Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-04-20
THE SAN FRANCISCO EXPLOSION.

The frighttul disaster which occurred the 10Th
April in or near the office of Wells, Fargo & Co.'S
Express. in the city Of San Francisco killing in
stantly fifteen to twenty persons and dreadfully in
uring many others, destroying nearly whole block
of buildings, and resulting in damage of more than
two hundred thousand dollars, is beyond any doubt,
the result of the explosion Of nitro glycerine or
blasting oil
According TO information taken here lin New York;.
whose office was in the building No. 26 Pine street,
where also the office of the New FORK Nitro Glyce
some weeks ago. to San Francisco by the Pacific Mail
Company, several boxes of nrogy cerine, weighing
about two hundred pounds imported from the fac
1t was Intended to sell this oil 10 the mining com
panies in Nevada. Idaho and Colorado. the immense
exploding power of the new chemical compound Of
fering great advantages not only in the saving OLA
Dor OF drill holes but also in freight because one
work as twelve to fifteen pounds OF common blasting
gunpowder.
The Herald was the first paper which called the
public attention to this wonderful and dangerous in
ventiOn, on occasion of the Wyoming Hotel Green
wich street, explosion, which took place on the 9th Of
November, 1855. the writer of the Herald article
giving chemical analysis of the compound, exposed
the great dangers which could under Certain cir
cpmstapees result from the transport and storage of
gers of shipping this explosive" by the European
steamers or emigraut vessels, showing that pound
exploding by unforeseen accident on board of
two thousand ton vessel. would tear the vessel to
| pieces and that if cargo of fifty hundred
| D
with all her freight, and hundreds of living beings
would disappear from the surface OF the ocean, not
| man soul to tell the sad story.
The blood stirs if we think that the two hundr ed
! pounds sent by the Pacific mail steamer had explo-
! ded during the sea voyage, tearing to pieces and
| bury ing in the waves the seven eight hundred
| passengers on board And could not the accident
which took place at the freight Office of Wells i
| EargO's Company, in San Francisco, without any
apparent cause, have happened quite well on board
| or the steamer which carried the mysterious and
| DANGEROUS freight.
! The inventor and patentee of the demoniac COM
| pound, Mr.. Alfred Nobel. a Swedish engineer, an
! swered our article on the Wyoming Ii otel accident,
IN very good humored letter stating that, accord
ing to numefois experiments he and hundreds of mi
ne!s and engineers had made, his oil was wthoutd dan
of self ignition, and would not take fire if in
contact with burning match, requiring for ignition
SPECIAL igntQr, also the invention Of the patentee
| But be seemed to ignore that new chemical com
| pound may be subject to quite unforeseen chemi-
cal influences, under which it may change its char
acter completely; influences of which science cannot
think or dream Of and which only long years of ex-
permentS bring to light. 1t may be decomposed
by constant contact with the tin cases or the glass
bottles in watch It Is transported, by the intense
heat in ships hulk id tropcafsc climates: it may be
affected by other chemicals. or chemical Tapo-s OF
tacture of this kind of chemical compounds subject
to accidents and circumstances quite beyond the
| control of the manufacturer.
In the small city of Bochum in one of the coal dis
tlcts OF Westphaha, Germany, sorekeeper kept for
sale to the miners some stock of Nobel nitro glycer-
inc. One llor Ig miner came to buy two pounds,
and brought with him tin can to carry it, the glass
| bottles in which It was sold being announcement foY
| him. The clerk opened the bottles, and touied The
oil into the tin cans; but lol in the same moment it
exploded tearing to pieces the poor clerk killing the
miner and destroying the store. The Prussian Gov
! eminent appointed commission to investigate the
matter, and it was found that the tin had con-
tanned rpentlne oil. end that turpontine oil in
contact with nitro g,yeeTine would occasion sud
den explosion. SinguIarly enough the accident nap
pensd on the same day that the Wyoming Hote
accident tGgk place in this city.
Near GiatZ, in the ttrussan province of Silesia, q
laborer who was occupied in blasting away some
r4cks on the railroad track, came very early in tbs
morning (January s, 1860 to his work. lie was tC
pour oil in his drill-hole, but found it hard froze1
over night-the oil having the peculiar quality o.
freezing six degrees above the water freezing point
The oil was IN guttapercha flask, and little being
lett, the unfortunate workman cut open the flask
and took Ratchet to cut Oft piece of the frozen oil
The moment the Ratchet touched the frozen lump il
| exploded, killing instantly the poor man, who's.
! limbs were scattered in fragments, and found some
distance from the place where the accident happened
These and many other similar accidents which
| might be stated prove that Nobels oil is really no
quite so innocent the inventor alleges, but on thu
contrary very dangerous to NEEDLE with. :"
We CALL therefore, the attention of the competen
authorities to these facts and hope the law will in
terfere T. regulate the transport and storage of thi
| powerful destruetigl compound 1t would be tn
sureSt to adopt simply the Erass;an law regulatin
| the Transportation of nitro -gycerine oil pEbli
roads because this law is the work of some of the hes
scientific aathQrites of Europe, the committee hav
ing been composed Of three professors of chemistry
three directors of Insurance cYr4panies, and tire
| freight superntepdentS of railr0ads.
Our busy legislators at Washington, who passe
some days ago a lay regulating the transportation
) and storage of petroleum, will prQbably take tn
matter in hand without delay the as il is as
eertaned that negro was of the sufferers by tn
/ San Francisco disaster.-N. Y. Herald.