| Show in he i of cannon cracker ginger si u in p of toy au tallow candles as substitutes tor roman candles dad s dark lantern swathed in mother s dis carded red flannel skirt instead of the red fare display sis ter s powder puff instead of puffs of real smoke from the nozzle of d j 13 inch guu and positively no shooting with ons being handed him from every side the above is the small boy s vision of the glorious fourth ot july nineteen hundred ano nine from washington from tl e state cap tal and from the county and city government spats the word went out weeks ago that the current independence day celebration was booked as sane in other words the ban was placed on all sorts of dangerous methods of paying tribute to the men who affixed their signal irea to the sheepskin roll which guarantees our freedom in many parts of these un ted baates this same ban has done service for a decade and has always returned with pach independence day m the attempt to accomplish a sane fourth of J p t the american small boy i born with noise is his second iture uie healthier the noisier and the fourth of jelv and cl morning ire the n ost notable occasions of the year to him lach year officials in the b s cities of the chui coui try scratch from the fire works dealers lists certain dangerous explosives and this the casualty list is leing ci t down from year to year despite the additions of ne v inventions in cannon crackers and are known as night fireworks many communities have shown dispo to make their sane fourth of july occasion for a public fete at the parks and gathering places where as a result of public conan bunions fireworks exhibitions are given enuch to the enjoyment of tl e adult members of the place but less to offspring which see fun only in skyrockets roman candles flower pots and the like which are sent heavenward by the touch ot a match in their own hands but tor the small boy the bore of a sane celebration is the morning and afternoon when only the small est firecrackers are permitted the i oi seless variety ot tribute to the signers of america s magna charta consists of oratorical pyro in the parks public halls and town meeting places in these celebrations the men who have made their marks in the world by word of mouth are the chief pants from the day the declaration of independence was signed july 4 1776 until july 4 1909 not a year has passed without some one con tn buting life to the business of cele biating freedom on july 4 1776 the first casualty was recorded when the old bell ringer of inde pen dence hall philadelphia fell dead from heart disease while ring ing out the joyous news to willing ears of the colonial patriots independence dayl when is ita the question might very properly be asked of the millions of fire cracker exploding boys and girls who have grown to manhood and womanhood in the past and are now developing into american catl zenshin whose faith Is complete that independence was first thought of discussed declared and won on the fourth of july but it would be more correct to speak of independence week or month or even year than to settle the whole of the glory upon the fourth itself the surrender of cornwallis at yorktown was october 19 1781 at least one of the signers of the dec caration la ration with no thought however to be on the safe side signed the document late in the same year col mckean of delaware is himself the authority tor the statement that 1 e did not sign till 1781 HIS name does not appear in the first broad side of the declaration along with 55 other signers jefferson himself the author of the immortal document in a paper on the manner of proceeding of the continental congress with respect to independence writes the debates having taken up the greater part or atie second third and ag fourth days of july were in the g 1381 closed the i was reported by the committee agreed to by the house and signed by every member present except mr dickason the journal however shows that only john hancock the president of the congress signed attested by charles thompson secretary but beyond the fact that the declaration was not signed on the fourth it Is also true that after the long month of acrimonious discussion beginning early in june the resolution for independence itself was adopted july 2 the virginia delegates led by richard henry lee who for more than a year had openly advocated inde pen dence instructed by the virginia convention of may 17 1776 to vote for absolute freedom brought forward the resolution on june 7 mr lee s resolution read that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states and that all political connection between them and the state of great britain is and ought to be totally dis solved john adams seconded the resolution it was the north and the south joining hands puritan and cavalier shoulder to shoulder tor liberty the debate was on and adams became the colossus in its defense direct consideration of the question of independence was entered upon according to the record on the morn ing of the lt of july by the congress voting to resolve itself into a committee of the whole to take into consid aeration the resolution introduced by richard henry lee and to refer the draft of the declaration to this corn cittee benjamin harrison of virginia was called to the chair and he whole day the prolonged discussion raged about the question but at the end the resolution was adopted the committee of the whole then rose hancock resumed the chair and harrison reported that the corn cittee had adopted the resolution it was late the mem bers were tired and anxious and the house voted to post pone action on the resolution until the i ext day july 2 then after a nights rest the resolution was adopted real independence day is therefore july 2 but there was the matter of the draft of the declare tion quite a different matter from the mere resolution still to be considered or the form of announcing the fact of the adopted resolution to the world Discus lon on the draft continued all through the ad of july and it was only on the ath that it was agreed upon and the old bell in independence hall had the honor of proclaiming liberty to the world the exact hour of the adoption Is not determinable from any record and the important point of a unanimous declaration still hung in the balance the adoption of july 2 though carried by a good majority was by no means that heart whole affair which was delcable del rable to carry conviction to all the 13 colonies all of isea england that is massachusetts rhode and connecticut and new hampshire with new jersey maryland virginia and north carolina voted for the resolution but pennsylvania in the metropolis of which the delegates were gathered and south carolina voted against it one of delaware s delegates col mckean voted tor it and the other george reed voted against it rutledge of south carolina requested the determination might be put off to the next day as he believed his col leagues though they disapproved of the resolution would join in it for the sake of unanimity the ultimate ques tion whether the house agree to the resolution of the committee was accordingly postponed to the next day when it was moved and south carolina concurred in for it during the day of postponement the patriotism of col mckean rescued the fame of delaware he managed to get word to caesar rodney who by riding 80 miles on horseback arrived in time for the two of them to carry their irate for the resolution on the next ballot in pennsylvania popular sentiment was decidedly for independence and organized efforts were brought to bear upon the delegates conditions changed suddenly frank lin morton and wilson voted for and willing and humphreys against the resolution the other two dele gates morns and dickinson absented themselves and thus refrained from voting all this time the new york delegates declined to vote at all as not having been in strutted ted when the final vote was taken on the ath new york still not voting only three delegates voted against the resolution these were willing and humphreys of pennsylvania and reed of delaware nine out of the 13 elonies had voted unanimously july 2 voted for it on the ath on the ath the new york mem bers having been by their to vote in favor of the reso gutlon did so thus biking the vote unanimous so far as the states were concerned congress on the of july or dered the declara alon passed on the ath airey airly en grossed on parch ment with the title and style of the unanimous bec la ration of the thirteen united SJ 1 L Q states of america r and that the same member of con when engrossed be signed by every gress it was a sultry day in august the ad when the order was carried out jefferson when in a genial reminiscent mood was accustomed to say that the signing was hastened by swarms of flies that came into the hall through the open windows of the state house from a livery stable nearby the day s business had been ous it was hot and sticky and the flies assaulted the silk legs of the honorable members with vigor and real tory vindictiveness with handkerchiefs and all available papers the fathers of liberty lashed the flies but with no avail the onslaught became unendurable and the members capitulating made haste to sign and bring the momentous business to a close of the 56 signatures not all were attached even at this date richard henry lee after proposing his resola tion had been called rome by the illness of his wife and it was that circumstance which gave jefferson the chance to fiame the declaration lee was still absent when the signing occurred and he had no opportunity to affix his name lint 1 the following september elbridge gerry of massachusetts and oliver wolcott of connecticut also signed in september samuel chase of maryland home on important busl ness wrote to john adams under date of july 5 inquiry ing how shall I 1 transmit to posterity that I 1 have given my assenti adams replied on the ath explaining that As soon as an american seal is prepared I 1 condee ture tl e declaration will be subscribed by all the mem bers which will give you the opportunity you wish tor chase was one of the 50 who signed on the ad of august amid the flies elbridge gerry was aiso very anxious about his sig nature and wrote to both john and samuel adams from N Y under date of july 21 desiring to know it they could not sign his name as his proxy but he did so himself later george wythe of virginia signed august 27 mat thew thornton Tho inton of new hampshire was appointed a dele gate in congress september 15 and took his seat in november four months after the adoption of the declara tion he immediately declared himself in favor of it and was allo ved to sign delite the late date tour other signers who had i ot even been chosen delegates at the time ot the ratification of july 4 were benja min rush james allson george ross george clymer and george taylor five ot the pennsylvania delegates had refused to vote tor the resolution favor ing independence the provincial as of the state revolted the in of june and elected new delegates favorable to independence and these were among the signers of augus 2 there was much facetiousness among the members that august day chiler the flies bit charles carroll ot mary land was warned that he was jeopardizing ard izing his immense property and some one else said oh king george will never hang carroll there are too many of them his majesty won t be able to identify him true said carroll and promptly wrote after his nama of carrollton and it might easily have occurred that carroll and all the others hue ampt that ignominious death in the assembly was from georgia lie was the doctor a delegate benedict arnold of the congress it began to be whispered that was giving away the secrets ot execl accused him of hi alve s chas of maryland on the floor made an impassioned denial and demanded proof it was forthcoming and the guilty delegate fled to geoegia with the intention of apprising with what was going on the crown gove nor of his state behind the do ed doors of congress directed to follow mr houston a patriot delegate the traitor by congress from the state set out to circumvent him dy the time teiei reached georgia the crown governor had already been deposed and had taken refuge in an armed british easel lying in savannah harbor s ery came to nothing but it deprived houston of a chance signing and georgia was cut to immortalize himself by down to three signers walton and hall interesting group of men they were a sturdy and who hid the temerity to throw etc otc king george and representative of all kinds of vocations one was a minister of the gospel 24 were lawyers it was burke who had said you can t subdue a nation of lawyers 14 were farmers 4 physicians 1 manufacturer 9 merchants and three others who prepared to preach chose other avoca alons their hardihood Is shown not less in their longevity poor thomas lynch of south carolina was drowned at 30 his health failed after the try ing congressional work and sailing in 1779 for st west indies hoping there to find a neutral vessel to carry him to france he was never again heard from dut three ot the signers lived to be over 90 years of age ten over 80 eleven over 70 four teen over 60 eleven over and six over 44 it was charles carroll ot ca aroll ol 01 ton who by N six years survived all the signers he had been the man who advised the owner 0 the peggy stewart a tea ship at annapolis to burn the vessel which was done without disguise in broad daylight and he lived to see his country victorious in the second wai with gleat britain dying in 1832 the solicitude for the preservation of the declaration of independence with all possible care dates from a period somewhat prior to the world s columbian exposition in chicago in 1893 it was proposed to trans fer the declaration to chicago tor exhibition and a steel sate or packing case as it was then termed was specially constructed t serve as a repository for the document en route and during the period of the fair e these preparations were in progress the officials of the state department turned the matter over in thelt minds and eventually came to the conclusion that it waa risky business to have the nation s most honored relic carted about the country even it the moving was done with all possible care the president took this view ot the matter also and so it was decided not to allow the declaration to be transferred to chicago about the opening of the year 1902 john hay who was then acting as secretary of state asked the national academy ot sciences to carefully investigate the condl alon of the document and to make suggestions as to ways and means tor its preservation accordingly president agassiz of the national academy appointed a special committee consisting of john S billings ira hemsen and charles F chandler to confer with secretary hayon the subject this special committee was given an opportunity to make a careful examination or the precious instrument with the assistance of mr A H alien then serving as the chief of the bureau of rolls and library of the state department and also with the aid of dr wilbur M gray of the army medical museum it was found that the document had suffered very seriously from the very harsh treatment to which it was exposed during the earlier years of the republic folding and rolling have creased and broken the parchment wet press copying operation to which it was subject ee about 1820 for the purpose of producing a facsimile copy removed a large portion of the ink subsequent exposure to the action of light tor more than 30 years while the instrument was placed on exhibition has resulted in the fading of the ink particularly in signatures siga tures |
