New Britain herald., 1928-07-05
TOWN CELEBRATES IN WILD FASHION Many Injured by Explosions
 One Bitten, One Arrested MAN RESISTS DUCKlNG
Attacks Iormentor With Iecth- No Fire Alarns-iuto Accident Iar!y This Morning-TemcOe ln- crease Lcad-lmportant Chamber Meetin.--I}ricfs.

FlaiYNllIe celensa;eI the- Fourth 1 of July in its usual wild manner, the noise making and accompanying l horseplay lasting from nightfall on | Tuesday until well after midnight ! last night. Opinion differed today on 1 whether the observance was as fierce and exaggerated as in pre- Nious years, but all agreed that 1t was bad enough and considerably worse than in any surrounding town l or city. several boys and girls were severly injured by flrecrackers or blank pistols. innumerdble children received minor burns. one man was bitten m the cheek in resisting | duclins in the water trough in Gen. tral square, and on" was arrested on q charge of breach Of the peace. The fire department. for perhaps the first time in it's history, was not | called out.
 1 Frank Lavallo. az I 1o of Dia- mond street was thu most seri <> sly injured. Frank practically shot off | two fingers, exploding d pistol too near his hand and blowing pieces out of the members and tearing the tendons to shreds.
 Joseph Bendas, If, also of Dia- mond street, was another who re- ceived dangerous injuries. He suf- | fered q gunshot wound in his left palm. the powder penetrating into the bone and badly infecting the hand. It was feared that he might require hospital treatment.
 Katie Thompson, 14. attempted to take apart a firecracllep which ap- parently had failed to go off. As she started 10 break the cracker it exploded. filling both of her hands with powder. She lives in the rear of the Neri Block
 Edward Scranton. T." of Mountain View, shot himself between the fling CTS with a blank. and Edward Me- Intyre, Ia. of 24 Canal street. se- Nerely burned two fingers with a blank charge. Jennie hambrello of Norton Place. q son of Nicholas Bellnini of Whiting street and a Bosco girl also sustained gunshot wounds in the hand.
 All Of the above were treated witt, tetanus anti-toxin.
 Gang Gathers At Center
 The usual crowd thronged Central Square from dusk on Tuesday even-
 ing until 3 o'clock yesterday morn- ing and engaged in it's usual antics. which were only slightly modified by the presence of more constab bles with orders to stop the most violent forms of "celebration." There appear to have been no raids on the stora as in the past, while the practice of throwing fjrecrackers into hall ways and passing automobiles was also severly curtailed. but the noise throughout the night was undimin- ished and incessant until the police finally put quietus on it at q. m.
 Taking advantage of the fact that Constable George Schubert had been called over onto West Main street. a group of boys in an automobile fired a stone through q window Of the Eastwood X Foran grocery store 1 in Central Square, doing about $40 damage. and then drove off. A win. dow Of the A. x r. store on West Main street also suffered when a sky rocket went through It. The number of rockets and Roman candles which were shot off in the crowded center. however is said 10 be decidedly less than in former years.
 l The annual practice of ducking storekoepers in the pump was car- ried out. This custom consists of rushing the merchants to the water trough by the Baptist church. lift ing them up. and sticking their feet in the water The merchants were told In advance to prepare them selves for their wetting. and most Of them accepted 1t with good grace. These included Joe and Cesar Neri, Ralph Thrall. and many others.