The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-12-15
Nv THEN 1 was a boy-and that
M was some time ago, kind and

AAi was some time ago, kind and
considerable reader-I never
popped firecrackers on the
Fourth Of July. l popped them on
Christmas day. That was because l
was boy in a southern state only
few years after the close of the civil
war Still you don't understand?
Well, let me do a little explaining.
| shall not venture to speak for
other 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 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. 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 sent1-
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 engcndered by the war.
All we knew or cared to know was
that when Christmas came around it
meant a few punches of firecrackers
and lot of fun popping them out in
the snow, for in those days we always
had a white Christmas.
After the lapse of thirty years 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 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
dollar allowed each of us out of the
family exchequer for that purpose. A
quarter bought three lunches of the
little red firecrackers There were
five boys, and you can compute the
number of punches we had.
We all got up early on this Christmas
Rorning. took the candies and oranges
and other things from our stockings,
G Lot of
mt the Preside, 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 | went over to the
doctors house and Joined his boys in
the front yard. The snow was about
ankle deep, crinkly under the foot, ana
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 a heap OIL the snow. Near
at hand lay 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 1t to the punk,
and when it spluttered fire he dropped
1t. The cracker went under one side of
the hat. That was the point where the
frolic became a tragedy.
All of us were discussing the prob
lem of firing whole bunch of crack
ers at once when suddenly there was
ripping explosion which drew our at
tention to Clainie's derby. The hat was
considerably divided against itself.
one powdery piece OF it struck me on
the nose. The rim, ragged ruin, new
over the fence into the street. The rest
of it disappeared at various places ID
tho snow.
To paraphrase the. line from the
poem of the boy who stood ON the
burning deck, "The hat-oh. where was
itT'
Clainies grief was twofold. He had
lost his new hat, and all the tirecrack-