the “Capture of Manila” and “The Fall of Santiago,” have been immensely
popular, sometimes drawing crowds numbering 10,000. A thousand dollars’
worth of fireworks and _papier maché_ are burned in a single night
during the season, but enormous as are the expenses we are informed that
the proprietor seldom makes less than $500 a night. There is no patent
on these exhibitions, and they may be repeated or imitated anywhere. A
man who dares “burn money” in this way, or a stock company where the
individual risk would be comparatively small, exhibiting these fireworks
in all our great cities, would certainly reap handsome gains. Especially
at this time, while the fervor of patriotism and the glow of enthusiasm
over our recent victories are still at white heat, the enterprise could
not fail to be paying. We would almost guarantee that a company which
could set up as brilliant an exhibition as Pain’s in fifty leading
cities would realize twenty-five per cent. on the investment.