Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 92, Number 251, 21 October 1922 — Page 22

PAGE FOUfe

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1922

PUMPKIN and SUGAR DAYS

, the pumpkin! I don't know -what our pioneers would have done without it. It was easily raised, and was much used. They put it Into brown bread to give it a sweet taste; they ate it simply stewed; they cut It in long strips and dried it over the fire, or

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stewed It and dried it in the oven their dinner-pot or small waah-ket-after the bread had been drawn out.i tie to boil 'down :sap- In; but

They made pies of it; and some-, times they even made from it an inferior kind of syrup. VDidn'tj they have sugar enough? some, farmer's boy asks, "with the town half covered with maple trees?" And I suppose he sees heaters and evaporators and tin buckets, Iron snouts and great reservoirs, and all the modern appliances which are locked in his father's sugarhouse. 1 oh, yes; there were plenty of maple trees, but nothing else. Before sugar could be made, Cyrus and his father must work many a long evening chopping and burning out troughs to be used in the place of buckets. They also made spouts by burning out the pith of Borne The Fun Box Not Guilty Old Sambo had been arrested on the charge of stealing a chicken, but as tho evidence was not very clear, the Judge said, "You are acquitted." Tho old fellow seemed puzzled. "What's dat?" "You are acquitted," the judge repeated kindly. "Acquitted?" he repeated. "Does flat mean I gotta give dat chicken back, Judge?"' Why He Got His Tho rookie in camp had been kidded by every one, and he was getting to the point where he was a little wary and did not fall so easily into traps. One night he was on guard. when a figure advanced in the darkness. "Who's there?" asked the rookie. "Major Moses," came the reply. "Glad to meet you, Moae," answered the rookie gaily. "Advance and give the ten commandments." The Talker The man who had been every where had been talking tor hours about his adventures. "Once, ho began a new story, "I Baw a man eating tiger." "That s nothing." interrupted a weary hearer. "Once I saw a man eating rabbit." A Riddle . . "Why Is cartridge silk used for clothes? "Because It makes good duds." FREE! FREE! Boys This Beautiful DAYTON BICYCLE To Be Given Away Absolutely FREE Christmas Eve Dec. 24, 1922 A ticket with every sale.

soft-hearted wood with a hot spindle. They tapped the trees by bor

ing with a large-auger, or else cut in them a long diagonal gash with an axe, turning out a chip on the lower end to conduct the sap, in place of a spout. . Either method would be considered gross cruelty to the tree by a modern sugarmaker. Many families - had only Madame Whitney had Baved from the sale of the saltpetre works an immense kettle, and brought it all the way to Vermont. Mr. Whitney, hung this old kettle by means of a large chain, to a stout, wellbraced pole, slung the great dinner pot beside It, tapped the trees and then left the boys to make the year's supply of sugar. Merry times they had too, though all the sap was gathered by hand. Ben and Cyrus had sap-yokes which they wore on their shoulders to lighten the task of carrying the pails, and sometimes too, they wore snow shoes as they trudged about the crusty snow from tree to tree through the tall Bilent forest. The pap they gathered was stored in a long, trough, from which the kettles were filled. It was little John's business to keep the fire, and skim-the syrup as It boiled. There was little time to play, but what there was, was improved. They climbed trees, shot game, broiled bits of salt pork over the fire for .their luncheon, and ate the

froth which danced on top of the't0j,ert into the creel

kettles It contained all the impur ities of the sap, but no matter: "Anything' sweot In the mouth con wworton All this bitter world fur a boy." Sometimes they had to boll at night, and an eerie and a merry time both they had then. The sap was gathered before dark, and they repaired to the bush house before tho fire, going out occasionally to fill up the kettles. A thick mat of odorous hemlock boughs covered

THE DAYS OF REAL SPORT

the floor of the . house, and the

treat fire shinin in made it very light and warm. Generally some of the neighbor a boys . would come over to pass tho evening," perhaps staying to "sugar off." After sup per of toasted, brown bread and roast squirrel, they would lie down on the fragrant green floor and tell stories of bears and wolves and panthers, the scenes of which were so near, both In time and space, that poor little John's hair often stood on end, and he could plainly see fierce eyes glaring from every bush on the way home, until he almost wished the old catamount "had him and done with it." Sometimes they told" Indian stories, even more frightful than those of wild beasts; for fear of the red man had not yet passed away from the settlements.'But they generally forgot the terror each in turn awakened, when the important moment arrived of testing the slowly bubbling syrup to see whether it would " grain," - trying it upon pieces of broken crockery, ' and waxing other spoonfuls on the snow for Immediate consumption while they waited for tho test portions to cool. How delicious were the cold sheets of waxen sweet that they peeled from the snow in yellow brown rolls! (To Be Continued.) The Rescue About a year ago, on a farm five miles east of Lynn, a boy was staying with his grandfather. Tho boy's name was Robert Young, and he had a dog named Shep. Robert's parents had died a couple of years bbfore, and he had come , to, stay with his grand-parents. - He was now about eleven years old. One day he said he was going fishing. Shep went with him. Robert had caught several fish when ho got a fine one on his line. He could not pull It out. The fish began swimming down the creek. It went the length of the line, and Robert hf-ld to his pole. The fish swam on and pulled Shep saw Robert fall over the lank into the water. Ho jumped n and swam over and took hold of tobert and brought him ashore, 'tobcrt then told him to fjet his pole ind Shep swam and got the pole ind brought It to shore with the fish on it. Robert was now ahlo to take the fish off his lino and put it in the bucket.' He then took his fish and pole and went home. He never went fishing by himself after this. Everett Moore, Lynn, Indiana.

The Clown Dog

Toby was the chief clown dog of the circus. He was also the only one, for a real clown dog i3 hard to train and Toby was much above the average. Toby's master was very proud of his comical tricks his walking around on his hind feet and pushing a baby buggy, his roller skating, and all the other little stunts that brought a wave of giggles from the audience. " Tho laughter and applause was like a bone to Toby, There was only one other dog in the show that received as much attention, and that was Trixie, the clever little terrier who did the high jumps through hoops. Toby wasn't jealous of her, because he admired her so much. - He was very bashful, and little Trixie never suspected how fond he was of her, though his brown eyes followed her every move. Toby was liappy. just to be In the same act with her, and all would have been well, had it not been for Lad, the beautiful white collie, who was a member of the "living statues group. He was reauy a very handsome dog, and all he had to do for a living was to pose. He semed to like Trixie very much, and always barked gaily to her when he passed, with an 'approving remark about her line work. "He's quite a fellow," Toby said once, enviously. "He's very handsome and dignified," answered Trixie. Toby was cut. He wasn't a bad looking dog. himself, but he certainly wasn't dignified. He thought of the silly tricks he did, of all the tumbling and jumping and walking, and he didn't blame her for looking down on him. Ho hung his head in shame, and the next day he avoided her, but she didn't seem to notice it at all. He watched Lad trotting out into

the ring with stately steps, His, plume-like tail waving gracefully. The more he thought about It, the worse he felt. When the evening performance came he hadn't the -heart to work. lie was Just - a clown, he thought bitterly, and they wouldn't miss him. For the first time, ho failed to go through his tricks, but stuck listlessly in a corner. The trainer decided he was sick, and had him carried off. After the show, Trixie came around to see him. "I'm so sorry you're sick," she said. "It would

! De terrible if tho show had to go on again without you, tor an me me ' was .gone. You're really ' very clever, Toby, and very necessary. Anybody can act dignified and strut around, like the posing dog, but we're professionals." Everybody said they had never seen Toby so clever as he was In the next day's show. The Snow Woman " Here I am, a big, fat snow woman, and I will tell you how the children niado me. First, they took a little snow and began rolling it. They kept rolling it until it was good and big, and that was my body. Next, they took some snow and made my arms; they then took more snow and made my head and hat. They went into the barn and got a shovel with a long handle and put It in my hand so it would " look like I was shovelling snow. They made my husband exactly like myself only they gave him a broom. Next they made our little girl on which they put a coat and hat and mittens. When tho children had us made they played with ua until night came and then they took the coat and hat off our little girl. And, oh, yes, the mittens, too! Grace Hamilton, 4A, Starr school. Turn About's Fair Play One of our. most famous humorists required tho use of a certain volume which he knew a neighbor had in his library. Going to the man, the .humorist requested the use of the book. " Certainly you may use it," was the reply, "and most welcome. But I make it a rule never to let a book of mine leave my library. If you will use it here " Some time later this neighbor wished to cut his lawn, but found his mower out of repair. Going to our friend, he asked to use his mower. "Certainly, but I make it a rule never to let my possessions leave my premises, so if you use it here you are welcome." By Briggs

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