Show UNCLE DICKS i KE low BRODERICK S uncle dick JIMMY was w is not only a great inventor but one of tha the kindest men that c er lived uti ough he earned his living by in venting useful things I 1 ke automatic plows that would plow a who e field in the night time while the farmer lay in bed asleep and automatic fish poles that would bait their own books hooks and throw out their 0 jovn lines and pull in their own fish and take them off and bait the hooks over again still uncle dick was ready at a minute s notice to drop all that sort of thing and invent something to give a boy pleasure and you will agree that a nephew who has an uncle like that has a treasure jimmy Broder broderick Bro deriek fek knew this and he took great care of uncle dick carrying an umbrella for him when it rained and watching to see that he ate his meals regularly tor for like all great inventors uncle dick could not riot take care of him self very well what would you like tor for the fourth ot lot july jimmy asked uncle dick about a week before that important day I 1 would like most of all to have a great big sky rocket said jimmy you shall have one said his uncle and immediately went into his anven tory shop which Is the tunny funny name that he gae gaie to the little room where he invented things the telephone bell rang a good deal that day on the very next morning a big truck arrived from the city with two big casks on it they were painted red and marked danger I 1 powder in tig big letters there w v ere also huge rolls of thick pasteboard each sheet big enough to make the whole side of a house and there were so many of them that the horses could hardly pull ithem uncle dick rubbed his hands and chuckled like anything when be he saw the material you shall certainly have a sl y rocket said he to jimm and the best of it is that the greater part of the country tor for hundreds of 0 miles around will have one too jimmy was very curious and still more puzzled but he knew that uncle dick did not like to explain his anven eions beforehand so he asked no ques eions but merely kept his eyes open and did not go out of sight of the in centory shop all morning before noon a great gang of men ar rived and under uncle dick dicks s orders they began to carry all the material to the pasture where they deposited it around a huge old dead pine tree that eteoe smooth and straight reaching into the air fully SO 80 feet without a branch to break it except on the very top and that was soon gone too for uncle D ck sent men up there and they lopped it off so that then the tree stood sleek and smooth like a mast then the sheets of pasteboard laid on the ground and rolled into a great cylinder 30 feet long and at least ten feet in diameter As soon as a heet was rolled into chape the men tied it tightly with yards tards on bards ards of rope and then an other sheet was rolled around the first and more rope tied around that and so on until all the pasteboard had been used up and that was such a lot that it took the men all day with the hardest kind of work the next day they opened the casks of f powder and began to load it in and in hour after hour until the last grain was vas pounded in good and hard and jimmy jimmys a uncle dick said so sol there s pounds of powder in there that ought to make her fly but how bow about the stick thought jimmy he did not say it knowing how ease aas it is to spoil an inventors ideas by interrupting him with triv olous conversation he was to learn very soon how about the stick for as soon as the mighty cylinder was as all finished uncle D ck had a derrick rigged and up went the big thing until it dangled alfongs de of the dead pine tree near the dizzy top ot of it then mighty cables were sent up and the men lashed the loaded paste board cylinder to the tree until it was completely hidden by ropes now tor for the fuse said uncle dick he set the men to work untwisting ropes until they had more than feet all unraveled uncle dick went vent up the derrick and put the end of the unraveled rope into the bottom of the rocket then he dourea kerosene oil all over it and rubbed gunpowder into it so he said coming down hand over hand now she s finished all et ex ept her looks he ile got a great load of shingles and built a little conical tower nearly as tall as a house this was painted red and when it was hoisted to the top of the tree and set on the rocket it looked beautiful that afternoon uncle dick sent out invitations both by mall mail and by mes to places as far away as miles saying jimmy broderick Bro denck respectfully in vites you to his uncle dicks farm to see him set off the biggest skyrocket in the world on the evening of the b of july uncle D ck also ent word rord to the papers about it and on the evenin evening the fourth more than 10 deop were at the farm wondering at the 1 am m mense skyrocket and trem trembling bling all over at the thought of the explosion when she went on off and all over the lind who could not go to the farm were watching the heavens and paying very little attention to the oth er fireworks of the united states be cause the papers had told all about the rocket and had explained that it could be seen hundreds 1 of miles when it went up when the time came uncle dick gave jimmy a big piece of lighted punk and then he stood in front of the tree and said ladies and gentlemen you will notice that this tree is inclined toward the north my calculations tell m that when the rocket is lit rt it will pul the tree clear out of the ground ani go north tor for at least 1 1000 miles will bring it over ted country where it will tall fall without hurting any body unless a bear or a moose should get in the way now jimmy touch her off jimmy touched the end of the fuse and then every everybody bedy ran away to a satt safe distance the fire climbed swiftly and suddenly with a bang that shook the hills and broke the windows even in d t ten thousand people were there towns miles away anay the giant rocket went off out came the tree roots and all and sailed grandly into the sky with a hiss ing trail of fire behind it the amazed spectators watched it tor for more than halt half an hour getting smaller and smaller till it disappeared jn in the northern sky for days after that the paper printed reports from distant places from people who had seen a wonderful fiery thing in the night by means of these reports it was possible for uncle dick to pursue the course of his wonderful rocket until he found that it had gone far 01 er canada but he could not I 1 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 can ada near hudson bay shooting musk oxen visited uncle dick he told a lot of interesting hunting adventures and finally said the queerest thing that I 1 saw WMS was tar far up in the barren lands where cheke are no trees one day I 1 saw 5 odd some distance away and I 1 went there on my snow shoes what do you suppose I 1 found A mighty tree that was queer enough up there but queerer still was as 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 the soil it was the most marvelous s I 1 have even seen and I 1 can hard ly bel eve it yet I 1 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 jimmy s won darful 7 9 he asked no never said the hunter you know I 1 have been in the wilderness a long time so uncle dick told him after he got through the hunter said I 1 am glad to know this I 1 intended to write a book about it but now I 1 shall be able to save myself the trouble |