The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1908-07-03
COST OF
THE FOURTH
Lives and Property Destroy
ed by Fireworks.

On each Fourth, fireworks burn
more than 700 buildings and kill
800 persons in the United States.
This does not include the children
burned to death by the ignition of
their clothing nor those killed by
runaway horses. The number
manned through the loss of eyes
and fingers is never less than 1000.
The sale of fireworks to children
should be prohibited. Preparatory
to the reign of fire, rubbish in areas
or yards should be removed or wet
ted down. Stables, outhouses,
packing rooms and cellar windows
should be tightly closed. Red fire
does not explode; the pin wheel is
fastened to a tree; the Roman can
die discharged from the curbstone
burns nothing but a wrist. The
dynamite torpedo often used on the
street railway tracks is not danger
Gus to the occupants of the car but
it is terror to hysterical nerves.
The small Chinese frecracker
which is used in greater number
than any other frework, destroys
most property and fewest lives.
The paper of the cracker often
glows for minutes after it is ex-
p1oded, igniting trash In which it
falls. The electric sparkler is
harmless unless its wire while still
hot is thrown into rubbish. Gar
den pieces and the new cannon
string" which contains thousands
of crackers, are safe enough be-
cause they must be fired by an
adult. But a very small part of
the fire loss on the Fourth is
chargeable to sky rockets. The
sticks are cooled on falling so they
seldom ignite roof. But in the
celebration at Pittsburg, last year,
a descending rocket stick pierced
the skull of babe, destroying it in
its mothers arms.
small cannon'crackers contain
dynamite and the very large ones,
giant powder. One of them explo-
ding in the hand converts it to gas
ses. The baby cannon is one of
the most deadly joy producers.
The number of tragedies from it
has been enormous. The hot air
balloon is the worst of incendiaries
because the resin used under it
makes a flying bonfire. It's use
certainly should be barred in the
cities. The lightning and shooting
matches are dangerous because they
are sold to children and contain
picric acid.
A new frework called 'Son-of-a
Gun" is misnamed for only Lucifer
would admit parental claim to it. 1t
is laid on the pavement to startle
the passerby. When stepped upon
it hops about popping, like gatling
gun and often jumps into a cellar
window, grating or trash pile to
fire. 1t has all the fendish char
acteristics of the Devil Chaser"
and some others.
The most deadly thing used in
our annual outbreak of savagry,
called patriotism, is the toy pistol.
1t exp1odes a paper cap containing
chlorate of potash and pieces of
paper are often driven under the
skin of the hand. Street dust at all
times carries bacil1i which cause
lockjaw if buried in human flesh so
that air cannot reach them. A
most dangerous practice is to cover
such wound with a plaster. All
penetrating wounds from fireworks
must be laid open by surgeon and
dressed so that air can enter them.
The deaths in the United States
from lockjaw following the Fourth
have ranged from los to 466. For
tunately there is now a serum for
the cure of 1ockjaw.
There should be state law linn
iting the amount of powder in any
frework and prohibiting altogether
fireworks containing phosphorus,
CELEBRATES, picrates, dynamite and
other high explosives. Toledo first
then Baltimore and San Francisco
prohibited fireworks altogether.
EDWARD PETERSON,
State Fire Marshal.
Married