Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-07-05

ndipT FiueSei, sun VI MI anu MI >.
William Fluegel, 111i Eleventh ave
nue. Shot through hand with blank
cartridge.
The downpcur that began yester-
day and continued today decidedly
dampened the celebration of the
Fourth, and the small boy who OBJ
served the Sabbath yesterday and
saved his firecrackcrs till today, the
ctficial holiday, was SOrcly disap-
pointed. 1t was perhaps the most
quiet celebration in the last decade.
The firecrackcrs of course would not
explode readily in the rain. and the
result was a sane celebration, not
from intention, perhaps, but from
force of circumstances.
But one accident had been report
ed up to noon today. The police were
active Saturday evening and yester-
day, and as far as possible prevent
ed the use of firearms IL the city.
Take Blank Shooters.
The officers conliscated and de-
StTOytu dDput - DldHh SnOOIeIS, anu
confiscated half dozen revolvers of
various types. In at least one in
stance there is reason to believe that
serious consequences were prevented
by the confiscation of revolver. One
of the Muscatine young men who
spent the day here had a big A.
calibre revolver, and a pocketful of
shells. While the shells were nearly
all blanks and so far as the owner
realized none contained bullets, the
police found number of loaded
shells in the bunch, and the POSSIBLE
ity of a serious accident was great.
There are several hundred blanks at
the police headquarters.
Youth Shot in Hand.
The one accident yesterday was
that in which Ralph Fluegel, the 10
Fluegel. 1114 Eleventh avenue, shot
himself in the hand with a blank
cartridge about 1880 yesterday after
+. noon. The boy was breaking a %
calibre gun to extract the exploded
shells and held his hand over the
muzzle. There happened to be an
unexploded cartridge in the barrel
and he pulled the trigger and the
wad went into his hand tearing a
slit about an inch long. The boy
picked most of the wad out himself
and he was then taken to II. V.
Burt's drug store where a surgeon
dressed the wound. No serious re-
suits are anticipated.
No Fire Calls.
No fire alarms were turned in yes
terday or today, and the indications
are that the celebration of Indcpend-
ence day will pass with no damage
and with minimum list of acct
dents.
The weather caused the postpon-
ment of innumerable picnics, launch
cruises and other outings, and prac-
Itlcally killed the business of the hol-
iday at the amusement parks of the
tri-cities, where the usual holiday
attractions had been arranged for
by the managers.
Accidents I'm Moline.
Three accidents and a fire were
the incidents in Moline. The fire
was not caused by the celebration of
the Fourth, however. Alderman Ed
Brown. contrary to city regulations,
shot off lot of firccrackers yester-
day afternoon to amuse some small
boys. and one, cannon cracker, ex-
4 ploded and threw powder into his
face His left eye just missed re-
Eceiving a piece of the paper and some
powder.
The most serious accident reported
was that in which a 12-year-Old son
of Mr.. and Mrs. Elof Granat, 1901
Fifteenth-and-a-hal street, was the
victim. The lad was pulling a gun
from his pocket this morning about
10 O'Clock and in some manner the
trigger caught, and he was shot in
4 the thigh. The wound is about two
inches deep, and is rather serious.
Jacob Bick, aged s, son of Mr.. and
Mrs George Bick, 307 Fifteenth
street, last night pulled the trigger
of revolver while he held his left
hand over the muzzle. He received
a bad wound on his index finger.
The fire this morning was at the
eeme of George Nye, Nineteenth
.eet and Ninth avenue. fire had
hghted in the furnace and
Stning on a heating drum in
became ignited. The