The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-10-10
Mr.. Williams, the well-known Ameri-

| crackers IN ChlneSe town is so great
as to cover the streets with the frag-
ments. What an extraordinary taste
| Who should dare to complain of our
Fourth of July after knowing this ?
How strange, too, and even how ridic-
ulous, that from taste which seems to
us so childish should have sprung one
of the most important of all inventions,
that of gunpowder, destined, as we
may hope, to render war so destructive
that no man will dare or wish to resort
| to it.
To this day, the chief materials used
by the maker of fireworks are salt
peter, charcoal and sulphur, mixed in
many combinations with filings of
various metals, chiefly iron, steel, cop
per and zinc. These filings have the
same property of instantaneous COM
bustion as charcoal itself. Iron filings
produce brilliant red and white sparks,
which give such splendor to wheels
and rockets. Copper filings impart
| greenish tint, zinc fine blue color.
The combustion of amber affords O
yellow flame, while lamp-black yields
an intense red. The trade has thou
sand secrets, some of which never get
into print although there are several
extensive treatises on pyrotechnics.
For popular festivity, like the Fourth
of July, there is no conclusion better
than public display of fireworks. 1t
gives pleasure to the whole population
that is old enough to keep awake after
dark, while to the younger half of the
crowd it affords an intense gratifica-
ton. The great objection is the danger
of the whole exhibition being spoiled
by a shower of rain.
Perhaps the largest crowd ever
gathered in the United States was that
which assembled on the evening of the
Fourth of July, 1876, in Paramount Park,
Philadelphia, to witness the grand GEN.
tennial exhibition of fireworks. The
people began to assemble long before
dark, and by eight o'clock it seemed as
if the whole immense park was full of
spectators. The day had been fine and
very hot. Towards eight o'clock a
black cloud gave notice of its approach
by the sound of distant thunder. At
any other time nothing could have been
more welcome to a sweltering city,
and even then the storm adj
vanced so slowly that few thought
of it in connection with the impend-
ing show. All expected to enjoy the
artificial exhibition of fire before the
natural one opened. The fireworks
began at the appointed hour. Very
soon after, few drops of rain fell, just
enough to warn the managers to make
haste. The rain increased and it was
soon apparent that the whole range of
fireworks, including temples, gigantic
portraits of Washington, mounds, vol
canoes, stars, patriotic notices, pyra-
mids, and other structures, all on a
scale of magnitude never before seen
in America, must be discharged at
once, or never discharged at all. The
managers took the hint given them by
the thunder-cloud, and soon the crowd,
which had begun to dispense, was
stilled and entranced by the most eX-
tensive and splendid exhibition of fire.
works ever seen in America at one mo-
ment.
The display was wonderfully fine,
but very brief, for the rain soon began
to dim the brightness of the fireworks.
What a scramble it was to get out of
the park! Three-fourths of the crowd
were some miles from their abodes.
Cars, omnibuses, carriages, all seemed
powerless even to diminish the wet and
clamorous multitude.
The most extraordinary displays of
! fireworks ever seen in the world used
to occur in Rome at Easter, when st.
| Peters Church formed the ground
work of the display. There were two
exhibitions in the same evening Be-
fore dark the whole of the vast edifice
was hung with white paper lanterns.
All the architectural outlines of the
church, from the portico to the cross
above the dome, were marked by rows
of these colorless lanterns, the candles
of which were lighted before sunset.
For some time, against the splendor of
the western sun, the lights were not
visible, nor the lanterns. AS night
drew on, the lines of light began to
show against the deepening gloom,
and the silver brightness increased
from moment to moment, until the
building stood out at last as if it were
drawn upon the black sky with pen
Gil of light. Nothing of the church
was visible, except these fiery lines.
1t looked as if built of fire. At nine
O'Clock. upon the first sound of the
great bell, flame burnt from the cross
over the dome. "Instantly," as Mr..
w. w. Story describes it in his "Roba
di Roma, F" ga fash of light whirls over
the dome, climbs the smaller cupolas,
descends like rain of fire down the
columns of the facade, and before the
great bell of st. Peters has ceased to
toll, the golden illumination has sue
ceeded to the silver"
This second illumination lasts until
nearly midnight, great church of gol-
den fire, inconceiYably striking and
splendid. Even George Eliot, awoman
not prone to be much moved by any
such display, was enchanted with it.
ut is thing" she says, $50 wan.
drous, so magically beautiful, that one
can't find it in ones heart to say it is
not worth doing, i remember well
the first glimpse we had, as we drove
out towards it, of the outline of the
dome, like new constellation on the
black sky. 1 thought that was the
final illumination, when, as our car
riage stopped in front of the cathedral,
the great bell sounded, and in an in