From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 4, 1912:

• “About ten o’clock last night a small paper balloon shot up from Massachusetts street up into the sky and away in the distance. The bag was filled with gas in the 800 block and soon quite a crowd collected about the aeronauts who were preparing the ascension. The bag filled nicely and the ropes were cut away. For a moment the tiny gas bag did not seem to realize its freedom and poised in mid-air, then it shot upward — directly into one of the overhead wires, but it righted itself and slid gracefully up at the buildings and into the free air. The ascent was rapid and soon only the bright light of the torch was visible. The tiny bag was caught by one of the upper currents of air which carried it far to the north, where it glimmered and twinkled like a little star. Several times it was lost to sight, but then a little ray of light told where it was. At last it was lost to sight in the distance. that little ascension seemed to be the signal that the Fourth of July was on. Fire crackers, torpedoes, dynamite caps, cannon crackers, roman candles and the like accessories of the day soon put in their appearance, and the carnival of light, noise and fire prevailed until early this morning. Massachusetts was covered with young Americans equipped with the noise makers. The dynamite cap and the street car furnished the most popular means of celebrating and as long as the cars kept up their runs the tracks were kept well covered with the explosive caps. While the Fourth was ushered in with a goodly supply of racket, the sane Fourth idea prevailed today in the celebration, with Woodland Park as the celebration center. The program is as follows: 10 a.m. — Baseball. Paper Mill vs. Schmelzers. 2:30 — driving matinee on the race track. Afternoon band concert on the park. Evening — Band concert, motion pictures, dancing, grand display of fireworks.”
• “A canvass of crop prospects in Kansas, June 26, by the State Board of Agriculture, and reported today, reveals that more than six million acres of the winter wheat sown will go to harvest, or practically the same as was indicated by the Board’s report of two months ago. This is between a fifth and a fourth of the winter wheat area that will be harvested in the United States this year.”