Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-30

| along the Yang Use Kiang; and for a
| time it was feared that young America
would be compelled to forego his usual
supply Of firecracers. And when the ru-
mors of disquiet spread north to the
Hoang Ho, upsetting the wOrkmen as
| they shaped the little fire sticks in their
queer low houses on the rivers banks,
it became pretty certain that the output
for American patriotism would be small.
In the low hills of the Paling mount
aims, where the Roman candles are made,
| and back in the Kiln Gan, where the SKY
war, eliminating in occasional riots, ana
in the cities along the coast there were
| disturbance n excitement.
What, then, was the surprise of the
merchants when the cargoes were
brought to the coast and when the pls
| ships were oaded with their wares from
Pekin. Tientsin, Nankin, Su Chau and
Shanghai, to find that the cargoes were
precisely as large as usual, and nat the
| Chinese workmen had found time, either
openly or by stealth, to make theusual
amount of fireworks which China senas
every year to the United States.
Few persons outside the TRACE naVe
any idea of the relation which the hre-
cracker industry bears to Chinese com
fort. The firework season is the prosper
ity season in the interior of China, JUST as
the busy months in the mills are the
months of comfort and prospesity IN New
l England. men Lie llAllc oA~ $4,000
money stops circulating; when the hre-
works are gone, industry Is at a stand
still in China
CHINESE WORKERS.
Outside the fireworks there are thou
s,nds If workers in China, men and Wo-
mon. who support themselves upon the
artistic industries of the land, the max
ing of vases and the decoration OF can.
dlesticks. But this is artistic work, ana
few can engage in it. But the making
of frecrackers is something which every
hand can do, from the smallest to the
largest, from the softest little myers 10
the horniest old palm.
This year the orders that were placed
with the firms in China were very iarse'
for the United States has three four
times as many celebrations as II Tor.
merly had; and the topic OF Fourth OF
July all over the world has become one
of absorbing interest to the nation.
It was formerly an easy matter TO sup
ply Uncle Sans people with hreWorks.
THE people journeyed northward, wares
were shipped to the coast and there
Voc n1aced in big store houses waiting
for the final packing. Here the work OF
the factory hands came in, for hundreds
were empoyed in sorting the crackers IN
different sizes and in braiding together
the powder strings which unite the
crackers in one big fiery bunch. 49,
+ lUoN "SIC L
whole had to be packed in layers and
finally folded in gay paper to be after
wards slammed with the name OF the
maker. The question of keeping them
waterproof throughout their long jour-
ney was not an easy one, put II was
soved in good Chinese fasnlon oy piae-
ing abundant wrappers about them. ar
ter which they were placed in packing
casas. finally to be sent to the docks for
loading into the merchant ships hat ply
the Pacific.
And so they arrived in San Francisco
by the thousands of tons, ana Were
Skinned to the different parts OF the
United States, and that was the end of
II. The wholesalers took them and re-
Jailed them to the small dealers, VINO
afterwards sold them to a small boy al
such a little price that you wondered,
after all, where the profit came IN, ana
how much the patient worker on the
for his work.
FOR OTHER COUNTRIES.
But this year it is different. Fourth of
July is celebrated in all chimes, and the
ships must transport the Chinese prod
ucts to every port. 1t would have amused
you to see the steamer at Hong Kong
loading with a cargo of firecrackers, des-
tination Great Britain! 1t might have
! amazed you to see a vessel off Fun Chau
taking on Roman candles for use in
France. Great Britain and France both
have American fireworks this year and
will use them.
Strange. after 100 years, that England
should purchase Americas sign of free
dom. When the Declaration of indie
pendence was only 10 years old, and the
small boy exactly the same age, the first
frecrackers We're sent off in this coun-
try. A small consignment of the queer
things We're brought over from hin by
a roundabout route that took almost 10
months. It was a mistake, their being
placed in the ships cargo, but once here
they had to be used!
SSWEN