Omaha daily bee., 1909-07-04

which explode as the flame reaches them.
They may throw sparks into rubbish and
other stuff which takes fire easily, and
into eyes, putting them out.
shooting Canes.
The shooting cane has an iron boot, In
the leg Of which are put lozenses, one OF
which explodes each time the end Of the
cane is struck against the pavement. The
iozenges are two parts chlorate OF potash
and one part sulphur. with a little sand,
powdered glass OF coal, and gum enough
to hold them together. This makes a
very dangerous explosive. Ones foot is
likely to be hurt when a lozenge is ex-
pioded and half a dozen may explode at
once tearing off a leg. A boy struck one
Of these canes near a passing lady, ignit-
ing her drss so she was burned to death
in the street. The new toy pistol called
"Astonlsher' has the same ammunition
IN smaller size.
A German noise maker named fix rohr
Is a brass tube with a plunger in Il.
Corks. in the small ends Of which is the
same stuff that is used in the canes, are
put into one end of the tube. Then e
swing Of the hand drives the plunger into
the cork, which flies out with great force
and noise. The force is great enough to
drive the cork into the body OF a child.
A box OF these corks, when opened by
inspection officers on a wharf In Boston,
exploded, killing three men and tearing
out the floor timbers.
Bombs should be used by trained ex-
hIbitors only.
The Cannon Cracker.
The cannon cracker Is a murderer.
The largest ones have in them two-thirds
Of an ounce of chlorate Of potash and one
third of an ounce of sulphur with a little
charcoal. Those seven inches long have
half that much. The shell is a hollow roll
Of heavy paper smeared with paste, the
inner layers being crimped to close the
ends. The charge fills, perhaps, one
eighth of the chamber within the cracker,
leaving room for the gas to expand be-
fore the shell bursts. This increases the
noise. Cannon cracker makers complain
that dealers are calling constantly for
goods that will make Il greater noise.
In Columbus a cannon cracker went off
while in a boys hands and no part of
either Of them could subsequently be found
except a piece of one little finger. Both
hands, to the wrists, had been converted
into gases by the great heat.
In Cincinnati one exploded while a man
was holding It under his arm. He was so
torn in pieces no one could tell who he was
until his name was seen in his watch,
which had to be dug out of a telegraph
pole into which it had been blown.
Sometimes the fuse In one of these crack
ers Is choked by the crimping of the paper
around 1t SO it goes out. Such a cracker
should be avoided for ten minutes, then
we'll soaked in water and buried without
sobs or remon
Dynamite is not used in fireworks. In
battle scenes sticks of 1t are detonated to
indicate c~annonading.
LOckJaw.
Following every Fourth more than 100
children die from lockjaw from wounds
made by fireworks. After the celebration
in 1903 there were 1856 deaths from this
cause.
LockJaw is caused by one of the small.
est of germs 1t is like a very small
thread and is so small it cannot be seen
1t grows by the million in the bowels Of
horses. So there are always millions Of
NASA AA 80 6SSS Nb9- ~ 6CAAl WlCL
It comes into the air dries and so long a.
there is air around 1t does no harm
These germs stay alive in ice. or boilinl
water. Doctors have kept them on spin.
tiers for ten years and then given lockjaW
to mice by prtcking them with the spin
tiers. When they get into ones flesh, away
from the air, they grow in numbers very
fast by each thread-like germ choking It
self in two in the middle. One of them will
have grandchildren in an hour. While theS
are multiplying under ones skin they Civ,
out a poisonous juice. There is no evi
} dence whatever that these germs are a
work in a wound for a week or two, unit
the poison has Travelled along IA nerve from
, the wound to spine and brain.
When the poison gets to the brain dealt
, is sure to follow after more days Of hor
I rible suffering than one would have from
a mad dog bite, strychnine poisoning anC
cerebro spinal meningitis put together.
Any small wound through the skin mad,
( by a firecracker should be taken to
doctor at once. to be laid so air can &c
to the bottom Of IL, because a boy playing
with fireworks nearly Away has stree
a dust on his hands and it is full Of thes,
terrible germs.
a The greatest number Of cases of lockjav
Z result from using the toy pistol for firing
q blank cartridges. Pieces of the pape
wads, which take the place of balls II
$ these cartridges, are blown under tn,
n skin, carrying the germs of lockJaw.
= "DOwn in Name"