davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-12-08
flrecracRers at Cbrlstmas
By ROBERTUS LOVE

at the fireside, pulled the trigger Of
the new toy pistol-and then went
down to old man Beams store and
spent our quarters to best advantage.
Brother and l went over to the
doctors house and Joined his boys in
the front yard. The snow was about
ankle deep, crinkly under the foot, and
the air was crisp and clear. The eldest
of the doctors boys had been presented
with new derby hat for Christmas
the first derby that ever came to Iron
dale. There-I just had to let the name
of the town slip out.
Clainie-that was what we called the
biggest boy-was intensely proud of
that new hat. He wore it at breakfast
that morning his brothers said. When
we all gathered in the yard to pop the
crackers his derby was on the back
OF his head. We pooled our property
by putting the fifteen punches of fire.
crackers in heap on the snow. Near
at hand lay a piece of punk, burning
slowly.
Just to see if we had hatful of fire.
crackers Clainie put his priced derby
over the heap Some of the crackers
stuck out at one side. The littlest boy
dead many years now-picked off one
Of the crackers, touched it to the punk,
and when it spluttered fire he dropped
it. The cracker went under one side Of
the hat. That was the point where the
frolic became tragedy.
III of nS xrapa
lem OF firing whole bunch of crack
ers at once when suddenly there was
ripping explosion which drew our at
tendon to Clainie's derby. The hat was
considerably divided against itself.
One powdery piece or it struck me on
the nose The rim, ragged ruin, flew
over the fence into the street. The rest
OF 1t disappeared at various places in
the snow.
To paraphrase the line from the
poem of the boy who stood on the
burning deck, "The hat-oh, where was
it?"
Clainie's grief was twofold. He had
lost his new hat, and all the firecrack.
ers had gone up in one big explosion.
All of us were disconsolate But the
dear old doctor-I think he is living yet
and very old now-took pity on us and
gave each Of us a dime wherewith to
purchase bunch apiece.
Down there nowadays they pop fire.
crackers on the Fourth. but dare say
that some Of the boys of this genera
ton still find a bunch of the little red
DODDers I'm their stCckinpa on Christ
mas morning
The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-12-08

wv IHEN 1 was boy-and that
NM was some time ago. kind and
considerate reader-I never
popped frecrackers on the
Fourth of July. l popped them on
Christmas day. That was because
was boy in southern state only a
few years after the close of the civil
var. Still you don't understand? :?
Well, let me do little explaining.
L shall not venture to speak for
pther communities in the south, but in
my neighborhood most of the people
still were somewhat bitter against
Uncle Sam for having come down
there with armies for a four years
fight. The folks in and around my
serene and sequestered little village,
lying on the cedar clad hillsides of
southeast Missouri, had known much
of the war from actual observation
and experience. Armies, Federal and
Confederate, had marched and counter
marched through the village. A re-
markable battle, that of Pilot Knob,
was fought less than twenty miles
away. Missouri, let it be remembered
was loyal to the Union, but in the
southern part particularly the senti-
ment was mostly in favor of the "lost
cause"
We small boys did not know that the
reason for the firecrackerless Fourth
and the firecrackery Christmas lay in
the prejudices engendered by the war
All we knew or cared to know was
that when Christmas came around it
meant a few punches of firecracker
and a lot of fun popping them out in
the snow, for in those days we always
had white Christmas.
After the lapse of thirty years l can
recall with vivid distinctness a Ger
tain Christmas in my town which be-
gan with high anticipation of fun and
came very near ending in a tragedy
Our family doctor had three boys who
were favorite chums of my brother
and myself. Somehow we always
managed to get together on Christmas
day and pop the firecrackers which
Santa Claus brought or which we
bought with the paper quarter of a
dollar allowed each of us out of the
family exchequer for that purpose. A
quarter bought three punches of the
little red flrecrackers There were
five boys, and you can compute the
number of punches we had.
We all got up early on this Christmas
morning, took the candies and oranges
and other things from our stockings.
inspected the ~. S. Mail'' wagon left
The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-12-08

Christmas is glad holiday aboard
one of Uncle Sans battleships, The
jackies deck the grim fighting ma
chine in wreaths of evergreen and hol-
ly. Even the great guns wear chap
let's, For one day in the year the EN-
blems of peace on earth hide the
frowning front of war The Christ.
mas dinner aboard one of these float
ing forts is fully as glad as at pri-
vate fireside
The sailors miss a few of the chief
delights of the season, however. The
prattle of children is lacking, as are
the cheer of home and the smile of
loved ones. But the Jack tars can give
and accept q few presents-that is.
they can if in port where such things
can be bought.
Do you know any of Uncle Sans
sailor boys? If so would 1t not be a
beautiful thing TO REMEMBER THEM
THIS CHRISTMAS 2 Even little
thing would be appreciated 1t would
show them some one thought of them.
SHOP EARLY. so that the gift can be
sent in time, Indeed, for any gifts
that are to be sent away shopping
should be done early so that the pres.
ents may not reach their destination
two or three days late. BETTER BE
BEFOREHAND. One gift early is
better than half a dozen late.
Shop early and then you can be sure
of reaching your friends, be they sail
ors or otherwise, ON THE DOT That
lmmeasurably enhances the value Of
bhe gift
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
WEST ERN.

A severe drop in temperature has
reigned in Iowa, the thermometer drop
ping to 50 degrees.
The trial OF John /. Mcnamara anc
his brother. James, has been set for
October /, 1911. at Los Angeles.
Topeka and section Of state re-
Ceiyed heaviest rain recorded IN t~o
years, the rainfall measuring 2.S3
inches
Kansas has law that has greatly
benefited the farmers OF that state
this year, for it provides tax rebates
where ponds are built.
From the available figures which
are incomplete. Texas has gone anti
prohibition by a majority OF between
1000 and 5000 votes.
When a passenger train on the Mid
land Valley railroad crashed through
bridge near Avant, Okla, at least Six
people were seriously injured.
II. P. Dalton, former county assess
or, at Oakland, Calf, was sentenced
to eight years in the penitentiary at
San Quentin for accepting bribe.
AS the result Of four cave-ins on the
line Of a municipal trunk sewer, in
Muskogee, Okla. four are dead, six
are injured and seven are missing.
Two hundred workmen witnessed the
accidents. Two cave-ins coming almost
simultaneously buried four men, who
lost their lives.
The anti-prohibition majority in the
statewide prohibition election in Tex
as stands 6,l04, figure too large to
be overcome by the unreported vote,
according to figures compiled by the
Dallas News. The total vote against
the amendment is 234,1O1. for the
amendment 227.997.
Suit has been filed in the United
States District Court at Seattle by
counsel for the Bunker Hill Smelling
Company against the st. Paul, Mime,
apolis & Manitoba Railway Company
for possession OF land in Snohomish
county alleged by the plaintiffs to con-
tain eighteen copper claims, smelt-
ing plant and other property valued
at more than s6,000,000
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
THE WEEKS NEWS EPITOMIZED

The most bitter fight waged by an
administration in many years will
come to a close when the Canadian
reciprocity bill. an issue before two
sessions of Congress, will be passed
by the Senate by decisive vote.
There is no dodging the fact that
Congress is anxious to avoid the con-
sideration Of all legislation at this
session except what it simply must
take up. Statehood for New Mexico
and Arizona. reapportionment, direct
elections Of senators, Panama Canal
tolls, Panama Exposition matters,
army legislation. conservation legisla
ton. the control OF corporations, these
are some OF the things which are clam
oring for attention and which seem
destined to go over.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29

President Simon OF Hayti appears
doomed to follow President Diaz of
Mexico. and give way to a revolution
reaching Washington.
| BY a vote of SO to q the Senate
passed the Canadian reciprocity bill
without amendment, which settles
this question SO far as the Congress
is concerned.
More than two billion dollars in re
deemed bonds. representing the major
part of the governments Civil Wa
debt is being fed to the furnaces IN
the Bureau Of Printing and Engraving.
The woman credited with having
first expressed the idea Of a general
memorial day, Mrs. Sue Landoa
| Vaughn. is dead at the home Of the
Eastern Star. Masonic order in
Washington, on which she was depend
ent.
Louisiana planters and producers Of
sugar are making a determined stand
on the traiff before the House sugar
trust committee. declaring that a re-
duction Of sugar duties would ruin the
domestic production Of cane sugar and
that free sugar would annihilate both
the cane and bet sugar industries of
i The country.
| The United States Steel Corpora.
tion n obtaining the Tennessee Goa,
& Iron Company and its Southern orc
lands, "cinched" its monopoly Of the
ores of the American continent and
tied up available fields for independ-
ent concerns. according to Chairman
Stanley OF the House steel trust" in
vestigatins committee.
Pass the House wool tariff revision
bill or enact no wool legislation at all,
is the slogan of strenuous fight be-
ing made by House leaders among
their party associates in the Senate,
and the net results after a series of
conferences has been a growth of SEN
| ;iment among Democratic senators in
favor Of this policy, which may mean
no wool legislation at this session.
A purported pooling agreement be-
tween the Carnegie Steel Company
and ten other kindred concerns for a
percentage apportionment of the steel
output of the country-an admittedly
iiAS SOL oSN0hiSht SoPPoSSNAy loh6
destroyed-stirreda a recent meeting OF
the House steel trust" investigating
committee. The original agreement
provided for the formation of the steel
plate association of the United States
and notwithstanding that the agree
ment was burned and only came to
light because a Pennsylvania printer
had saved a copy from the flames, the
committee sought corroborative evil
ldence that the steelplate association did
exist after the incineration of the tell
tale documents.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
Colorado Poultry and Bees.

Washington.-In an official state
ment issued by the Bureau of the Cen
sus statistics relative to the domestic
animals, poultry and bees reported on
farms and ranges for the state OF
Colorado at the thirteenth decennlal
census, April Is, 1910, are contained
as follows: The aggregate value Of all
domestic animals, poultry and bees in
1910 was reported as s70.021 600, as
compared with s49.94S,000 in 1900. the
amount of increase being $20,o73, 600
and the rate 400 per cent.
The total value of the domestic ami
mails was reported as s6s 10000 in
1910 as against $40 100000 in 1900.
the increase amounting to $19,34l 900.
or 392 per cent
The poultry were valued at s1,012,.
900 in 1910, as compared with $393. 900
in 1900, the gain being $619.000, or
1874 per cent.
The bees were valued at 100000 in
1910 and sl95. 900 in 1900, the increase
amounting to $4,000. or So per
cent.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
SPORT
WESTERN LEAGUE STAN

Frank Isbell, manager Of the Pueb-
10 ball club. was suspended three days
for slapping Umpire Clark during a
game
Battling Nelson stated in Portland
that negotiations were concluded for a
boxing match between himself and
Jimmy Britt in New York.
Outfielder Tom Murray of the Mis-
soula Union Association team was pur
chased by Barney Dreyfus. owner OF
the Pittsburg Nationals. for $500.
A course for rowing, rivallinx in
size and beauty the famous Henley
course on the Thames river in Eng
land, is being planned by Chicago row.
ing men and veterans of college
crews
A forfeit of $1,000 to bind the ten
round with Packey Mcfarland. sched.
uled to take place in Milwaukee. Sen
tember 18th has been posted BY Al
Wolgast. 1t is said that obstacles in
the way Of meeting between the two
Ilightweights have been removed.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
Minor Mention,

The Colorado Telephone Company is
erecting an exchange building al
Holly.
The Farmers Union of Weld county
is to build flour mill. probably al
Milliken.
The Senate has confirmed the ap-
pointment Of Fred E. Cole postmaster
at Arriba
Knute Johnson OF Cripple Creek per
ished in the recent forest fire at Por
cupine, Ont.
Colorado agriculturists and fruit
growers are assured of enough cars tu
handle their crop.
Andy Potonno. believed to be a
Black Hand letter writer, has been ar
rested in Telluride
The capital stock OF the Denver Ma
tional Bank is to be increased from
$75o.oo0 to $1,000, 900.
The State Agricultural College will
exhibit choice live stock at the Weld
County fair in September.
The Wisconsin Coal Company is
preparing to open up extensive coal
deposits at Lay, Moifat county.
Determined to have only the most
up-to-date equipment for its schools,
Erie has ordered sanitary fountains.
A cyclone hit Amherts, east of Hol-
yoke, destroying two buildings, a heavy
rain with hail, no one seriously hurt.
The question OF establishing a hom-
for fallen women and orphan children
at Grand junction is being agitated by
the churches.
For the ground on which the new
Greeley postoffice will be located the
government has given William Maher
check for 100000.
The tenth annual celebration Of the
Gunnison County Stock Growers AS
sociation. held in Gunnison, was a
great success.
Having two extra legs growing in
front of its wings, four-legged chick.
en- is curiosity in the poultry yard of
Grandmother Koehler at Platteville.
State Veterinary Charles Lamb
states that a number OF horses have
died over the state. with what is
Nno"A III tuc Loot ds ." amp le'ei.
While swimming in the Grand river
near Grand Junction, Owen Walsh
seventeen-year-ol son of NJ. J. Walsh.
peach king" of Mesa county. was
drowned
Patrolman William B. Hendrey or
Trinidad has been temporarily sus-
pended from the local police force for
beating Mexican into insensibility
on the street.
James E. Dean, a farmer living five
miles east OF Windsor. struck a flow
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
Colorado Apples for Foreigners.

Grand Junction.-An effort is TO be
made this fall to place Colorado ap
pies on the English and German mark
cts. Colorado apples are now sold
in nearly every part OF the United
States, but the price paid in the for
eign markets for high class fruit is
much higher than in this country and
it is believed that the Introduction OF
Colorado apples into England and Ger
many will mean a large increase in
the profits OF fruit growers. The
United States consul at Hamburg has
been In communication with T. F.
Mahoney OF the Grand junction Cham
Der of Commerce for some time am
is anxious to see the Colorado fruit
placed on the German market. A ;.
pie shipment has already been ar
ranged for and Mahoney is confident
that Grand valley fruit can be sold at
a big profit 10 the German commission
men.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
COLORADO STATE NEWS

feet. He will utilize the flow to irri-
gate his farm.
! The life OF the locust trees OF Colo
RADIO is threatened this year by bug
known as the locut borer. according to
Albert Mauff, secretary Of the State
Board OF Horticulture.
The Colorado State Highway Com
mission is planning to construct sys-
tenn Of highways in the state this year
and next which will be the foundation
of an elaborate system.
| Representatives of the Standard Oil
| Company are sinking well near the
oil springs near Steamboat Springs
1t is the plan of the company TO sink
several wells in the vicinity.
Judge John Easter. who built the
first house in Denver, and who was the
first mayor OF Goldfield. Colo. cele-
brated his eighty-second birthday at
/ his home in the latter city.
Samuel s. Sharpe of Minneapolis
was elected president Of the National
Real Estate Exchanges. He was
| elected unanimously at the annual
meeting in Denver.
| The Erie Commercial Club has ap-
pointed committee to investigate
the possibility of securing a cream
cry, and already farmers of that sec
tion have promised support.
State Fish and Game COMMISSIONS
Shinn will recommend that the gov
eminent buy the Estes Park fish
hatchery, which was established by
the citizens of Larimer county.
Trouble arising over the shipment of
Texas cattle into northern Colorado
has resulted in an order from Deputy
Stock Inspector Atkins that all cattle
in the Snake River section be dipped.
Yuma's Midsummer celebration is
to be held August Is and 16 and the
citizens OF that town are making great
preparations and one of the greatest
events in the history of Yuma is ex.
pected.
The body of man supposed to b,
P. II. Donnevan of Denver, was founi
on the tracks of the Moffat railroa
at the first cut below Rollinsville, by
the train crew of the passenger train
en- route to Denver.
Mrs. Harriet Jackman. while walking
beside a rapidly moving passenger
train at Greenland, a station on the D.
& R. G., forty-six miles south of Den
yer, was drawn beneath the wheels by
the suction and instantly killed
Sent by his government to study ag
ricultural methods in America. Mara
VAN Narayam of MySore India is in
Fort Collins and will make that city
his headquarters for the next two
months while he is studying the va
rious features OF the agricultural in
dustry in the state
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
Goes Over Niagara in Barrel.

Niagara Falls. n. Y.-The Horse
shoe falls were successfully navigated
by Bobby" Leach in a barrel On
the trip he received only superficial
injuries. Only once before has the
trip been made and then by Mrs
Anna Edison Taylor OF this city, Oc-
tober q. 1901.
Leach. who had been threatened
with arrest by the police of both the
Niagara Falls cities. made his start
from La Sale. river village two
miles above the cataract. He was
towed into the stream by river men
to point off Chippawa, on the Ca
madam side OF the river less than a
mile above the brink There he en-.
tered the barrel and was cast adrift
to the mercy of the upper rapids and
the cataract.
In the rapids the barrel was tum.
bled and tossed.
Within less than a minute the
strange craft was seen bobbing in the
spume of the cataract. The river was
unusually high ana the barrel was
suol lHto tHe stieain' ltS progress
was arrested, however, by an eddy, in
which the cask spun for several min,
utes until Frank Bender. a young river
man. swan out with a rope and Sc
cured 1t.
Rappings were heard from the in,
side of the barrel. 1t was known that
the Euglishman was alive and the
cask was quickly opened. With Sc,
we're cut over the left ear, Leach
standing in the barrel, waved his hand
to the crowd on the banks.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
WITH SAVAGE INTENT TO KILL
INSANE MAN FIRES
INTO CROWD.
WOULD KILL PRESIDENT
OPENS DEADLY FIRE ON BUSY
CHICAGO STREET
CORNER.
western Newspaper Union News Service.

western Se"spaper Union News Service
Chicago.-M. Hussain, a Hindue fan.
attic, armed with a magazine rifle of
the army pattern. calmly stood at the
corner OF the Chicago opera house
block, across from the city hall, in
the heart Of the city, and fired into
the thronged streets, shooting six per
sons
In the midst of the panic, F. p.
Lowder, a reporter for the Record
Herald. OF slight build, at whom the
maniac had fired one shot, sprang
upon him and pinioned his arms until
the police oyerpowered him.
Hussain gave the police a terrific
fight before he was subdued. He
dubbed them with his gun and clawed
and bit furiously. He was not sub
dued until he was made almost sense
less. Five policemen struggled with
him
At the police station Hussain rayed
about his determination to slay 10000
persons. including President Taft and
other digntaries, and said he had Just
commenced his mission when inter
fered with. One of the letters found
in his clothing was addressed to Presi-
dent Taft, whom he addressed as My
dear deaf and dumb and dead Taft"
and informing the chief executive that
he had been marked for slaughter.
When the prisoner was searched in
coherent letters, one addressed to the
British consul and the other to His
E1cellency, President Taft" were
found in his pocket. The one to the
consul said:
Americans are lot Of robbers. l
am going to do something to fix them.
They don't give the British subjects
chance to make a living"
Another letter said that Taft was
unfair with British subjects and de-
clared the writer was going to take
the law into his own hands.
When taken to the central detec
tive bureau Hussain talked rambling
ly of this d d United StateS;"
OF gossipng persons in Chicago who
had made Misrepresentation affect
ing his honor He said he was 35
years old. an iron molder, had come
to Chicago from Verona. Pa, six
months ago; had lived in the United
States for five years.
Late in the afternoon DR.. George
Joseph Spencer. city physician. pro-
nounced Hussain a paranoiac. who had
been transported into a cool, fiendish
state of insanity "by continuous
brooding over a systematized delusion
Of persecution
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29

The Pullman people are planning
a further reduction in upper berths.
The Navy Department has decided
to establish a school for instruction in
aerial navigation at the naval acade-
my at Annapolis for the under officers
OF the navy.
Charles Dixon OF Kansas City, his
son, aged sixteen, and daughter, asc'i
fourteen, were drowned by the upset
ling of canoe in Lake Michigan a.
MIcatawa Park at Grand Rapids.
The United States government Is
building at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
a two .nIIl!on dollar military prison.
The WORK is being done by convict Ia
Dor and tn, reby a great saving in the
cost is being male.
The investie ation into the affairs
OF the American Smelling l. Refining
Company in New York to determine
whether the so-callcd "smelter trust
is in violation OF the sherman anti.
trust law has been dropL-.i
The chairman Of the BlIr! Of the
American Sugar Refining l.mpany.
Washington B. Thomas. OF New York.
practically admits that the stocs OF
that concern has been greatly watered
Thomas advocates government coz
troll.
In the near future thousands Of men
probably will begin the construction
in New York of the most elaborate
system of underground thoroughfares
in the world. The entire new system,
involving the expenditure of approx
mately 100000, was awarded to
the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company.
Four of the five construction con.
tracts were signed and bonds were ap-
proved. The system will require from
three to four years to finish In its en-.
tirety, although engineers estimate
that portions here and there may be
completed within eighteen months to
| two years.
The Gittins bill, which will permit
the opening OF the great race tracks
of the state of New York passed the
Senate &c to %.
A. B. Garretson, president of the
Order of Railway Conductors, now
will receive salary of sic 600 a year,
the highest paid to the head of any
| labor organization.
Two men, after hurling stone
through a jewelry store window,
grasped a tray Of diamonds worth
100000, killed clerk who attempted
to capture them and escaped in a tax
icab, in New York.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-07-29
Gallon CITY Advertising.

Canon City.-Cahon City business
mems advertising campaign to attract
tourists and other visitors to this sec
ton OF the state, has proven very sue
cessful this season, and the influx OF
strangers during the past two months
has been greater than any similar Pc
riod In the history of the community.