Chapter XXI: Halloween

Halloween, or the eve of All Saints' Day, has been observed since the beginning of the Christian era. In very early times, ghosts, demons, and spirits were believed to rule the universe on this evening, and any one who ventured upon the streets after dark was doing so at the risk of his life. For companionship, as well as protection, it was customary for large numbers of friends to spend the evening together; and these gathered around the fire-place, and passed away the time drinking cider, cracking nuts, eating apples, and telling ghost stories.

While the superstitious fears of Halloween have almost entirely disappeared, the evening is generally celebrated in the same manner as in the past. This is the only evening on which a boy can feel free to play pranks outdoors without danger of being "pinched," and it is his delight to scare passing pedestrians, ring door-bells, and carry off the neighbors' gates (after seeing that his own is unhinged and safely placed in the barn). Even if he is suspected, and the next day made to remove the rubbish barricading the doors, lug back the stone carriage step, and climb a tree for the front gate, the punishment is nothing compared with the sport the pranks have furnished him. There is, of course, such a thing as boys going too far with their Halloween fun and getting into malicious mischief, but the cautious boy is not likely to cause any serious trouble by his actions.

FIG 300.--A Section through the Bean-blower.

A Magazine Bean-blower.]

Every boy who has used a bean-blower knows that the beans swell when held in the mouth, often to such an extent that they will not go through the opening, and clog the tube. Figure 300 shows a scheme for a

=Magazine Bean-blower=, which does away with this difficulty, inasmuch as with it the beans are not put in the mouth. The drawing shows a section taken through the centre of one the writer has before him, which works admirably. This bean-blower will cost you just two cents, the price of two of the regular nineteen-inch tin tubes sold in the stores. To these add a large ribbon-spool, which can be had for the asking at almost any dry goods store, some glue, and a sheet of writing paper. Place the spool in your bench-vise, and bore a quarter-inch hole in the centre of the side of it (see _A_, Fig. 300). This hole should be on a slant, and extend only into the hollow part of the spool, as shown in the drawing. When this has been done, take one of the tin tubes and cut off two sections of it, one four inches long and the other three and one-half inches long. This is easily done by filing through the tin on one side with a small file, and then bending the tube back and forth until it breaks. Place the end of the four-inch tube in the hole bored in the spool at _A_, gluing a strip of paper around it to make it fit tightly (see _B_ in Fig. 300). A piece of paper smeared with glue should be wrapped around the other end of this tube in the form of a funnel, as shown in Fig. 301. Press the paper around the end of the tube, as shown in the section drawing, Fig. 300, and use plenty of glue upon it to make it stiff. Glue a strip of paper around the short tube, and stick it in one end of the spool, as shown at _C_, Fig. 300. The little wooden mouthpiece that is furnished with bean-blowers nowadays should be slipped over the other end of the tube, as shown in the drawing. Now take the second bean-blower, and glue it in the other end of the spool, as shown at _D_. The bean-blower is now complete. To operate it, hold the spool in one hand, and, after dropping a number of beans or peas into the magazine, place the palm of the other hand over the top of the paper funnel, and blow until the tube is emptied. It is necessary to close the opening in the top of the magazine, or the beans will blow out of it instead of from the end of tube _D_. Dried peas always work better than beans in a bean-blower, as they are round and never clog the tube.

FIG. 303.

Details of Crank for Tick-tack.]

The loud drumming noise of a tick-tack rattled upon a window is enough to give any one the cold shivers, and if the guests of a Halloween party are gathered about the fire-place, telling weird ghost stories, this unearthly noise is sufficient to give even the bravest heart a conviction that the house is haunted by supernatural beings. The writer and his friends used to make

=A New Style of Tick-tack=, such as illustrated in Fig. 302, which claims several advantages over the ordinary kind. In the first place it has a crank arrangement which does away with the long string that is everlastingly becoming entangled, and only one boy is necessary to operate it where two are required with the old-style affair. Again, by having the tick-tack upon the end of a long pole, second-story windows can easily be reached with it. For the making of this tick-tack, procure two large spools, some heavy cord, and a long pole (perhaps you can borrow your mother's clothes-pole for the occasion). With a knife cut notches in the flanges of one spool, and fasten it to one end of the pole, driving a large nail through the hole in the centre of the spool into the pole (see Fig. 302). Place the other spool in your bench-vise and saw it in two pieces, as shown in Figs. 303 and 304, so that _A_ is one-half the size of _B_, or one-third of the length of the spool. Cut a strip of wood about six inches long, bore a hole near one end a little larger than a sixteen-penny nail, and nail the strip to the end of spool _A_ so that the hole comes exactly over the one in the spool (see Fig. 303). Attach spool _B_ to the other end of _C_ by means of a nail driven through the hole into the strip. The crank is now completed, and should be fastened to the lower end of the pole by means of a nail driven through the hole in _A_. It will be seen that this tick-tack is a simple piece of apparatus. The crank at the lower end of the pole is turned and revolves the notched spool at the upper end. To keep the cord from slipping on the pole, a little resin should be rubbed upon it, and it might be well also to rub a little upon the spools.

=A Clockwork Tick-tack=, such as is illustrated in Fig. 305, is another good idea, and one that can be carried out with a few minutes' work. Remove the works from an old alarm clock, and fasten them with wire or cord to the end of a pole, as shown. Attach a cord to the striker, and make it long enough to reach to the other end of the pole. Make a loop in the end of the cord, and drive a nail into the pole over which to loop the cord to keep the striker in check. This tick-tack is worked by placing the end of the pole close to the window-glass, with the striker toward the glass, and slipping the cord off its nail. The striker is controlled entirely by the cord.

=The Goblin-man= (Fig. 306) is easily made out of such material as you can most generally find about the house. The framework for the body of this ghostly creature is shown in Fig. 307, and consists of a pole about four feet long with the centre of an eighteen-inch crosspiece nailed across it. In order to fasten these pieces firmly together, they should be halved as shown in Fig. 267, Chapter XIX. The arms consist of two sticks (_A_ and _B_ in Fig. 307) fastened together at right angles with small iron braces, and screwed in place near the ends of the crosspiece, as shown in the illustration. Holes should be bored through the arm pieces in order that they may work freely on the screws. Place a small screw-eye in each arm at _B_, and attach a short string to it. A short stick should be nailed to the four-foot pole about eighteen inches from the lower end, so that the boy who carries the framework can rest it upon his shoulder.

The head of the goblin is a jack-o'-lantern made out of a piece of cardboard, bent as shown in Fig. 308, and held in this shape by means of broom-wire laced back and forth across the top. Cut a hole the shape of an ear in each side, and paste a piece of red tissue-paper over the opening. For the face, take a piece of white paper a little larger than the face is going to be, mark out eyes, nose, and mouth upon it, and cut the openings for them. Paste red tissue-paper over the openings for the eyes, and mark a large black pupil in the corner of each (Fig. 309). For the mouth, paste a piece of white tissue-paper over the opening, and mark out the teeth in black (Fig. 309). A piece of red tissue-paper should be pasted over the opening for the nose. After finishing the face, paste it on to the cardboard head. The goblin's countenance is lighted up from within, by means of a candle fastened in a baking-powder can. Cut down one side of the can with a pair of tin-shears or a can-opener, and tack it to the framework about six inches above the crosspiece, as shown in Fig. 307. This can must not be put in place, however, until the head is fastened to the framework, which is done by punching a hole in the cardboard large enough to admit the end of the pole. Get an old derby for a hat, and, after punching a few holes in the top for the heat and smoke of the candle to escape, sew it to the cardboard head. Cover the back of the head with black cloth in such a way that it may be opened to light the candle. To save the goblin-man the embarrassment of losing his head, drive a nail through the crown of the derby-hat into the end of the pole. For a neck, button a cuff around the pole between the crosspiece and head.

FIG. 309.

FIGS. 308-309.--The Goblin's Head.]

A white suit of clothes is, of course, the correct style for the goblin to wear. This can be found in an old nightshirt, lengthened with white cloth, if necessary, to make it reach the ground when it is placed upon him. The shoulders should be padded out to hide the framework.

When the goblin-man is finished, strap the shoulder-stick of the frame to your shoulder, and fasten the end of the pole to your waist with a belt. Your hands are then free to manipulate the arms, by means of the cords attached to their ends. Before starting out upon the street, have some one light the candle in the head.

As this weird-looking creature passes along the streets, with glaring eyes and other features equally brilliant, people will have to stop to reassure themselves that they are not face to face with some unearthly demon.

A trick that will furnish amusement for at least a portion of the evening is

=The Disappearing Rope=, which is not an entirely new idea, but one which is always popular. Procure a number of rubber bands and tie them together, end to end. Then attach one end of these to a front fence, and to the other end fasten several yards of string. After doing this, cross over the sidewalk with the string, pulling it tightly so the rubber bands will stretch, and hang a sign with the word "DANGER" printed upon it in large letters over the string where it crosses the sidewalk.

It is only natural that the person who sees this sign will make a grab for it, thinking you are blocking the sidewalk to make him walk around it. This is your opportunity to act quickly and let go of the string, which will snap back to the fence upon the contraction of the rubber bands, and disappear from view, leaving your much-astonished friend to pass on, knowing that the joke is upon him.