Do You Remember Fire-balls?
of lh«* young.sler* of llio present gen¬
eration probably has ever heard of them,
lint the old-timers will remember mlien this
sport formed a prominent part in eelebrat-
ing Christmas.
Hy MOU.V PRKSSLY
of the boy» weren't p.rticulir
4°
become of an oUl sheet, apron or
No boy
«а»
thoroughly happy n(
Yulctide unless ho could throw a fire-
hall. In fact that many parent* in¬
jected to hi»
)>л
rliiipnt ir>a thi*
method of celebrating added t
fascination.
llinit added to it» were
Kreaio
Fire-ball» were practically out when
■a» a youngster, hot I bare heard
oplc mrntion then, at
»
ariou.
A few day. ago
ом
of
Ле
Reviving 01.1 Mfmorin
He dropped the wa»to-papcr
which be had started carrying <>ut of
the office, and hi» eye. brightened
л»
he straightened up. A wide grin ap¬
peared upon hi* face. "Lawsy-merey.
Mi- M<dlv ! Fire-ball.! Ah »hould
oay Ah did play with 'em. Hit', been
- loo* ag”. «bough, that Ah'd forgot-
ten all about 'em. Ain't thought of
fire-talb in many a year. Ah 'mem¬
ber one time Ah got hit with
ом
in
the leek of the haid an' it .ing-d me
•omc kind of had. Lavs* : them w».
th' good old day. r*
It waj from George that I obuined
a detailed picture about the manufac¬
ture and u*o of fire- tall». From hi*
description, it »a< apparent that the
young»tcr» of a former generation re¬
ceived more genuine enjoy men I from
these home-inn. le contraption» than
do tbo boy» of today from the large
variety of firework» that are available
Fir».
had to do to
The rag* were lorn into atrip»,
about half an inch wide. Thrae were
knotted together in a long »tring and
thoroughly soaked in either
or oil. As soon a* the .tring
.a. long enough, it ... wound tightly
into a ball: tbr hall bring somewhat
larger than a Uwh.ll. A
ffu«e) wai left hanging out.
“SiMT boy.- were Content to light
the twm and amuse themselves hy
to-in* the tlaming UU high .... the
air and letting it drop on the ground.
Ther wore glove, to protect their
hand, from the flame. a. they picked
up the ball to tots it again.
A More Strenuous Game
Hardier youngsters, however, had
an entirely different system for amus¬
ing themselves. Sis, eight, ten or a
dozen of them would get together aft
er (upper in a varant lot. Kaeh would
have a fire-UII in hi» hand. At a
given signal, the bill, would be ignit
ed. and then the fun mould Mart.
Tbe tells would U thrown high into
the air. A hoy could etch
ом
of
them in hi» Ure bawl» and hurl it
<|uiekly without burning him*e|f. but
be had to be an adept at the game in
order to do this Sometime», instead
of throwing the missiles into the air,
the game would take a more nggrrs-
*ivo turn, and the boy. would »tarl
throwing the fire-balls at each other.
With only two or three boys engaged
in the pastime, it wm ea.y enough to
dodge tbe ball», but when eight or ten
were participating, it «ain't at all
unusual for a player to get hit eloug-
ride the bend with
ом
of the flaming
fare. But if cue of' the mimile. hap
pmed to get caught in a idayev't
clothes, or in hi» hair -well, that
»и
"Ah'» seen many a boy with hi<
hair singed off around ' «'hristmss
time." said George. “An' 'twn. noth¬
ing unuuial to »ee a dozen or more of
them with turned eyebrow • nn.l Idi»-
ter» on their hand* and face». All
don' recollect that anybody wa> ever
hurt real had. though. Seem» like
tbo—* fire-ball* weren't now he ir near
a» dangrroa* a» tbe fi rework ■ what
the boys .hoot» off now -a-dayi.”
d to
•igbt to kc the glowing arc» ami
parabolas dearri bed by the flying ball».
No electrical illumination »a* nrcea-
•ягу
to observe every <lctail of the fun
A ball would kop burning for .bout
half an hour Iiefora finally going out.
A* a general thing, fire-ball, would
•tart putting in an appearance a week
or
ю
lefore Christmas. However it
wau't until Chrutma» eve that the
fun waxed fast and furiou.. It wa»
then that half a dozen game, might
le in progress in any community, and
wartime* the men throurlves would
leeoae a eariwd that they would
join the boys in the fun.
“Sure wa. good old days," .aid
George shaking hi» head reminiscently
а»
he picked up the wnitr-iiaprr has
ket again. “Law
«у,
Ah believe Ah'd
give almost anything to .re .otno tire,
loll thronin' again. Hut Ah reckon
them thing! would seem too taiue for
the hoy. of today. 'Not her thing:
Ah let they'd squawk to let the band
if they ever got him 'long side th* head
with one of them fire-balls. Then,
right.-
if tin