The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1947-07-10

mess up a fellows routine. May
be it would be better if we could
figure out way to eliminate the
Monday morning after, Anyhow,
it sure is hard to take.
When we colsed our office last
Thursday night l didn't worry a
bit about this weeks column for
figured that l had three days
in which to write it. Of course |
planned a lot of fun, frolic and
play, but was confident that I
would still find time to dash off
d column during the holiday Pc
Rod.
In my younger days I used to
be up before daylight on the
morning of July Fourth and in
company with few pals would
begin shooting cannon crackers
at 400 a. m. There wasn't any
ban on fireworks and we kids
would work our heads off NOW
ing lawns, chopping wood,
sweeping sidewalks or doing
other. odd jobs to make few
dollars and we'd spend it all on
fireworks.
When it came to noise our
crowd could hold their own with
any of them. We went in for
giant cannon crackers and as
background music would set off
punches of small crackers to the
delight of neighbors who had
foolishly imagined that they
would take advantage of their
holiday to get a little extra
sleep.
remember one kid, who was
chemically inclined, discovered
that COB of potash and sulphur
properly mixed and placed on the
street-car track would ex-
plode with a blast you could
hear a mile away 1t was hard on
the nerves of the car crew and
passengers and probably didn't
do the rolling stock any good, but
it was about the biggest thrill
we got on the Fourth.
Providence must have looked
after me for l came through un-
harmed but for a few trifling
powder burns. Since we have
adopted out safe and sane"
Fourth, the day hasn't had much
of a kick for me and I'm glad
that when l was a kid I was per-
.mitted to sure enough celebrate.
But getting back to the imme-
diate past weekend. | spent it on
threeday fishing trip and, in
spite of the fact that I'm old
enough to know better, l man
aged to gather a grand and glo-
rious mess of sunburn that for
downright discomfort can hold
it's own with about anything
that a firecracker can do to you.
l woke up this morning with
a three-alarm nose, bllstered
ears and sizzling neck. One
thumb is raw form a line cut and
my hands are all scratched and
cut from the injection of barb
ed hooks, wicked fish teeth and
run-of -the-mill bruises that you
never remember inflicting but
always up painfully the next day.
So much for my exterior. MY
interior was as backlaShed as
most of the casts made. 1t
seems that the mixture OF coca
cola, luke warm beer, salaml,
SPAN, chewing gum, cheese
crackers, canned beans, sailed
peanuts, potato. chips and bour-
bon and soda that 1 had accum-
ulated over the three-day perl
cd, and that tasted wonderfully
good at the time 1 INDUCED IN
them, were extremely unWel-
come to my un-cooperatlve
stomach.
And so the condition l find
myself in on this bright and
shiny July morning is anything
llt conducive to the writing OF
an instructive and intelligent
column unless it be as a warn
ing to others to avoid my mis-
takes come another holiday.
Oh, yes. we did catch some
fish we'll, we should have. con-
sidering the fact that we would
start out before daylight and not
return until after dark. 1t was
salt water excursion and we
bounced around in an open boat
casting for trout, ladyfish, blues,
jacks or what-have-you until the
tide changed. Then we Woulo
park somewhere and indulge IN
bottom fishing for shook, REDS,
cobia or anything that happened
along.
l did manage to snag a few
trout, and a couple of blues, BIT
my speciality seemed to be cat
fish whether we fished on the
top or the bottom How these
fool cats could distinguish my
plug or my hook from all the
others 1 will never be able TO
figure out, but they sure did, and