Hide Article Text (OCR)
Anvil Chorus Serenades Hamilton for 51st TimeBy J. EvansApproximately 50 men, women, and children were on hand at 5 a. m. Tuesday morning when Addis Emmett pulled a white-hot iron bar across the powder chain to ignite the first volley in Hamilton’s 51st consecutive annual anvil shoot on Nov. U,Frank Holmes, who witnessed the first shoot at the close of World War I in 1918, prepared the charges and set the anvils for the 50th straight time.Many of the veterans who attended the shoot Tuesday morning were still in the service on Armistice Day 1918, but most of them have made the early morning celebration each year since.Included in the list of long-time shooters, in addition to Emmett and Holmes, are Dr. Jack Koen, Bradford Corrigan, Paul Henderson, Brents Witty, August Riewe and Jack Willeford.Holmes, who was denied enlistment in the armed forces because he was the only blacksmith in town, recalls the first shoot on Nov. 11, 1918.Word was received at the railroad station from Gatesville that the Armistice had been signed, and the town went wild, Holmes said. There wasn’t enough powder in town to shoot the anvils so my father (Jim) and a group of men gathered up all the shotgun shells they could find, extracted the powder, and shot the anvils well into the night.The next year, members of the Cunningham Post of the American Legion conscripted Holmes to provide and prepare the anvils and the fourth-generation blacksmith has been on the same job ever since.To shoot the anvils, Holmes turns one anvil upside down on the ground and pours black powder into the small forged hole in the bottom of the anvil. A trail of powder, for igniting the charge, is formed to the edge of the anvil and a piece of wet cardboard is placed over the hole for wadding. The second anvil is placed on top of the cardboard.Two iron rods, about 12 feet long, are heated in a bonfire for igniting the charge and the volley is sounded by pulling the end of one rod across the powder fuse.Since the early 1920s, George Chambless has provided the black powder for the shoot, experimenting with the type that would provide the loudest bang.After about an hour of shooting the anvils, which is the only shoot in the United States that has operated continuously since WW I, the veterans retire to a local cafe for breakfast and an opportunity to rehash the old days.And get ready for next year.
Newspaper Details
Hamilton Herald News
Hamilton, Texas, US
Thu, Nov 13, 1969
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Harvey D.
USA 04 May 2018
Other Publications Near Hamilton, Texas
Hamilton Herald News
