The Monmouth inquirer., 1922-06-29
Oldtifne
.Independenlece &C
Sc Day e
Celebrations


gunpowder smoke still lowered over
the earth, and while the older folk
were reading of fires and casualties
the younger ones unobtrusively got
away from the house to meet on street
corners and in empty lots, there to live
over again the glories of the day be-
fore, which would not be repeated un-
til another year had passed.
1t Is the generation who were boys
In 1870 or thereabouts that is apt to
Hnger as long on the memories Of
9th Of July as on those of the ma
tional day; perhaps their memories Of
the former are more poignant. Ere
they began to relate the exciting events
Of the Fourth of their boyhood they
Charley deliberately shot a blank car
fridge In his hand; how Willie lost an
eye and Eddie a finger; but having
counted up the cost, they laugh out
aloud and exclaim:
''It was worth 1t, by Jove! Fourth
Of July then was the real thing, and
anybody who was a boy then will
never forget it. The poor kiddies of
today have no way of realizing what
real excitement is. What's the glori-
Gus Fourth to them? Merely holi-
day, like any other"
Advocate the "sane and Safe"
But in the next breath they hedge
on their transports, remarking In So
bey afterthought:
II guess the present way of observ-
ing the Fourth, the sane and safe way,
Ia the best after all We paid dearly
In Hres and accidents, and more than
occasionally in lives for our fun. oh,
yes we're wiser nowl"
Certainly we are wiser. Most of
the generation who avidly drank the
delights of a national celebration un-
curbed and unprohibited are fathers,
even grandfathers today. And to them
naturally "sane and SAFE" is pleasant
iuxtaposition of words. They have
reached the time of life which ap-
proves of "safety first"
But listen to the 0ld-timer whose
boast Is that he was 'born and
brought up In a CITY," When he remi-
nisces out of earshot OF his grandson
the sane and safe and prosaic gets lit
tie sympathy. He revels ia the devil
try he cut on that day Of days, the
Fourth, when every leading string was
loosed.
Stored His Fireworks.
"For couple of months beforehand
/, who had been a spendthrift at Dirty
Johns, as we boys called the near
est confectioner, changed into very
miser. / saved every cent, and as
soon as 1 had nickel, off I went and
bought package of fire-crackers. That
was the price of the ordinary sized
cracker, and in those days the giant
size was just coming in. slowed
my purchase In large shoe box which
/ kept under the bed and added to my
store as the generosity of my elders
allowed.
"By the Fourth / usually had at
least two score punches and few
torpedo packages, although even then
despised the latter as being only good
for girls Mayhap catherine wheel
or a Roman CANDLE or, joy of joys, a
rocket or two got into my store by
good luck And as the hoard grew
apace SO grew my impatience. 1t
seemed as If the Fourth of July would
never come.
'Tt came at last, and scarcely had
the alarm clock of Phoebus Apollo
walked that god of day before I sal
lied forth to make what noise / could
with the means at hand. Early as /
might be-and you bet preceded the
dawn-the others of the gang were
as early, and the spiteful crack Of
frecrackers or the bang of toy can
non heard from the vicinity of our rem
devious pinned wings to my sandals.
Beginning the Day.
arrived at the open lot near where
we lived, we all proceeded without pre-
amble to get into the business of the
day. We fired at first cautiously and
penuriously, for every boy among us
wanted to keep going all day long, and
previous experience had taught us the
misery of getting too soon out of fire-
works and having to hang around
noiseless while other lads kept on fir
ing.
''If we kept our heads and didn't let
excitement and bravado betray us into
extravaganza each Of us had generally
! supplies enough to last till twilight,
when the big fireworks were due. We
didn't 60 home to dinner, and II the
family came to drag us off to see a
procession we went unwillingly and
with leaden legs.
'The meanest trick that was ever
played on a youngster suffered from
one Fourth as proudly sailed up to
the meeting place, carrying under my
arm my shoe box, loaded with 40
punches of crackers. There was no
doubt in my mind that | had supplies
sufficient for the day, and having taken
the precaution to fortify myself with
paper of sandwiches, | looked for
ward to a day of triumph.
Could Not See the "Joke."
"As approached the crowd and