Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-11-20
lBY James ]. Montague)

up in northern Vermont, where JUL
ius was some sort of a chemist for
a wood pulp concern, and / was
time keeper. They didn't cost so much
either as they do now, for julius was
able to cop a little phosphorus out
of the laboratory supplies now and,
then, and it didn't take much OF
it to light up golf ball for a while,
like an automobile headlight, es-
pecially on a dark night.
{ aBut there amt nothing permanent
about phospho horescence. A ball will go
Oft Al tee like a stream, ard light
sizzling and smoking in the rough,
but lust about the time you ketch
up tO it and start to clout 1T, out
it will go. Then there were other
objections to night playing, so pref
ty soon we gave it up, and quit about
half past nine every night, when 1t
gets too dark up there even in the
summer time to get much sport out
OF the pastime.
sJulius and had been talking OF
the limitations of golf, as to time
and what could be done about them
We never got off work till five in the
afternoon, and that held us down to
thirty-six holes for the afternoon
round. if we played lively. OF course
we could have some sport if we want
ed to get up at four the next morn
ing and play twenty holes be-
fore going to work at eight, but you
got to get a little sleep now and then
and besides, after fellow has been
keeping time for gangs of woodmen
that are scattered all over eight or
ten square miles, he don't feel like
climbing out of bed before sunrise.
What we felt the need OF, both as
golf practice and healthy exercise,
was fifty four holes straight from
five o'clock on, and the only way
we could figure on getting it was
getting some kind of light to work
by.
81 suggested that if we got all the
motor trucks that belonged to the
firm, and lined EN- up along the
fairways, with their headlights shin
ing on the course, maybe we could
play. Rut Julius seemed to think the
boss might object, and besides, he
pointed out that ball flickering in
and out, lof flash light beams would
be harder to see than If it just sklt-
tered along through the dark. So we
gave that up.
Then one night julius got to look
ing at the phoSpho horeScent face OF his
wrist watch, and the idea came to
him that ii wrist watch would shine
in the dark so would q golf ball. So
he began experimenting, and in a
week he was ready to take me out on
the course and show me how he was
going tQ revolltiofize the great game I
.'Well, it was great,-at first.
drove off ball, and when it left the
tee it looked as if somebody had
sent out a long shiny spear into the
darkness. 1t came down on the fair
way, and there it was, a round glow,
Hiatt sort of smoked across the face
Of it, and Lit up the grass for three
1f four feet all around.
"It was easy to keep your eye on,
too, but it sort of disconnected you
when it winked out just as you
gere in the middle Of the down
swing. Julius said that we might have
fixed that by al lot Of experimenting
during which he might make a ball
that Would keep giving light for the
duration of a game. He would have
gone ahead and tried it, except Tor
other things.
"There was the wild life. in the
first place. You'd never suspect play
ING over one of these mountain
courses in the daytime what a world
IF fauna there is on them which,
never comes out till after nightfall.
Hardly ever did drive a ball than a
couple Of rabbits didn't come up TO
investigate, and give me terrible
start when they went skitterlng OH
INTO the funderbruSh. Then there was
which could stand right
1vef the ball and Snarl and get nasty
xaen YOU came up. And snakes! ly
iidn't know there were so many OF
hem in tie world You may not
Enow st, but snakes sdo most Of their
sleeping in the sun in the day time /
md roSn around at night seeking
What they may devour.
.sThey seemed to regard these gon I
,alls as something good to eat, and
,ften as not one of them would
rave a BAH in his jaws, and go
ouirming OFF when you came up Tor i
shot. It did look funny the first
irne we saw that bright flame going
IF to one side of the course IN +
pirals. But the worst trouble we had t
Vas with 1.-THE wildcats. They were
larked around in trees and having
ii the curiosity Of a cat they got 7
ii worked up with puzzlement when
lley would see b sphere Of fire drop
ight underneath EN-. They dropped
8 quick almost as the ball did, and
fter this. But / don't think the
TODD there looking at it intently when
Iulius or me came up for a second
hot. Well, the fact that we were
Irmed with q lot of niblicks and
leeks meant nothing at all in their
ives.
zone night a big fellow was nos
ng the ball had driven, and I be-
no of course only able to see the l
ali ran right into him on my way I
o it. The first thing he did was to I
nv to intinidate me with one OF \
hose wild cat yells, which are like
tomcat yell magnified about a
holsand dianleters. Mistakenly think
oo +hat 1oerhans this effort was not H