| Show our oar fourth of july thera ino are three holidays that uro are peculiarly culi arly american fourth ol of july thanksgiving and pay to these thebo ought to bo be added the lay day which marks the founding fonn Jing of proe iree schools Hali on this continent I 1 oat in in the country twenty years ago when I 1 was it lad id the boys used fairly to live through juno on tho the antici I 1 u of it glorious holiday holi ilay on oil the on th anil whon when tho the great day dawned almost always fair find anil bright our idea of 0 a bell bellying ting celebration colo bration WAS to tomako make a noise in fact to got get all the uproar possible out of as ranch much 9 gan on powder as an wo we hid had money to buy bay NY we 0 lid did not own a 0 cannon annon 11 II wo we had it is is possible that this article would not have aavo boon been written for or of all dangerous danger playthings the old cast iron swivels Bw ivela 11 that aro are scattered over tha country ura tire tho the most moat fatal atal on rete fete days dars they burst buret with re dulanty gu lanty larity A blaek smitha anvil with a deep hole in ono one side eido that wo we filled ailed with powder and cirod by a fuse mado made some soma tre ire amondous reports for far us ua ono year bat 09 on the tl 0 ali clo tho the most moat satisfying do de vic that we abod was 11 tho the old bom boin bador it contrivance rotten gotten up by tho the united genius gelua ol of dan wilts and several other boys of the neighborhood we wa were the entire week p r oua to the fourth ot of 1800 1860 making I 1 it t 1 11 must have bavo been ono one of tho the prototypes of the gun and the it was ii 11 clutter cluster of ton gun barrels bariola the largest guttu taken fr from 2 their respective stocks bud and set act bide by side aido at a distance of three inches apart on it very wide thick piece of oak plank the plank was waa grooved so BO that each barrel was halt half embedded in it anil and i a I 1 little slot alot was waa cut cat in tho the wood to sorva aery n as a pan whore the priming hole i in a the barral a arol came was groove greova by three iron bulf driven over it through tho the plank and clinched on the under side the pin too of each barrel wits waa set against ria in upright piece of 0 oak jo joist at that was spiked to the oldo bids of tho the plank we fattened fastened the gun barrels thus strongly having in mind tho the bromen tromen done dona I 1 I 1 kicking which we know knew would attend tile the heavy charge wo we meant to fire anil and we hud had the good sense to guard ourselves voa against the abo possible bursting of the barrels by nailing mailing a strip ot at board two teet feet wide on tho the back side bido anil and both onda ends of tile I 1 I 1 plant this contrivance was lay far too heavy to bo be carried by hand so BO wo we mounted it breast high on a pair of wheels the hind wheels ot of a wagon for which we made an axle axis provided with a long polo pole and handles it could be either pushed head ahead or drawn to suit our convenience fence for serving this novel gun we ve drilled in advance and each boy hud had his duty daty assigned 6 to him the piece was wan so BO hung bung on the axle that it could bo be tipped back when wo we wished to load land it dan murch was I 1 remember the powder ponder hoy boy it was his bis duty to curry carry the six eix pounds of powder wo we lad had bon bought g ht and in pour from A tin ila can the charges into the gun barrels next came the wadman willoh which position I 1 took with a bag uy my duty wal waa to cram into the bartels dry wado then large wet ones oneo either cither moist piper paper or green grass then followed tho the hammor tom I 1 edwardo who with a long iron rod drove the iha wade town down the ilia barrels with might ight and main Mo meantime antime primor jed wilbur wilbar stood all ready to pick cut the priming holes with his bis darning needle and to fill the pans with floor finer powder from a powder horn that he carried at the same time bait in the was doing his duty that ot of wetting the muzzles dazzles of the barrels down four or five ine inches hoil tills this leads me to ask whether any tender reader can explain why it is thata that a gun will miko a much louder and sharper report if the muzzle bo be wet the boy to do this work was dud Byl sylvester vestor a great cheak of a lal la I 1 who we thought was too clumsy for any other duty each of us us as you yon see lad had his part and with a little drill wo we were able to load those ton barrels in about a minute and a halt of time lima unless extra were taken by the rammer firer wilts then shouted 11 stand back bachl and with his elow blow mutch match con 6 I 1 ling of a stiff bit of tarred rope burning in A i rod red coal at the ond end ile ha it fired red tho the bat batross bair rols els ono one after another through auger anger holes in the elm board tit nt the breech of each barral powder wads bits biti of 0 tarred topes everything in fact was got ready tho the night elgh I 1 before the F fourth earth and wo we were astir at two tiro the next morning till all but bud bad whom wo had bad to out eke as we passed his big ahonso first we went to baah house bonas 1 in the tha neighborhood und and fired our salvo in tho I 1 he door yard then than set olt off tor for the ilia vil ti I 1 lago lage oil aix race distant distinti dia whore it grind timo bosn aulia w which hect i like ilka trojan bacas wo expect expected etl to ti figure D day y had bad not dawned yet 1 pour our of ua its printer primer wildman I 1 Ili nimer und mil spit I 1 in a the mazz to drow drew tho the boin lurd er cr while powder B coy and firer I 1 nor having lii iving tho the powder anti and blow a 1 mitch to carry follo followed wod in tho ilia roar at every farm house on oil the road loi 1 wi we drew up ap nod filing into acito tho the yard I 1 let A off a fall dill Eft luto ton ear oar earsplitting splitting re orts bang aang I 1 ang bang bang bang bang b ing bang bang bang ranal tho the last one ona always th tho 0 old dutch ilia bieront bi groat of all thu the barrels into winch which dan lad had poured pound nearly it a cupful ot of powder every avery time lVin windows dows rattled cats rin ran logs doga barked nud and as wo we drew out into tho the road oad again wo we could hour hear contraction commotion in innise aide the houses sometimes answering cring 1 anti and the barn housou would bo be snorting orting on and aad the poultry cackling the I 1 I 1 lad had ooma come out ont und and there was waa I 1 u brass thelva thundering on tho the greenan gre green enin in tile village whon whoa wo there wo we hauled the fearless bombardon bomb ardor oat cat whore tho the cannon was und nod started an opo oar ar gun wits not so BO heavy as tho the cannon but it hold bold out better tho the ro 10 ports porta lasted longer at first the crowd laughed then it began to cheer tho ilia popper box cannou cannon as aa they culled it the iho big gun spoke loudly once in a while but bat on the whole we mado made tho the most ni then a lut lot ol of the follows commenced cheering spit in the muzzle nod and passed him glasses of 1 lemonade lom from one of the stands to keep him from all drying UP they said baia later on when the procession formed to go to a the brove to hoar hear tho the speeches epo oches we joined that anti cirod fifty gons for the honorable speakers kors till they sent a man to beg us no to stop after the picnic dinner we va gave moro more discharges anti and kept at it till tho the bov arnor himself came round to sea what we wa were about I 1 H ha examined tho the bombardon bomb ardor with considerable interest us ua did di 1 also several other gentlemen who A ho nil all agreed in i saying it was tile the thing of its I 1 weight IV e ight they haj had ever seen been ono one of them remarked that it was it a now idea and lie ho did not sea BOO why such a gun ill might ight not bo be used in war wo had a second contest with tile tho twelve at amneet anti anil on an hour later sot oat oil off for home tiring firing our last three charges of powder ou on the roid road and never cover again in this vor world I 1 d do I 1 a ox peat to feol feel BO 80 complete a of so bolf if satisfaction for work done as while helping haul homo ho metho the fearless foat lesa horn bom barder lt that F july night blehr but I 1 cannot say that I 1 now look back to it with any great in fact I 1 think I 1 should protest barong ly if any boys boya should salute me in in the early morning na as we saluted our neighbors before the dawn on that demor ablo able day 0 A stephens in youths You this |
