The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-04
FIREWORKS FOR THE FOURTH.
Great Increase I'm the Demand This
Year-New Varieties.


All manufacturers report remarkably
good business having had TO run their fac
tories to their fullest capacity. and in some
cases having had difficulty In filling trade
orders. Sales have been nearly double those
OF iast year, when they were very much bet
ter than in any season since 1892.
clared to be really low. as competition
causes them 10 be sold on very close
margin OF profit, they are somewhat higher
this. year than last, owing 10 the advance
in the cost of chemicals and other raw
terials. The war, IL is said. practically put
an embargo on many chemicals. and the
powder mills. which were under contracts
with the government, made when IL was not
known how long the war would last. ran
eBed nor price snd chorate Of
potash, which is largely used in fireworks
manufacture, was at one time double the
In that old standby for the Fourth OF
July. the firecrackers, so dear 20 the small
boy. the products of American factories are
making steady inroads in those OF Chinese
cheap labor. The very smallest of the
crackers are still imported from China.
they could not be made here at profit,
to be. but there has been a great deter
ioration in the quality. This has been the
consequence of the tariff duty Of eight cents
a pound upon hrecrackers. including the
paper wrappers and wooden boxes In
which they are shipped: Following the in
diminish the weight and thereby the duty.
as much as possible the Chinese manufac-
turerS 1Or this market nave Kept making
the crackers smaller and lighter. until now
they are deficient in noise-making quality,
ana include great many or what the boys
call Sisters" These are retailed at from
three to five packs for 10 cents, but their
sale is now comparatively limited. In their
place people are buying the smallest of the
American crackers, which are sold at from
SIS TO s. case, containing 100 packs OF
ten crackers each, or by the single pack at
an average OF ive cents These crackers
are two inches long. American cannon
crackers range as high as ten inches i'm
length. the largest retailing for seventy
five cents apiece while some Chinese crack
ers are twenty inches long and sell for 81. q
apiece. manufacturer declared that the
largest American cracker made fully as
much noise as the largest Chinese, and was
not nearly so dangerous.
The cost or considerable private displays
OF fireworks ranges from $50 to $500. the
average being S175 There is a great demand
for small assortments, and for s. one can
furnish an exhibition 10 satisfy children.
For So of course, twice as good a show can
be made and for from SO to So a man can
please his whole family and neighbors on
the night of the Fourth. People in general.
an extensive dealer said. know but little
about selecting fireworks, and still less about
setting them off, so that il is best for them
TO trust 10 the judgment of a salesman in
wise for an exhibitor on a small scale td
avoid pieces. and confine himself TO an aerial
display, including rockets. Roman candles.
colored lights, mines of stars, etc.
There are few real novelties in fireworks
| this year, most of the socalled novelties be-
ing either old devices under new names or
| simply improvements upon them. The only
| real novelties are said TO be about a dozen
| In electric fireworks. including bombs rock
cts. batteries and candles. There has been
an increasing trade in hot-air balloons. both
| for use in the daytime and with fireworks
| attachments. The retail price OF day bal
| looms ranges from % cents for one five feet
| high. TO IS for one forty feet high, while
| the fireworks balloons range from fifteen to
forty feet in height. and the prices from
So to $3.50.
Years ago the demand for colored Ian
! terms was extensive. but 1t is now very
| slack. mere lanterns being sold after the
| Fourth, for lawn parties, ETC.. than for the
| Fourth Itself. For flags which are usually
prominent in the stock of fireworks dealers.
| there is little call this season, the reason
| being tina. Dewey day has caused nearly
everybody TO be supplied with flags already.
For set piece in fireworks Dewey's pic
| ture Is In great request. and there Is also
| some demand. but far less. for portraits OF
| Sampson and Schley. One large manufac-
\ turer said that his company had sold more
| pictures OF Dewey than IL ever had Of any
| other individual, with the sole exception OF
| Washington.
| Nearly two-thirds of all the fireworks
used in the United States manufactured
| by companies in this city. and they are
| shipped all over the country. from Maine 20
I California. A notable and interesting fea-
| wholly unprecedented demand from
| Southern States. large sales having been
| made in Virginia, Georgia. Mississippi.
| Texas, Florida and North and South Caro-
lima: Formerly the trade In The South was
| confined TO the latter part OF the year. fire.
| works being wanted there only for Christ
| mas and New Years. For the first time,
| too. this year considerable shipments Of fire.
| works for the Fourth OF July have been
sent through commission houses TO Cuba and