Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-05
FOOL is ABROAD AS USUAL
No Serious Results Are Thus Far Re
ported-Blank Cartridges Prove
Dangerous for Boys.

suits have been reported in Rock Is
land from the celebration of Indepen
dence Day. but the usual number oil
minor ones developed. The fool was
abroad as usual with his propensity to
endanger the lives of others and two
instances at least are known where
fire crackers were thrown into street
cars. However. good fortune attended
the occupants and there were no seri
/ Gus results. In one instance a can
non cracker was thrown and in the
other it was bunch of smaller ones
The carelessness with which revolvers
were handled on the streets and in the
big crowds at the Watch Tower and
| elsewhere, makes ii seem remarka BILE
that more accidents did not occur Sew.
eral of the accidents reported were OF
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS." nature
| The most serious accident reported
occurred Tuesday evening in Long
View park. Harry Kennedy, aged Il.
son of Mr.. and Mrs. ID. J. Kennedy of
| South Heights being the victim. Young
Kennedy with several other boys was
| indulging in a little ante-Fourth cele-
| bration. A companion, while careless
| ly holding a revolver almost directly
toward Kennedy's face, accidentally
discharged the weapon, which contain
ed blank cartridge. The boys face
was filled with powder. and some of
the explosive entered his eyes. His
face was badly burned, but il is
thought his sight will be saved Lock
| jaw is feared
| Men Careless, Too.
| That the boys and children were not
alone in their foolish and careless
handling of explosives was shown by
an accident suffered by a railroad
trainman residing on Twenty second
street While down town in the morn
ing he placed one of the large sized
cannon crackers in bottle. When the
explosion occurred, before he had time
to get far away, the pieces of glass
| flew with considerable force in all di-
trections. The flying glass cut a cash
| IN his hip, and lacerated his hand. 1t
required the attention of a physician
to close the wounds. Fortunately no
| one else was near enough to be hit by
| the flying pieces of the bottle,
"Wasn't Loaded"
Edward Boetke. aged II. residing at
| 1924 Sixth avenue. sustained severe
powder burns about the face when a
playmate discharged a blank cartridge
near the Boetke boys face. The play
mate thought the gun was empty. The
boys injuries are severe.
Leo Clark. aged 10, son of Hugh
Clark, 1926 Eighth-and-a-half avenue,
shot himself through the left hand
with blank cartridge, the paper wad-
ding of the cartridge passing nearly
| through the palm of the hand. The
cartridge was of 22-calibre. The wad-
ding was removed and the wound
dressed by a physician at once.
The 10-year-old son of Mr.. and Mrs.
A. d. Martin. S14 Twelfth street. was
shot with a blank cartridge by play
mate. He sustained a minor wound.
The Martin boy a few days ago was
bitten by a dog.
Wrong End Up.
The 11-year-old son of Fred Miller,
who was using one of the cane cap
shooters to celebrate the Fourth, I'M
knowingly turned the apparatus wrong
end up, and when the cap was discharg-
ed the flying fragments of the dyna-
mite burned his hand slightly. His
home is on Fifteenth street and Fifth
avenue.
The 11-year-old son of Matthew Fred
erickson, 1410 Seventh avenue, had his
face burned by powder when fire
cracker exploded in close proximity to
him. His injuries are not dangerous.
Alex Silverman, a boy living on
Twenty-seventh street. and Walter
Stegeman were both victims OF pow
der, getting a quantity of 1t in their
faces. but their injuries are not seri-
Gus.
Miss Julia Eihl had narrow escape
from losing her eyesight, rocket go
ing backward and striking her in the
forehead. Some of the powder went
into her ewes. but no further trouble
is anticipated.
Small Boy Shot.
James Hughes. aged 8, whose home
is at 283S Fifth-and-a-half avenue, was
shot i'm the left hand by blank car
fridge. He sustained an ugly and dan
gerous wound that may prove serious.
Anti-toxine was administered, and
there is little fear of tetanus.
Head Blown OF.
There was one death yesterday af-
ternoon as a direct result of the ex-
plosion of a cannon cracker. 1t hap
pened, though, that the victim was not
a person, but big dog with much curl
osity. When the owner. a small boy,
threw an unusually large giant cracker
into the street, the dog, following an
instinct from, training to pick up sticks,
and curious about that kissing sound,
ran and picked the cracker up. Just
as he had the frecracker firm in his