Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-23
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1T may % Interesting to the boys OF the
present day 10 know that until the civil
war fir-crsig l1crs and fireworks generally
were the proper thing for Christmas, OBJ
sa..,d one OF the Oldest inhabitants 10
Star report A.. 'iind that the firecracker
display was the principal thing in the
stores especially the small stores on The
corners. oussile Of toys. cakes, nuts ana
candies Until about 1850 the principal
thing The small, and even large, boy
thought Of wrs to make noise, and he
devoted all his energies i'll that direction
lie Fourth Of July was tame in compari-
son TO Chris mas as far as noise was con-
crrued. of course. cannon and dynamite
crackers were unknown in those days. ana
the boys had necessarily to limit their
rUise-mlkiug to the Old-faShIoned black
powder. which generally sold for about 90
cents per pound 1t was the height or the
ambition Of The boys then to lay in store
Of powder AMI boys were ranked according
to the amount Of powder they could secure.
Those Who nal yanuOES hTed away all they
could get ana these who were not so for
turate coutauted themselves by making
cannOns out of gas pipes. Many Of them
loaded their CannOnS the mSat peIOFC
Christmas so that the moment they could
get enc into the street they could give out
their Christmas salutes. often at great
Danger to themselves and their comrades
for III many Instances the lmprOmptu can
L1rs bursted. Going great damage. The ire
crackers that sell now at from 3 to cents
Per pack in those days cost three times as
much or more, but the boys had them Just
tho same and found great enjoyment IN mr.
ing them off. II was the object of every
boy 10 get orIt into the streets as early in
the morning as possible. and often they
could he seen on the streets long before
daylight. There was cheapiy constructed
pistol sold in the stores. with large bore,
which. when fired. made noise much
louder than Is produced in the revolver Of
- H. fBfI q
tablespoonful or more Of powder. and the
harder il was Tammcd the more noise II
made. The powder was often rammed into
The pistols by using a bis-headed nail ana
a hammer. About the time the civil war
was first talked of this kind of celebration
seemed TO go ont of existence, and soon 1t
was completely forgotten.
''FirecraCkers and fireworks is still the
boys idea Of Christmas all through the
south. And during a recent visit to some
southern cities l saw lots Of crackers and
IN-rotechuics generally in the store win
dows. Another thing in connection with
Christmas celebration then has also disap-
p-3red. and that is street singing in the
early morning on Christmas. Hundreds
and hundreds Of boys in the days Of my
bns-hood IN Washington found great pleas
IRE in going about the streets singing
Christmas carols generally as a serenade
TO their girl friends They often included
foreign ministers in their serenadeS, and l
Remember some boys who regularly sere-
naded Presidents Polk. Fillmore and Bu-
Chsnan on Christmas morning The civil
war seemed. however. To divert the boys
from such visits
The use ~ cigarettes is steadily on the
increase in this country explained the
representative Of a New York Manufacture
ing concern to a Star reporter, though
there IS considerable falling OFF in the
consumption OF the lower grade Of goods,
that is. The cheaper grades. The cigarette
smoker uov demands imported goods, though
the cigarettes are made up in this country
OF the imported tobacco Turkish tobacco
Is most .rl demand, and, though the finer
grades vt tobacco sell all the way up to
$500 per pound 10 substitute Will be &C
copied The various clubs Throughout
the country buy cigarettes in large
Quantities. and this branch of the
trade has grown TO such an extent
that manufacturers now put men on the
road O." drum them specially These
m'n sell large orders, but seldom. If
ever, solicit trade from stores. except as
favor, the store trade and the club trade
being worked separately and by different
people The same thing is noticeab BILE in the
trade ~ smoking tobacco. There was a
time when The cheaper grades Of tobacco
satisfied The ordinary smoker. but that day
has gone and the trade forced to
gCiZe IL by catering to the new de-
mand. The ordinary smoking tobaccus go
well en- ugh in the country trade. but the
Lp-'"-tdie cities demand and secure the
Illr~J- ne domestic smoking LObaCCOS
range ali III" way from ~ cents to 81 per
pound. hut the pipe smokers. as well as the
cigarette users, sem now 10 be willing 10
pay double these prices for imported to-
barcJs. 0f which there is an immense va
rely They also want their tobaccos in the
L-stt instead If in mixtures, 50 that they
VIII not nave to pay for stems and odds
and ends, which probably 60 into the mix
tIres- Philadelphia. which is generally
thought 10 be slow CITY, now consumes
mors hiSu-pciced rnbaccns than any other
n Tho TINTED States. New York city being
ranked second Chicago don't take kind
y 10 cigarettes. though there are many
smokers there. N the trade Chicago il
hno"r IS the leading scent cigar city of
tna United States. There are plenty of
other stEarS sold there also. but the con-
sumption NJ the grade Of cigars known as
. cents surpasseS that of any other cfty
J. ne trade knows the peculiarit. of every
g,tN and caters 70 It The promoters of thu
'-Hent cigar trade are TO be found there
a."ays' popular scent cigar which by
tHe way. i pretty We'll advertised in the