Show r C UNCLE 78 O. O i iscar rt WONDERFUL scar f 1 p I Jf x BRODERICK'S Uncle Dick JIMMY was not only a great inventor w but one of ot the kindest men t that at ever evet lived Although he earned his living by in r veta elt i- i t useful things thing like automatic plows that would plow a whole field ill hi the night time while the farmer lay in r I bed asleep and automatic fish poles that would bait their own hooks and throw out their own lines and pull in R their own flan fish and take them oft off and bait the hooks over again still Uncle f Dick was ready at a minutes minute's notice to tor tot t r drop sill nIl that sort of thing and Invent t something to give a boy pleasure And you will agree that a nephew who has hasan hasan an uncle like that has a treasure r Jimmy knew this and he took great care of Uncle Dick carrying tan san lla for him when it rained and watching to see that he ate ato his meals regularly for like all aU great Inventors r t. t Undo Uncle Dick could not take care of himself himself himself him him- self very well f What would you like for the Fourth j. j of July Jimmy asked Uncle Dick about a week before that important r dayI day gay l V I 1 would like most of all to have a great eat big sky rocket said Jimmy V fo You shall have one said his uncle uncles and immediately went into his inventory inventory tory shop which is the funny name that he gave to the little room where he invented things The telephone bell rang a good deal that day On the very next morning a abig abig abig big truck arrived from the city with two big casks on it They were painted red and marked Danger Powder in 1 big TIg letters There were also huge rolls of thick pasteboard each sheet big enough to make the whole side of ot a ahouse house bouse and there were so many of ot them that the horses could hardly pull 3 them ahem Uncle Dick rubbed his hands and ry chuckled like anything when he saw p the ithe material You shall shaU certainly have a skyrocket skyrocket skyrocket sky sky- rocket said he to Jimmy And the best of at it is that the greater part of ot the tho country for hundreds of miles around will have one too Jimmy was very curious and still stillmore stillmore I more puzzled but he knew that Uncle Dick did not like to explain his inventions hiven r r beforehand so he asked no quest ques questions ques Lc t but merely kept his eyes open V and did not go out of sight of the in inventory I r I shop all aU morning 1 Before noon a great gang of men arrived arrived ar ar- rived and under Uncle pIcks pIck's orders x J they began to carry all the material to the pasture where they deposited it p around a huge old dead pine tree that stood smooth and straight reaching d Into the air fully SO 80 feet without a ai i branch to break it except on the very top and that was soon gone too loo for r Uncle Dick sent men up there and they lopped it off at so that then the f tree iree stood sleek and smooth like a aA A t t. t mast Then the sheets of pasteboard were laid on the ground and rolled into a aV aV V V V great cylinder 30 feet long and at least ien ten feet in diameter As soon as a sheet was rolled into L the men tied it tightly with V yards on yards of rope and then another an an- another other sheet was rolled aroun the first 4 fi- fi and more rope tied around that and ando V ao o on until all the pasteboard had been been i. i tJ I used up and that was such a lot that took the men all day with the hardest V kind of work r The next d day they opened the casks V of powder and began to load it In and andIn andin in hour after hour until the last Jast grain i was pounded In good and hard and J Jimmys Jimmy's Uncle Dick said V of powder So Theres There's pounds I a In n th there re That ought to make make- her fly c But how Jiow about the stick thought k k Jimmy He dl did yot ot say it knowing r how bow easy easy it 1 It JA t 15 spoil an Inventors Inventor's ideas by In him with frivolous olous conversation He was t learn very soon how about the stick for as soon as the mighty V V cylinder was all finished Uncle Dick Dicks s V had bad a derrick rigged and up went the 4 s big thing thins until it dangled alongside e of the dead pine tree near the dizzy top tj of it Then mighty cables were sent up and and the men lashed the loaded pasteboard pasteboard paster pasteboard paste paste- r board cylinder to the tree until it was com completely hidden by ropes Now for the fuse said Uncle Dick He set the men to work untwisting r ropes until they had more than feet V all unraveled Uncle Dick went up the derrick and put the end of the unraveled rope Into the bottom part of the ro rocket ket Then he poured kerosene oil all all' allover over It and rubbed gunpowder Into It IL So he said coming down v handover handover hand handover A over hand band Now sow she's finished all ll ex except ex- ex N sept ept her looks He got gota a great load of shingles and tower nearly as astall asti built a little conical ti r 1 tall as a house This was painted red l iJ r ol and when it ft was hoisted holsted to the top of V the tree and set 0 On C it looked beautiful K I That afternoon sent out i Invitations both by mail mall and by messenger messenger mes mes- to places as far away as f 1 Smiles mlles saying K Jimmy Broderick respectfully invites in farm to toi tose vites you to his Uncle Dicks Dick's i J se see set off art the biggest skyrocket the evening of the the on in th the world Fourth of Ot July r f Uncle Dick also sent word to the ther r papers about It and on the evening th the Fourth more than f C were at the farm tarm wondering at the Immense Immense Im Im- mense skyrocket and trembling all allover allover allover over at the thought of the explosion when she sho went oft off And all aU over the theland theland theland land people who could not go to the farm were watching tho the heavens and pa paying ing ery very little attention to the tho other other oth oth- er or fireworks of the tho United States because because be be- cause the papers had told all about the rocket and had explained that it could be seen hundreds of miles mUes when It went up When the time came Uncle Dick gave Jimmy a big piece piece- of lighted punk and then he stood in front of the tree and said Ladies Ladles and Gentlemen You win will notice that this tree is inclined toward the north My calculations tell nu mt that when the tho rocket Is lit It will put pul the tree clear out ut of the tho ground gro and go north for at least 1000 miles which will bring it over uninhabited country where it will fall faU without hurting an any anol anybody body unless a bear or a moose should get in the the way Now Jimmy touch her oil off Jimmy touched the end of the fuss fusa and then everybody ran away to a safe distance The fire climbed swiftly an and suddenly with a bang that shook th the hills and broke the windows even in tn V Mild y- y Ten Thousand People Were There towns miles away the giant rocket went at off Out came the tree roots and all and sailed grandly into the sky with a hissIng hissIng hiss hiss- Ing trail of fire behind It The amazed spectators watched it for more 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 places' from people people peo pee pie who had seen a wonderful fiery thing in the night By means of these reports it t was possible for Uncle Dick to pursue the course of his wonderful rocket until he found fO that it had go gone far over Canada but h he could not learn where it had fallen and he did not learn until recently But about a week ago a hunter who had been in the very far north of Canada Canada Can Can- ada near Hudson bay shooting musk oxen visited Uncle Dick He told a lot lotof lotof lotof of interesting hunting adventures and finally said The queerest thing that I saw was far up in the barren lands where there are no trees One day I saw something odd some distance away and I went there on my snow shoes What do you suppose I found A mighty tree treel 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 burled buried deeply In the soil soU It was the most marvelous sight I 1 have even seen and I can hardly hardly hard 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 Jimmy's wonderful wonderful won won- wonderful skyrocket he asked No never said the hunter You know I have been in the wilderness a along along long time So Uncle Dick told him After he ho got through the hunter said I am glad to know this I intended to write a a. book about it but now I shall be beable beable beable able to save myself the trouble |