In many cities of the country there was a decided effort to celebrate the nation’s birthday in a “safe and sane” manner. The result was discouraging, the number of deaths being more than last year. The number injured was also larger, and the fire loss was greater. Cleveland and Washington apparently have the best records, as in neither city was there a serious accident. New York had four deaths, with 332 injured; Chicago had only one or two deaths, with less than fifty injured; Milwaukee suffered only slightly. As usual, fireworks head the list in the causes of accidents and fires. The total number of deaths was 114; the number injured, 2,423; the fire loss $724,775. Spokane, Wash., being the heaviest loser by fire, $350,000. The New York World designates the day as “The Fourth We Desecrate,” and calls it our national “Carnival of Lockjaw.” During the last seven years the deaths from our national day number 1,430 and the reported accidents 30,441. These were accidents requiring medical treatment. Surely we Americans pay too high a price for our celebration; we are still far from a “safe and sane” method.
