The Washington times., 1902-07-05


year by any society was that of the Oldest
| Inhabitants who gathered at The resi-
denre OF Mr.. J. II. Small. Fourteenth h
/ Street and Brentwood Road, and with
patriotic measures and speeches COM
memorated the l26th anniversary of the
Republic.
Carnival at the Barracks.
One Of the striking features of the days
| celebration was the athletic carnival
at Washington Barracks. participated In
by all The cavalrymen. artiliorynien. ma
rines, and engineers stationed in the
District and at Fort Myer. 1t began at
o'clock in the morning and continued
| throughout the day.
At Fort 'Mycr at noon all the troops
stationed there formed about the great
ragstaft on the parade grounds and for
| ty-fye guns were fired a u salute to the
Tag. Captain Lewis read the Declara-
ton Of Independence to the troops.
Uncle Sans Holiday.
It was indeed national holiday for
those in Uncle Sans service. The
President ana nearly all the Cabinet of
iicers ere out Of the city and saw. for
handful Of department officials In the
State, War and Navy Departments no
ore neglected the opportunity to flee
from the heat which beamod overhead
and was reflected back from the smooth
asphalt streets.
Thousands of soldiers were celebrat-
ing the Fourth of July in the United
States for the first time in several wears.
and the men in the military service at
the National Capital had merry time
brief celebration was held at each
OF the posts yesterday morning and the
Presidents Fourth of July address to
the army was read.
Not Record Year.
The sale of fireworks this year was
nothing as compared with that OF the
year 1888.
The biggest sale of explosives on rec
ord in this city was for the celebration
of July 4. 1888 Dewey had sailed. into
Manila Bay and lambasted pretty much
everything in sight and out of sight;
and the American feet had ami
Inflated the feet Of the kindly. old
chiVairic Cervera. II was to be expected
that fireworks would be in demand that
year, and the expectations were realized.
Small Sale of Fireworks.
One OF the dealers in fireworks said YES
terday: "The strange thing about the sale
of fireworks this year has been the
falling OFF in the demand for firecrack-
ers, torpedoes. and the cheaper ire
works. Whether young America has be- |
come more apprehensiye CT tetanus as |
zF
not pretend to say. The fact remains
that the sale of crackers and forpedoes
and nigger-chasers and small pinwheels
hasn't been much 10 speak of this year.
In place of the firecrackers and the
torDedoes that the fathers Of the small
boys used TO lay in for Fourth of July
roman candles and skyrockets and
bombs seem TO have the call this wear.
noticed this a few days ago and l
asked one of my old patrons why ne
neglected to lay In his usual supply of
hrecrackers. This is what he said:
We've had many years experience with
hrecrackers and small fireworks in our
family, and we have also had experience
with candies and rockets and the like.
Ny wife and have found that the chill
dren get a good deal more fun and less
injury out OF the candles and the rock
cts and the bombs and few set pieces
than they ever got out of their fire
crackers and torpedoes. Of course our
little people have TO have something toll
with during the day. and so I
have bought these big cannon crackers.
which can be planted along the curb or
set in a standard and lighted with
aper from safe distance. There is no
holding of these in the fingers or gettingI
faces burned with "sizzers." and they
make SO much more noise which is the
main thing after all. that the children /,
lon't have any desire for the small fire
Less attractions in the line of sports
we're offered yesterday than In former
ears. when ball games. races. and popu-
ar plays such as tub races. catching the
creased pig. and climbing the slippery
pole, were the features of the day, ac-
with oratory, fireworks, and
ed lemonade.
Independence Day Round the World.
But although Washington was quiet, the
Fourth this year was celebrated in more
arts Of the world than ever before, and
n a more patriotic and enthusiastic
manner. Cuba, Porto Rico. Hawaii. the
Samoa, Guam, and even No
lan's Land-the Isle of Pines-are all
deserved the natal day Of liberty, free
I'D