Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-07-28

walk and YOU are within hearing of the engines
groans Now you are fairly within blowing
up" distance, 50 have care if smoking, put
| out your cigar Within tract of land two miles
snuare is another about half a-mile broad
and it is within the later that the mills are at
work, ceaselessly, from morning to night to
morning Sunday and weekday without end
until the next terrible explosion gives little
rest when fresh muscles and new headpieves
are quickly again directing this grim work.
| The first thing that will attract a strangers
attention will be the enormous cords of wood
-alderwood and dogwood-for quarter of a
mile the ominous words fire-engine." letter
ed on several, warns one to beware Now you
| enter the niter-houSe, and here all appears
harmless enough, boiling and steaming, filter
/ inc. cooling aud cryStallizing You will here
/ be pleased enough to see how the dirty earthly
saltpeter tniter) of India is washed and pur6-
ed till it looks as fit to eat as lemon ice
These large retorts are where the wood is dis
/ titled to convert into charcoal. By this pro-
| cess not only is charcoal produced but hun
/ dreds of gallons of tar, and also acid water
! This acid water, in plain truth, is weak vinegar
/ and has only to be freed by few strokes of
chemical magic from the tarry particles now
/ floating in it to become the whitewine vinegar
so tastefny labeled at the great picke-shops
of Soho-square and Piccadily.
+ Pass we on. Here the sulphur sold to US
I bv King Bomba, and vomited ont from the
earth's stomach by the fre-beching mountain
/ VesuviuS, is ground, Sifted, and rendered fit to
enter the warriors mixture The inter, the
charcoal, and the sulp phur are all pretty harm
less in their primitive state, but when
~ L. hon hott- Co
now to the first miIIhouse The rumbIing the
rafting, the caukling, the screeching, the
heaying, the winciug of powerful machinery,
overcoming obstacles, are now about as pleasant
to hear as an Atlantic steamship fighting
against the Storm-waveS. and you on board of
| it. An engiue-houSe, boiler furnace and Chin
nev in the very center of a guupowder mill
But so it is one mighty axle passes from the
enaine-houSe to six grinding g-houses-three on
the left, and three on the right. We will en-
ter one of them it is about the size of a small
cottage on the floor is a monster chemists
mortar, and inside it, in lieu of pestle, there
roll two might stone wheels, caSed with iron
tyres, weighing more than , tuns each. Forty
pounds of mixture-sulphur inter, and charcoal
are put into the mortar. Over end over
this the wheels roll for eight hours before it is
cONSlUCTeu SUOO,u duu hhe enough. livery
two hours it is liquored that is, little
water is SprinkIed over it from the rose of
watering pot At the end of eight hours,
black-lookng demons will appear and carry off
this 40 lbs of meal lis now called meal y
to the corning house. Here the meal from all
the said grnding-houses is brought together,
and subjected to immense hydraulic pressure,
so as 10 form cakes" Each cake is then
=. IL III. 4.
little Sieve-like apparatus, which divides it in
/ to grains The ueWly-madc grain powder
is. however. still too damp for use, and must
be dried. To do this the powder is spread
out on travS that hold about TO lbs each, ana
/ is then placed in the dryiaghouse, which is, in
| fact another cottage OF wood construction. By
/ the side OF this building there isa smallturuace
aud boiler for generating steam The steam
passes through couvouied pipes within the dry
/ inr-houSe, Zi--Zag between the racks that sup
/ port the trays of gunpowder. Proper wales
/ are arranged so as 10 prevent the pipes becom-
/ ing too hot. Finally the powder has to be
made geuteel and respectable, with 4 bright
polish on its face fit to appear into society
/ This is effected by passing first through the
duStiug houSe Here all the farformed grains"
are Sifted away from the dust :" aud SO very
/ dangerous in this operation that a large wood
I en- screen is erected all rouud the house, in
order to keep c'ogdIjke dust being waited hy
7 the wind towards anv of the boiler furnaces.
( for the slightest spark falling from the chimney
stacks into the dusty cloud would explode the
whole. 1t being thus necessary to keep the
I dust within limited space, the men employed
+ in the work are exposed 10 its noXious influence
/ Lastly, the powder is carried 10 the glazing
/ house Here it is put into barrels Of one hun
dred lbs each. together with few ounces Of
+ black lead. Each barrel is fixed on a kind Of
spit, and made 10 revoIye on its axis Uutil by
mutual abrasion, every grain has the black
metallic iuSJer familiar to all who use the
shooting iron We have SAID the powder is
carried from this house to the other house
rOw, all these houses are but cottages, or
rather enclosed wooden sheds OF the li-hteSt
possible construction : so baiit, for obvious
reasons. that should any accident occGr the
whole thing would blow away. The houses
are separated from each other by many yards,
even distant an eight of mile. b. thus
separating the buildings there is, of course less
danger IN case OF fire.
Through the land OF which the Gunpowder
Mil is situated there flows small river-the
Colne-aud from it are cut several canals
which by SeTpentiHe wiBdugS from wbaryeS 10
several of the houses, 80 that when the pow
der is sent from one to another it is carried by
boats, a means Of transit attended With the
least danger to those transporting so danger
Gus a material.
Advantage is taken of the abundance of
water-power to DO great deal Of the work at
the mills indeed, before the demand for pow
der became 50 great, the whole work was put
into operation by the motor thus at hand.
Powders OF various textures are here pro-