Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-26
UTILITY OF BLANK CARTRIDGES.
They are IA Boon to the Realistic Drama,
and are Used in Other Ways.

| UTILITY OF BLANK CARTRIDGES.
They are "a Boon to the Realistic Drama,
and are Used in Other Ways.
From the point of view of the man
| from the far west, probably the most
useless thing i'll the world would seem to
be a blank cartridge, for ont where the
| sun goes down drawing pistol is very
| serious business. Yet there is a very
| great demand for blank cartridges, and
! even western men, at least those of them
| who are connected with Buffalo Bill's
| show, have come to look upon the harm
| less noise producers with tolerance, and
even approval as mate tally enhancing
their safety in the vigorous and elastic
sham fights that they go through.
Many thousand cases of blank car
| tridges are made every year by the big
| cartridge manufacturing establishments,
and command prices only less than those
with bullets in them by about as much
as the value of the lead would be. Great
| quantities Of them are sold for Fourth Of
July celebrations, and a good many are
used by the military in firing salutes.
| The theaters are, however, the best, be-
cause the most constant and steady Gus
| toners for them. When the heavy vii
lain shoots the hero, remarking, Never
| sgain will you cross my path and the
hero, miraculously saved, pops his ancient
enemy, saying, Die, villain, they both
| burn blank cartridges; and when the
| English soldiers fire a volley after the
escaping Irish patriot they use blank car
| trdges, and their guns being loaded in
that way explains why the finest peas
antry" so easily kill them off with stuffed
cluhG. apl N-har tha
ranges the explosion that is TO rend the
noble ship and sink her in the exact mid
| die of the broad ocean, he fixes lot of
blank cartridges in an apparatus that
| will set them all off simultaneously with
a terrific bang. And so in thousand
ways the stage depends upon blank car
tridges for thrilling effects.
Now and then the blank cartridge
proves reCreant to the trust reposed in
it, and spOils an effect. Actors tell Of
sensational star who was playing a part
in which he had to file off his chains,
| break ont of prison, climb wall, and
Just at the moment when he was about TO
achieve liberty, be shot by a vigilant
sentry, fall, and die to slow music. He
had climbed the wall and waited for the
fatal shot. II did not come. Again and
again the sentry snapped his gun, but
the cartridge would not explode. Did the
actor let that failure cut him out of his
death scene, Oh no. With a shrek of
agony and appropriate pantomimic trim
mings he exclaimed: Great heavens!
in my excitement have swallowed the
file'-fell from the wall, and died in his
most effective fashion.
Blank cartridges are ofte l bought for
the loading of the pistols that people keep
in the house to scare burglars if they
happen to come. The good folks who
have that humane and pretty plan under
stand very little about burglars, or they
would know that those gentry are so de-
ficient in n sense of reciprocal humor
that they habitually shoot back, and
with bullets instead of blank cartridges.
Little argument can be required to de-
monstrate that the householder is at
disadvantage in proceedings of this
nature From an incident that occurred
In a police court few days since it
would appear that there are young men
who carry pistols loaded with blank car
tridges, and fire them off on occasion to
make themselves appear dangerous But
the dealers say that, so far rs they know.
such instances muSt be rare.-New York
Sun.