dedication of a monument, consisting of an unexploded shell from the battleship Maine mounted on a granite base, was an event of the exercises. There was also an elaborate program in King Park, Jamaica, with athletic contests, in the morning. At night. there were fireworks in Linden and King Parks. In the borough of the Bronx the official celebration was held in the Borough Hall, Borough President Cyrus C. Miller presiding. Athletic games which had been arranged by Mr. Sullivan were held in Crotona, Macomb, Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt Parks. Various patriotic societies held celebrations at historic sites, such as St. Ann's Church, Unionport, Westchester, Glover's Rock near City Island, Claremont Park, St. James Park, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil Hill, Court House Square, Vyse Avenue and many other places associated with events of the Revolution. One of the prominent evening celebrations was that of the 40th aldermanic district at Claremont Park. The foregoing does not pretend to be a complete account of the various celebrations, but simply brief mention of typical instances. Illuminations, Fireworks, and Casualties The Mayor's Committee endeavored to encourage the substitution of electric illuminations for fireworks as far as possible, but the long-established favor of pyrotechnics is difficult to uproot, and in some aldermanic districts fireworks were preferred to illuminations. There was in 1912, however, a decided increase in the preference for illuminations, and there can be no doubt but that the rationale of the substitution will appeal more strongly to popunlar common sense as time goes on. The use of electricity for illuminations involves none of the risks to life and limb and property which the use of fireworks involves. It makes no noise and thus conserves public health. The same amount of money spent on illuminations that would be spent on fireworks lasts longer and gives more pleasure. Illuminations by the City encourage private citizens to illuminate their buildings. Illuminations give a more festive appearance to the streets and parks and tend to increase the holiday spirit of the people. There is hardly a point of comparison in which electric illuminations are not superior to fireworks. The public spirited officials of the New York Edison Company generously cooperated with the Mayor's Committee in promoting this "safe and sane" substitution by illuminating the City Hall and park entirely free of cost and supplying, gratuitously, the current for the electric illuminations in the aldermanic districts wherever they were held. These included De Witt Clinton Park, Mt. Morris Park, Chelsea Square, Abingdon Square and several East Side parks. The electric current for almost 100,000 lights apportioned among the parks was thus supplied free while private contractors did the wiring at the expense of the City. At City Hall alone there were 6,000 lights. The stringing of the wires was done differently in each park. At Chelsea Park, where the trees still are young, the enclosure only was outlined with lights. At Mount Morris Park only the southeast corner was illuminated, but the effect of a practical canopy of Chinese lanterns was striking. On Riverside Drive, thirteen consecutive trees were hung with the lanterns symbolizing the original thirteen States. The Mayor's Committee was particularly indebted to Vice President Nicholas F. Brady, General Inspector Arthur Williams and Assistant General Inspector E. A. Norman of the Edison Co., for their good offices in the matter. No permits were granted by the City authorities for the sale or display of fireworks except for the aldermanic displays. At each of these exhibitions the Fire Commissioner had an inspector. Prior to the Fourth, the Commissioner had 35 inspectors at work removing the supplies of fireworks from the shops of small dealers. The Fire Commissioner also had the City carefully patrolled in addition to the police patrol. An indication of the increased safety resulting from the "safe and sane" methods of celebration is afforded by the fact that on July 4, 1912, it was not necessary for the Fire Commissioner to "dock " the leaves of absence of firemen, except that he required leaveof-absence men to report for duty between 7 and 12 p. m., the most dangerous time of the day. Notwithstanding the limitations on the use of fireworks, there were some casualties. At 110th Street and Fifth Avenue, a whole truck-load of fireworks, intended to be fired after the ex ercises at that point, exploded during the speech-making. In Morningside Park, after half the supply of fireworks had been discharged, the rest were exploded by a spark. There were accidents elsewhere, but all were free from serious consequences except in one case, which resulted fatally. On July 8, 1912, Dr. D. C. Potter, Director of the Board of Ambulances, reported that on July 4 there had been only 277 ambulance calls, which was 67 less than on July 4, 1911, and only 16 more than the daily average for the whole year. The reduction in the number of casualties since the campaign for a "safe and sane Fourth" began ten years ago is indicated by the following statistics printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September, 1912.* Pennsylvania as usual led all the States in the number of deaths and injuries in 1912. Her record was 265. New York came next with 115 killed and injured. Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit each had two deaths while New York City had only one. Philadelphia had 127 injured while New York City had only 58. *The Chicago Daily Tribune of Sept. 7, 1912, in reprinting this table, says: "As a coincidence, the statistical survey of the Journal dates back exactly ten years ago when the Tribune began its campaign for the 'sane Fourth.'" |