I bought a scrapbook awhile back filled with newspaper clippings of the time. The dates covered are from 1915 to about 1930. Unfortunately, there's no byline for this article, but it was printed in a Springfield, MO newspaper on July 4, 1920. It's raining on our barbeque today, but it hasn't dampened our 4th of July spirit.....I hope the sun's shining on your celebration! Nancy July 4, 1920 July 4 brings back vividly to us those times not far distant, when loyalty and independence burned in the soul of every American. It brings back the scene of the quaint old Quaker town, its streets filled with people "pacing restless up and down," people gathering at the corners, whispering to each other, some beating against the State House door. Inside sits the Continental Congress, truth and reason for their guides, debating over a simple scroll, though of enough importance to shake the cliffs of England. It brings back the scene of a bellman, old and gray, one hand on the clapper, his eye tense, waiting for the signal to toll the bell. Soon the signal comes, the news that the Declaration of Independence has been signed. The old bell, bearing the inscription, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof," peels forth the joyful news until its old sides crack. The people....... "How they shouted! What rejoicing! How the old bell shook the air! But now the old State House bell is silent, Hushed is now its clamorous tongue; But the spirit it awakened, Still is living---ever young; And when we greet the smiling sunlight On the Fourth of each July We will ne'er forget the bellman Who, betwixt the earth and sky, Rang out loudly, 'Independence!' Which, please, God, shall never die!"