Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-07-08
We WILL BURN
TWO MILLIONS
Uncle Sam Intends to Create a
Racket and Wont Begrudge
Small Change.
ROCKETS HARD TO MAXI
Novelties Are Constantly Being Intro
duced - How F~ireerackers and
Rockets Are Made on the
Fireworks Farm"

Chicago Tribune: 1t Is reckoned that
81, 0Oo, 900 worth of fireworks will be
transformed into flame and smoke on
the coming anniversary, and that an
other million will undergo explosive
combustion in the shape Of firecrack-
ers. OF torpedoes, something like BOO
million will be set off. largely by little
girls whose prudent parents justly re-
gard this kind of miniature bomb as
least Objectionable. 1t u be SAID,
however, that some torpedoes, Whlch
are as big as onions and contain dyna-
mite, are exceedingly dangerous n at
all hazards to be avoided.
There Is a new kind Of hrecracker
called the mandarin" which comes in
huge packs of 10000 to $4,000 all con-
nected by a single fuse. Perhaps you
can imagine the racket made by such a
bunch when 1t goes of. OF course,
these crackers come from China. We
manufacture great quantities or large
sized ones in this country, but all OF
the small crackers are imported from
the Flowery kingdom, and the makers
get only 80 cents for a box OF forty
packs. That means nearly $500 fire
| crackers for the sum mentioned or
eighty for q
Philadelphia Spends Most.
Philadelphia uses more fireworks than
any other city. New York m next,
then Chicago and next st. Louis. The
greatest factory of rockets and pyro-
| technic co~ntrivances Is on Staten ISL
and. and one section Of its plant Is
given up to the manufacture OF tor
pedoes. The first step IN making COM
mon t%orpedoes is to daub large sheets
of paper with ''gobs" OF a paste COM
posed Of an explosive mixture. The
paper is then cut into small round
pieces, which are rolled up, with a cap
and some fine gravel In each. Usually
there are several ~thicknesses Of tissue
paper used, and the making OF the
more expensive grades OF torpedoes in
wolves processes comparatively elab-
crate.
The plant on Staten island is known
as the Fireworks Farm" It covers a
square mile, inclosed by a high board
fence to keep out all intruders, n
scattered about the place are about
100 buildings of corrugated iron. hoored
with cement. II one of the buildings
blows up there Is no danger of involv-
ing the others in a general disaster.
The really dangerous part Of the work,
however, Is done in small wooden
structures, each occupied by only one
of gunpowder is kept on hand at any
time, so that whatever peril there may
be is minimized.
How Pyrotechnics Are Made.
The processes used in the manufac-
ture Of fireworks are much more simple
than most people suppose. OF ma
terials the three that are chief and i'm
portant are a fine quality Of straw
board, an explosive compound Consist
ing of g~unpowder, saltpeter and char
coal), and tissue paper. The straw
board is used for making the tubes and
cases, which are filled with the COM
pound and finally covered with the It's
sue paper. In the construction of the
so-called "set pieces" hundreds of such
tubes are put together, being nailed to
q frame and connected by a continuous
fuse. Each Fourth of July demands
new designs in set pieces, and some Of
them this year cost as high as $500.
The beginning of a set piece is a
drawing. which Is handed over to a
carpenter to be reproduced in strips of
wood fastened together with glue and
nails. Thus is produced the frame on
which the tubes containing the ex-
plasiye compounds are fastened. We
rious chemicals are employed to give
different colorsst to the fire, and these
are mostly salts Of metals-copper for
blue, barium for green, sodium for vel
low, calcium for red, and strontium for
crimson. The rest Is only a matter of
adjusting the little parcels OF f1re-stuff
and connecting them suitably by fuses.
Rockets Arc Hard to Make.
cts require more skill In their
manufacture thar any other kind of
fireworks. The pasteboard case must
be of a certain diameter In proportion
to Its length. n the packing has 10
be performed with the utmost care to
insure the proper ascent of the on
trivance and the scattering OF it's stars
or whatnot at the precise moment de-
sired. In the cylindrical part Is the az
plosive compound which causes the
rocket to rise; the conical top is sep
srate and contains the stars or what
sver else liz 70 make the display. II n
necessary that the explosive compound
shsli bs burned through Just Il the