Snap, answer and pop

So, when all is said and done, why do Rice Crispies pop? -- a reader

These, dear reader, are the kinds of verbal exchanges I find myself often engaged in; to which I immediately replied, "Don't be so quick to dismiss the snap and the crackle."

All the noise is due to the cooking process Kellog's uses to create one of its signature cereals.

The rice is cooked in water then dried and toasted. This process expands the rice and bakes air pockets in the now thin and crispy kernels.

Open a box, pour a bowl, add milk and somewhere between the cool of the milk and the pressure of the liquid, the crystalline structure of the rice breaks. The result? It snaps, it crackles, and it pops.

* * *

A very observant young lad recently asked aloud why one doesn't see a caboose at the end of a train anymore.

Here is my best guess: The caboose served as the shelter car for the crewmen working on the train while it went on down the line.

That is where they slept, ate and passed the time, and conductor records also usually were kept in the caboose.

Another use of the caboose was as a bumper, of sorts, as the train sat still in the switchyard.

As the railroad industry, as with almost every other industry, became more mechanized and (eventually) digitized, fewer and fewer crewmen were needed to adjust brakes and keep watch over individual trains.

So, why was the caboose cut loose?

It went the way of the inkwell and the typewriter, of the switch-board operator and the rotary dial, of leaded fuel, and the popular use of the citizens' band radio. It became irrelevant and impractical to maintain.

Some might see this as the sign of progress; others with nostalgic tendencies will see what has been lost.

I'm just pleased that a young one noticed.

Eric Norris is the adult department librarian at the Hays Public Library. "Ask Eric" questions can be mailed to 1205 Main, Hays, KS, 67601, submitted through www.hayspublib.org at the "Ask Eric" link or e-mailed to enorris@hayspublib.org.