The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-06-29

trate it must be admitted that the practice
has undergone some changes with the passing
of the years In the days OF our grandiath"rs
ne booming of the big guns kept mp pretty
much all d8y-lndeed in these days the
patriotic citizens Of the new republic liked
such din so well that They fred OF cannon not
merely on the Fourth. but on Thanksgiving
and Christmas and New Years as well. And
On IndcrcndcnCe Day II the booming did not
literally keep UP all day at least there was
prolonged salute at sunrise, another at noon,
a third at sunset and a final laundering along
with the skyrockets and Roman candles In the
evening.
In this more dccorous generation have
10 be content most Of us, with one salute Of
this sort on tho Fourth At L. navy yards
and military posts and other governmental
reservations the salute is fired at noon but in
the average town or city whore the civilians
must do the firing especially # these self.
same civilians are to participate In a picnic
or a paradc--thc regulation salute is sent echo
Ing over the countryside soon after tho break
Of day OF course. If there is to be ccre.
monial Nag raising during tho day or n monu.
ment IS to be unveiled or some highup public
official iG to be given a reception. there may he
A salute as "A sort Of accompaniment for the
function but for the most part nowadays the
average American community has to get along
on the Fourth with one formal salute
Another change that has come with the
passing of the years is In the matter ri the ar.
rangcments for the firing Of the salutcs. The
average individual who listens to the reverbcr'
alton Of the distant guns never gives thought
to this part Of It, but obviously somebody has
10 attend to this part OF the celebration In
the old days almost anybody who volunteered
for the task-and who. mayhap, WAS willing
ha
competent to act as artlleryman fIr the occn.
sion Similarly almost anything that would
answer the purpose of n cannon was accepted
as a vehicle Of noise making. How often IN
der such circumstances was a worn old field
niece dragged forth to do such duty and load.
ed nigh to the muzzc by enthusiasts who
thought far more OF the din than Of the dan
ger that lay in an oyercharge Of ammunition
Sometimes n hollow log or even length OF
pipe was made to serve rs n substitute
The natural sequel of such happygoluCky
scheme OF firing Fourth Of July sautcs came
in a constantly increasing record Of accidents
which finally bestirred public sentiment on
the subject Manifesty large share of tho
mishaps of this kind, the chronicle OF which
filed the newspapers on the day following
the Fourth. were due either to ineNperience In
handling the guns or TO the kindred cause
OF lack Of knowledge in measuring powder
charges. Well the upshot OF the agitation
was that there found favor scheme for hay'
ing all Fourth OF July salutes fired by pro
fessionals" as It were-that Is by men who
make a business of setting off large caliber
guns and who do It every day Of their lives,
or at least quite frequently, instead of mere
ly once year.
Thus It has come about that in most com
munities where their services are available
the official Fourth Of July salutes are now
fred by enlisted men OF the United States
nrmy navy or marine corps or members oil
the National Guard or Naval Militia OF the
several states. Accidents have not been elm
mated but they have been greatly reduced
and the salutes are more accurnte-that is,
n salptc fired by such gun crew will consist
Of iust the proper number OF discharges OF
uniform volume and with the proper intervals
between instead of the hodge-podge that was
formerly delivered in many instances when
salute was likely to be prolonged until the