Show I 1 j t gjt r t 11 i UNCLE DICKS i h k Ia i t WONDERFUL a h ACS s a c yvr r s 1 hl t iMMY BHODEIUCK8 Undo Dick JIMMY not only n great Inventor of but ono of tho kindest men that ft over llvctl vi w I Although earned his living by In t 4t vent useful things lllto automatic a i plows tXit would flow a wholo field In t p ftr I tho night time while tho farmer lay In if bed asleep and automntlc fish poles u o that would bait their own hooks and It l fl fm j throw out their own lines and pull In < I I their own fish and take them off and FJ oJ I bait tho hooks over again still Undo S II i Dick was ready at a minutes notice to 3 ii k i drop all that sort of thing and Invent m lill h 11 I something to give a boy pleasure And 1 I1m 1 I t J1 you will agree that a nephew who has 1 an uncle lllto that has a treasure J y jt Jimmy Itrodcrlck know this and ho 1 took great care of Uncle Dick carrying II d I nil umbrella for him when It rained and 1 watching to see that ho ate his meals t f It t regularly for llko all great Inventors U I I Undo Dick could not take caro of himself him-self very well 1 i J 1 What would you like for tho Fourth 1 of July Jimmy asked Undo Dick 11 11 t4 1 1 t m t about a week before that Important t I r j day ts dayI I II I would llko most of all to havo a Wt l t groat big sky rocket said Jimmy Ii t You shall havo one said his uncle i > I i and Immediately went Into his Inventory m lit In Inven-tory shop which Is tho funny name I s 1 f wail that ho gavo to tho little room where i J 41 t ho Invented things li p I Tho telephone boll rang a good deal F xy itis 1 that day On tho very next morning a f 1f + f t11 i big truck arrived from tho city with Si f two big casks on It They were painted rod and marked Danger I Powder In fih f + big letters There were also lingo rolls lrifHI of thick pasteboard each sheet big I It enough to make the wholo side of a Mt 1 houso and there were so ninny of rir I them that tho horses could hardly pull ii Yt 1 them V t j I r Uncle Dick rubbed his hands and cCi i e chuckled llko anything when he sawN saw-N tho material r tJ You shall certainly havo a skyrocket r t 4 4 m sky-rocket said ho to Jimmy And tho Iq j 1a best of It is that tho greater part of A I i time country for hundreds of miles ilil4ii around will have ono too t irw iI l A1 Jimmy was very curious and still Ft kJ t Zf more puzzled but ho know that Uncle J is i j11 i Dick did not tike to explain his Invon t Lit IJ tt tlons beforehand so ho asked no quos r jj Yd lions but merely kept his eyes open 11 t and did not go out of sight of tho inventory l t in-ventory shop all morning i W Wtfj Before noon a great gang of men arrived h ar-rived and under Uncle DIck orders 1 1 At t1 they began to carry all tho material to 1 1i 1 the pasture where they deposited It I L J around n huge old dead plno tree that J i stood smooth and straight reaching ltf VJ Into the air fully 80 foot without a i 1 JII branch to break It except on the very r y I top nud that was soon gone too for jIWi Undo Dick sent men up there and P thoy lopped It oft so that then the fi It I tree stood sleek and smooth like a b mast ley + r i l Thon tho sheets of pasteboard wore firr laid on tho ground and rolled into n t 1 r > > 1 great cylinder 30 feet long and at least 1 ton feet In diameter 1 r i J 11 As soon as a sheet was rolled Into t t a sl i shape the men tied it tightly with q fdh f 4 1 ynrds on yarda of rope and then another f f IV an-other sheet was rolled around the first H 1 nnd moro ropo tied around that and 1 Jl so on until all the pasteboard had been c d J used up and that was such a lot that ° 1r it took the men all day with tho hardest l t + 4 kind of work 1 t Jt1 1 Tho next day they opened tho casks f fett of powder and began to load it in and dn t In hour after hour until tho last grain 1 l was pounded in good and hard and s y t r Jimmys Uncle Dick said 1 1 Sol Theres 800 pounds of powder j Y In thoro That ought to pinto her fly t But how about tho stick thought f Jimmy Ho did not say it knowing t4P how easy It Is to spoil an Inventors f V t4 1 Ideas by Interrupting him with frivolous t t t friv-olous conversation K I 1 He was to learn very soon how about jf7 1fJ f tho stick for as soon as the mighty i j cylinder was all finished Uncle Dick Jjri s had a derrick rigged and up went the big thing until It dangled alongside of tfll the dead pine tree near tho dizzy top 0 i 1 of It j aJ 1 1r1 tl I Then mighty cables wore sent up > tl Ij j and the men lashed tho loaded paste I l hoard cylinder to tho tree until it was J 1 t1 I t J > completely hidden by ropes k rcr 1 Now for the fuse said Uncle Dick i y < Ho sot tho men to work untwisting d1 t ropes until they had more than 300 1t l 1 i feet nil unraveled Uncle Dick went t ha I up tho derrick and put tho end of thor tho-r it unraveled rope Into tho bottom nart of j the rocket Then ho poured kerosene i oil all over it and rubbed gunpowder Into it r + t So ho said coming down handover I I 1F J hand-over hand Now shes finished all eX r I J 1 sept her looks r A j Ho got a great load ot shingles and Itlt built n little conical tower nearly as 1 j tall as a house This was painted red ee and whop It was hoisted to tho top of 1 11 tho tree and set on the rocket it looked 1 r beautiful 1 That afternoon Uncle Dick sent out tea r ij Invitations both by mall and by messenger I I f mes-senger to places as far away as 200 i l miles saying w I Jimmy Droderlck respectfully In 1 4 vltos you to his Uncle Dicks farm to I c I I in see him sot off tho blggesUskyrockot j S j > lni tho wprldjon the evening of the 1 rl Fourth of July I Undo Dick also sent word to the yd I i J papers about it and on the evening I f II fij 1 the Fourth more than 10000 pcopl + I l I f l tJ a f t jt rlh ultJ 1 wore at tho farm wondering at the 1m manse skyrocket and trembling allover all-over at the thought of the explosion when sho went off And all over tho land people who could not go to tho farm were watching tho heavens and paying very little attention to the other oth-er fireworks of tho United States be cnuso tho papers had told all about tho rocket and had explained that It could bo seen hundreds of miles when It went up When tho time came Uncle Dick gaveJimmy big piece of lighted punk and then ho stood In front of tho tree and said Ladles and Gentlemen You will notlco that this tree Is Inclined toward l the north My calculations tell mi that when the rocket Is lit It will pul ho tree clear out of the ground and go north for at least 1000 miles which will bring It over uninhabited country whore It will fall without hurting anybody any-body unless a bear or a moose should got in tho way Now Jimmy touch her off Jimmy touched tho end of the fuse and then everybody ran away to a sail distance The flro climbed swiftly and suddenly with n bang that shook the hills and < < broke tho windows oven In 4 IJp Ten Thousand People Were There towns 100 miles away tho giant rocket went off i Out came tho tree roots and all and sailed grandly Into the sky with a hissing hiss-Ing trail of flro behind It The amazed spectators watchod It for moro than half an hour getting smaller and smaller till It disappeared in the northern sky For days after that the paper printed reports from distant places from peo plo who had soon a wonderful fiery thing In the night By means of theso reports It was possible for Uncle Dick to pursue the course of bio wonderful rocket until ho found that It had gone far over Canada but ho could not learn whore it had fallen and ho did not learn until recently But about a week ago u hunter who had been In tho very far north of Canada Can-ada near Hudson bay shooting music oxen visited Uncle Dick Ho told a lot of interesting hunting adventures and fInally said Tho queerest thing that I saw was far up In tho barren lands where there are no trees Ono day I saw somothlr q odd some distance away and I went there on my snow shoes What do you suppose I found A mighty tree That was queer enough up there But queerer still was the fact that this tree did not stand In the ground as other trees do but stood roots up with its crown buried deeply In tho soil It was tho most marvelous sight I have even seen and I can hardly hard-ly believe it yet I would give a good deal to know what caused this strange freak of nature Uncle Dick chuckled and winked at Jimmy Did you ever hear of Jimmys wonderful won-derful skyrocket he asked No never said the hunter You know I havo been > In tho wilderness along a-long time So Undo Dick told him After ho got through tho hunter said I am glad to know this I Intended to write a book about it but now I shall bo able to save myself time trouble |