That which distinguishes this day from all others is that then both orators and artillerymen shoot blank cartridges.

Burroughs’s quip satirizes public holidays—especially patriotic commemorations—by likening ceremonial speechmaking to military salutes. On such days, artillerymen literally fire blanks in honorific volleys, while “orators” figuratively do the same: producing noise, smoke, and display without substantive force. The line plays on the shared vocabulary of “shooting” and “cartridges” to suggest that rhetoric can become mere ritual, valued for performance rather than truth or practical consequence. It also hints at Burroughs’s skepticism toward inflated civic bombast, contrasting genuine action and lived experience with staged demonstrations of patriotism.