readiness for the meeting of parl-
lament on Nov. ..
Then came the first weakening
which was to end in the failure of the
scheme. The conspirators could not
agree upon plan to warn the Cath
olic lords and members who would
otherwise be blown up with the rest.
The plotters We're all prominent
gentlemen and had personal friends
among the apparently doomed legis-
lators. An anonymous letter was re-
ceived by Lord Monteagle, one of the
Catholic peers. warning him not to
be present. The author of the letter
is not really known, but it is com
monty believed to have been Gre
sham. in spite of his vigorous denial
when accused by Catesby At all
events. this is supposed to have been
the key to the discovery .s,
Monteagle showed the letter to
Salisbury, who in turn took II O the
king, and all sorts of ingenuitr we're
exercised to discover its meanin-. A
close watch was kept. and in order
to take the plotters redhanded the
arrest was palpably postponed until
the dramatic moment in order to