The Washington times., 1937-07-06
NOW
Capital Marks
A Noisy Fourth
AT THE ELLIPSE
By HELEN ESsARY

ia gAAS AA~S@> ~~~-~~SN
I'D last night at the colored bombs
bursting in air around the White
House grounds caused the ailment.
The shot and shell of the invad-
ing British in 1918 made no more
noise than did the patriotic red,
white and blue rockets and candles
Of july 5, 1887.
"Boomb, thud-d." the C h oes
picked up the noise and rolled 1t
around the AnacoStia flats and the
Arlington hills. 1t was no place
for q nervous woman-down there
by the Ellipse in the midst OF ex-
ploding dynamite.
But after the first cannonading,
even the most jittery female set
tied in and prepared to like the
binding lights and the deafenlng
noise which for some reason al
ways indicate, on the Fourth OF
July, q beautiful love OF country.
At no time during the lombard
ment was the flag still there. When
Senator Ryan Duffy had finished
his speech, the national emblem
went promptly into eclipse.
The band played '"The Star
Spangled Banner" The American
colors were slowly lowered from an
Illuminated flag staff. Half a
hundred Boy Scouts color bearers,
carrying gorgeous flags, marched
solumnly off the brilliantly lighted
arena andrtook the places reserved
especially for them. And then the
fun began.
The people with seats-one dol.
lar apiece-were on the inside OF
the ropes. With the arrogance
Of economic royalistS, they stood
up to see what was going to hap
pen next.
"Sit down in 'front.'" shouted
the prOletariat beyond the ropes.
"Who do you think you are?
Aw-w, sit down."
"Sit down! Sit down." The
CRY was carried over the open
stretch Of lawn and yards and
yards beyond. Even up on the
hill by the Monument where
thousands of Boy Scouts were
sprawIed out on rubber ponchos
the order echoed: "Sit down in
'front.'"
The Scouts weren't peevish,
however. They were having one
swell time, exchanging autographs
and eating ice cream cones. Ut
terly unself-conScious and well be-
haved young men, they were.
Helpful when you wanted to cross
the traffic lane line-but not TOO
helpful. / liked their manners.
It was the Scouts who started
the fireworks. Carrying white
and red torches, they advanced
from each side of the arena,
slowly one by one. s@
"That'S pretty, isn't it, hon,
said the girl on the seat ahead,
and snuggIed her head q bit
closer to the shoulder Of a khaki
uniformed young man beside
her. probably q Scout grown
older. But no wiser.)
"YOu bet it's pretty" said the
man gazing at her raptiy.
"One always enjoys such pa.
triOtic occasions" said SpinSter
beside me to another Spinster.
Lets not forget to plan to see
the New York Worlds Fair to-
gether."
'GQuite right, my dear, we
shall" was the answer.
But the fireworks were begin
ming. A few preliminary bombs
hurst high in the air. A salute
of some sort, probably.
Then the actual display started
each one with a deafening sound.
A bright fire ball shot high in the
heavens. Exploded. Out popped
a colored fountain. Red, white
and blue!
More and more rockets, bigger
and more beautiful fountains.
Burning parachutes danced awhile
in the sky and slid like plummets
down to the ground.
"LOok out, there! Hey, look
out for your head!" shouted the
crowd. Big pieces of black
charred paper flOated over us.
Now and then sparks would
drop as watchers lodged anx-
iOuSly.
"Oh-h.h!" the front row would
cry. standing to see something
unusual.
"Ah, sit down." the back rows
would yell.
A duck Of fireworks walked
brightly along the ground. Prob
ably a cousin of the Dupont Cir
Gle duck who holds up the traffic,
beside his owners flower shop.
Great pin-wheelS-cart wheels,
I suppose they were called-spun
furiously around high posts. Re
markable fir trees shot up from
the ground, the ends tipped with
lights like Christmas trees wear.
Gay rockets exploding into wig.
Cling worms of fire delighted the
crowd. I liked them, too.
But should have been happier
If they had kept farther up in the
air. One spark plopped down a
few inches from the end OF my
nose. didn't feel so patriotic
not at that moment.
All the fireworks were impul.
sive. You never quite knew which
way they were going to dart.
The Goddess of Liberty, how
.yar u,aS yorettv re1iahlo Che kent