The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-06-16

The appalling ravages of Fourth
of July Tetanus.' is the subject of am
exhaustive and enlightening article i'm
the June Review of Reviews.
1t may surprise many a citizen TO
know that very rational and earnest
movement against the use of fireworks
on Independence day is now i'm its sew
enth year; nor is il universally real
lied how many children have. by rea-
son Of these yearly celebrations, suf-
fered the most cruel death known to
medical science Were any such emo
ton possible in the English breast.
that of satisfaction for the losses and
humiliations endured by England in
the war for ndependence-at least so
far as human life is concerned-could
hardly be more thoroughly justified;
for, taking no account whatever of
our national losses of many decades
past, but only of those incurred i'm the
last three yearly celebrations. the loss
of life is frightful. I'm New York city
alone, it is found that 1,339. haye been
killed and injured-more than the cas-
ualties in the Revolutionary battles of
Lexington. Bunker Hill. Fort Moultrie,
White Plains, Fort Washington, Mon
mouth, and Cowpens combined. Nor
have these losses been among fighting
men, but rather among little children:
and of the latter wounded on indie
pendence day many that have not
died have nevertheless been dreadfully
manned and disigured for life.
The American Medical association
has gathered most of the statistics up
on which the fight against the use of
fireworks on the glorious Fourth has
been based. A year ago it demon
strated in its Journal that i'm the six
preceding years our whole country has
shown for that festival a grand total
of 29,296 killed and wounded. In 1903
there were Ais cases of Fourth of July
tetanus; i'm 1904. 1O5 cases: i'm 1905, |
104 in 1906, So; in 1907, So recorded
cases, the largest number since 1908
probably by reason that the Fourth
coming on Sunday, the celebration was
practically one of three days; as it |
comes this year on Monday, there is |
now to be feared another heavy list of |
dead and injured. II is interesting al
so to note that in 1908 there were SIC |
blank cartridge wounds, whilst i'm 1909 |
the number of wounds from this source |
was 1895: and that the states having |
the largest number of blank cartridge |
wounds had also the largest number |
of tetanus cases. also that blank cart
ridge wounds had higher percentage |
of deaths than gunshot wounds The |
most common wound productive of te-
tanus or lockjaw is that produced by |
the blank cartridge; this need not be |
as wide at a church door. nor as deep |
as a we'll; the merest skin pune
ture, perhaps even scratch, |
will serve. The blank cartridge. then, |
is responsible for more than 60 per
cent of tetanus cases: the giant fire. |
cracker (not the small cracker) for 16 |
per cent; the toy cannon, 4 per cent;
firearms, 8 per cent: powder. 10 per
cent. Not to excite undue alarm. it
should be observed that blank cart |
ridges will by no means always pro-
duce tetanus: for the 50 cases devel- |
oped in 1906 there were $40 blank cart |
ridge wounds; still the disease is so |
appalling that no one will take for his |
children any chance that their wounds |
will prove innocuous.
1t is well for parents 10 bear these
figures in mind, and If they must cell
citrate with fireworks and giant crack
ers, to exert every possible caution to |
prevent accident.