"Boys Will Be Boys" And Other Stories, Montpelier, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana
File submitted by Mrs. Inez Bridges Tate and prepared by D.N. Pardue
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Copyright.  All rights reserved.
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From publication "Old Montpelier, 1804, New Montpelier, 1904" 
compiled by Inez B. Tate and published by St. Helena Historical
Association, 1993.  Reprinted with permission.

     There are stories of things boys did for entertainment.  A

number of them would congregate in Montpelier, riding horses.

Curious by nature, they soon discovered if you rode underneath a

window at Tillery's Store, you could reach the window.  There

were bars over the windows but nevertheless a hand could easily

reach through the bars, push the window up, reach inside on a 

shelf where a box of candy bars were kept.  They were not greedy,

and would take only one candy bar at a time.  This went on for a

while.  One night the window was pushed up, a hand reached in but

could feel only metal plow parts, etc. where once the candy had

been.  Alas, the proprietor had become wise to the game!

     Lester Morgan said one day a local teen came riding into

town and being in a very mischievous mood rode by Mr. Ira George's

home.  There was a row of bee hives inside the picket fence near

the house.  He tossed his rope and "roped" a hive and dragged it

through town, with bees swarming everywhere.

     Pet Watson's story: He, Lawrence George and Junie Bond were

invited to a party at Mr. Marshall Harvin's home.  They drove a

mule hitched to a buggy in which the three rode.  Knowing a short

cut one suggested they save time by taking that route.  They rode

happily along, enjoying the ride but suddenly the mule stopped.

They urged the mule, cracking the whip and finally she lunged

forward, jerking the buggy over a log that had fallen in the

road.  Some damage was done to the buggy.  They "patched" it up

and proceeded toward Mr. Harvin's home.  As they were riding

down a hill, the road was heavily rutted, and suddenly the buggy

rammed the side of a hill and flipped over, causing considerable

damage to the buggy.  Fortunately, cousins Lester and Edgar Lea

Morgan came by on horses and they were able to ride the rest of

the distance to the party with them.  They spent the night with

the Morgan Family (Aunt & Uncle to Pet), after the party, and

returned to Montpelier the next day, after repairing their buggy.

     Someone tells of another incident and this one involved the

railroad.  The trains that came through Montpelier proceeded to

Pine Grove and on to Grangeville and later into East Feliciana

Parish or specifically to Bluff Creek.  West of Montpelier is a 

hilly section of land and it was here that the boys would gather

to watch the train.  They soon learned that by applying grease

to the railroad tracks, this would really slow the train, try-

ing to make the hill.  Grease was cheap so the guys would buy

grease, apply it liberally to the tracks, then lay back and wait

for the action.  When the train started up the hill, chugging 

away, the grease would begin to slow it down and it would not

be  able to go over the hill.  The train would ease backward and

only after several attempts would the engineer be able to make

it over the hill and be on his way.  Sometimes the engineer

would put cinders on the track and this would keep the track from

being slippery and there would be traction again.  The boys thor-

oughly enjoyed the dilemma they had created.

     "Tick-tacking" was a favorite of the boys and from time to

time someone would pull this on an unsuspecting person.  After

the chosen victim had retired for the night, several would slip

to the house.  A heavy thread (Number 8 thread) would be attached

to a nail near a window, preferably where the person was sleeping.

The thread would then be unrolled to where the others were wait-

ing.  Wax was liberally applied to the thread.  Then to make

noise the thumb and index finger were slipped across the waxed

thread.  The individual doing this only heard a slight sound but

the person inside the house heard a terrible noise.  A slight

thump on the thread made a noise similar to a board being pulled

from the house.

     One night several boys chose someone to tick-tack.  All

went as planned.  The thread was attached, the wax applied and

several sounds made on the thread.  Because they received no re-

sponse from the victim, they thought he had not heard.  They de-

cided to throw chunks of dirt on the tin roof.  This brought him

out and with a shot gun.  He sprayed the backs of their legs with

"scatter shot".  It hurt but they were afraid to tell their par-

ents.  For several weeks they picked shot out of the backs of 

their legs.

     A favorite pastime of the older teens, especially on Sat-

urday nights, was playing poker.  There was a long porch/gallery

on the east side of the depot in Montpelier.  This is where they

would gather to play cards.  When there were a goodly number

playing, there would be $2 - $3 in the game which would change

hands several times throughout the evening.  The pleasure was

more in the playing than in winning.  A rag in a bottle of kero-

sene provided light.

     Money was very scarce in the early days of Montpelier as in

other parts of the United States.  Merchandise sold cheap - a

pair of shoes $2.50.

     You could always look at a boy in town and tell whether he

had spent his "nickel".  If his hand was in his pocket, he was

holding fast to his coin so as not to lose it.  When he spent

his money, he would swing his arms as he walked.  Storekeepers

could tell how long he had been in town by how warm his coin

was when he finally spent it on his choice of "goody".

     Zula Tate Braud recalls that when she was about four years

old her Mother, who was a teacher, was away at school and her

Dad was working away, too.  On this particular day, Zula and the

maid were home alone when two drummers (salesmen) who had car

trouble walked to the home.  The Tate Family lived on the "Three

Notch Road."  As there was no telephone, the maid allowed Zula

to walk into Montpelier with the two men.  When they reached Mr.

"Pet" Watson's store, Mr. Watson called her to the side to ask

if she were kin to the men.  He was concerned about this little

girl being with two strangers.  All turned out well.  She said

she saw this as an opportunity to get her fill of apples.  She 

told Mr. Watson to give her a dozen apples and charge them to 

her Dad.  She thinks he gave her three in a bag.  She believes

this was the first car she had ever seen.

     Dr. Albert Newman owned the first car in Montpelier - a

Ford Roadster, Zula recalls.  He let everyone ride a little way

in his car.

     Zula Tate Braude states that she worked in Mr. Spence's Store

during "strawberry season".  One side of the store was stocked

with dry goods - material, lace, thread, a few books and notions.

The other side was groceries.  She wryly recalls "waiting on

people".  All items were in bulk - sugar in a barrel, green coffee

beans in a sack, lard in a 50# can, etc.  She relates that a cus-

tomer would come in for 15 cents coal oil.  This would be drawn, then

the person would want 1/2# lard, so you washed your hands, weigh

the lard, wash your hands and weigh 2# sugar, etc.  The coffee

beans were taken home where they were roasted and ground by hand

before a pot could be brewed.
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THE SHOOTOUT

     One day, early in the 1930's, two brothers-in-law were talk-

ing, then began to argue.  In the heat of the argument one man

slapped the other.  The injured man asked for an apology and when

none was forthcoming an ultimatum was issued: An apology must

be received by sundown or else.  Sundown came and no apology, so

he loaded his two 44's, strapped them on and went to the place of

business of the offending party.  He again called for an apology,

whereupon the other man walked to the open door of his business

and shot the man, grazing his stomach.  The man in the street re-

turned the fire, creasing the storeowner's head, knocking him to 

the floor unconscious.

     All thought him dead at this point so several others shot at

the man in the street.  He returned the fire as the various guns

blazed away at him.  Still thinking his brother-in-law was dead,

the man in the street left, going to the home of a neighbor who

had a car.  Accompanied by his father-in-law, he was ready to

surrender to the sheriff.  He told the neighbor "I have killed

------, but he started it".  The neighbor's wife, who had taught

the man when he was a small boy in school, said "That is so typi-

cal of him, he could never accept responsibility for anything."

     The man was not dead, only stunned and unconscious for a

while.  No charges were filed.  Incredibly over 70 shots were

fired but only the first two made contact.

     Various people heard the shots from their homes near Mont-

pelier.  Some decided that a convict had escaped from the road

crew and that the prison guards were shooting at the escapee.

One even "identified" the different shots as belonging to a cer-

tain guard.  One family knew nothing of the incident until they

received their coyp of the Times Picayune the following day and

read the article there.


THE YEAR VALENTINE DAY WAS STOLEN

     When school resumed following Christmas holidays, students

in elementary school turned their attention to Valentine's Day.

For the price of a stamp, a student could receive a packet of

wall paper samples.  From the samples, plus paper, the student

could fashion a pretty valentine.  Because of the relative inex-

pensiveness of a card made this way, each pupil made a valentine

for each of his classmates.  On this particular year, the valen-

tines had been painstakingly made and carefully stacked in the

desk of each pupil at the end of the day.  Two mischievous boys

decided it would be great sport to steal all of the valentines.

They found a number two tin wash tub and went room to room taking

the valentines.  They had a scare while emptying the desks - they

heard a car, peeked out the window and recognized the car of Mr.

Shamburger, Principal of the school.  A sigh of relief when they

realized Mr. Shamburger was only passing the school enroute to

his home (which was located behind the school).  They continued

with their "fun" until all the valentines were stacked in the

tub.  They then took them and dumped them in a corn crib behind

Mr. Will Bond's home.  There were many disappointed young people

at Montpelier School that year.
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