The Democrat-sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1906-1935, 1906-06-14
STATE FIRE
MARSHAL
Sends Out Warming for
the Fourth.
GREATEST DANGER
In Toy Pistols and Cannon
Crackers.

the innocents and burnt Offering OF
homes, in our annual exhibition OF
patriotism, has almost arrived
Therefore, the Fourth of July
warning of the fire marshal is due.
The great loss of property on
the Fourth is from the small fire
cracker, while the great loss of
life is from the toy pistol.
In the five years since the office
of fire marshal was established,
the average number of fires in
Ohio, from celebrating the Ma
tion's natal day with noise, is
thirty-siX.
Unfortunately the particular
kind of fireworks which gives
great Joy to boy at small expense,
and which he can personally man
age with little danger to himself,
is the Chinese cracker, which is
responsible for nearly all the burn
ing of buildings. Red fire does
not explode; the pinwheel is
fastened to a tree; the Roman
candle discharged from the pave
ment scorches nothing but wrist
and the skyrocket usually falls
harmless, even upon shlngle roof.
Torpedoes, which are kept from
under the street cars by ordinance
in some cities, damage nothing
but the nerves of the hysterical.
The only way in which Il proper
ty owner can protect against fire
dangers of the Fourth is to clean
up rubbish and then watch the
place.
"Young America" must demon
strate his nerve by letting the fuse
of his cracker burn part way down
before throwing it and in the eX-
element of the supreme instant at
which it must leave his hand he
throws it without delibernting as
to where it will light, or what.
Many big fires come from crack
ers flying through pavement graf
lngs or cellar windows when they
explode, and there ignitlng rub
bish, Often they Ignite sweep
ings, paper or shavings or go over
a fence into rubbish piles.
The cannon cracker, which con-
tains dynamite, and the toy pistol,
which takes more lives than all
other contrivances for celebrating
should be prohibited by
ordinance under sufficient penal
ty, although they are chargeable
with but very small part of the
loss. In Columbus, a
man who caught lighted cannon
cracker to throw it into the street,
had both his hands and wrists con-
verted into gases instantly by the
heat of the explosion.
The toy pistol which fires blank |
carriages is deadly thing. In
1908 medical journal gathered |
reports of 466 dead from Fourth |
of July accidents and of this 1853 |
were deaths from lockjaw, each of
which came from wound by a
wad from one of these cartridges.
This frightful penalty for juvenile
enthusiasm led the newspapers of
the country to cry out against the
toy pistol, with the result that the
next Fourth" produced but lO5
deaths from lockjaw.
The cause of lock jaw from these
wO lnds is the tetanus bacillus
which belongs to one OF the small
est groups of germs or microbes,
in which are those winch produce
appendicitis, peritonitls and abcess
IF the brain. Six of these germs
IAN lie comfortably side by side
across a razor's edge and they re-
nam alive in boiling water, frozen
IN liquid air OF when mixed with
powder and fired from gun.
They are called "anaerobic"
germs because they cannot feed or
while exposed 70 the oxy-
gen OF the air. IL they could
and produce their poisons
n the presence of mir they would
'oon depopulate the earth for be-
ng omnipresent in street dust and
'oils they are liable TO get into
,yery scratch. But, being neees-
Iarily dormant, until they reach a
feeding ground in animal fluids
md away from the air, they can