Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-06-13
POWDER MAKING.
PIaueviIIe Powder MiIls-A Visit 10 the Works
Attractive L0cation-About Char
coaI-"viiIainous saitpeire''-
Cylinder Mills.


mills were established in 48, and
were first built by 4. Ii. & F. Stow
ell. Up to tho time of their becom-
ing the property Of the present firm,
they had been owned by different
companies and managed with indiff-
erent success for the most part The
mills are situated on the banks of
the Little Platte river, a mile or so
west of the above-named town. Their
location is charming and beautiful.
The stream at the point where the
various grim looking buildings have
been erected, describes graceful
semi-circle, and affords some uncom-
monty attractive and peculiarly pic
turesque scenery. 1t was lovely
June morning that found US there,
and all Nature was as bright and
fresh and joyous as it could possibly
be. Birds sang and breeZes blew,
came and went, and came and went
again; the sun shone, (hot, too, which
is the plain song ofit), white clouds
hoated, water shimmered, green
leaves whispered, and over all blue
expanse of the purest summer sky.
We went to the mills accompanied
by the foreman of one Of the DEPART
ments. Our approach TO the grounds
took us for some distance along q
trail or path winding through tracts
of delightful woodland and leading
down hills so steep that one could
hardly keep from pitching head-fore-
most into the rocky ravines below
Coming to the foot of the last Of
these elevations, we see before us
meadow green with waving grass,
and bordered by the waters Of the
Platte, flowing silently along the
shadowy base of an extended range
of tree clothed hills. The prospect
is as fair and lovely as any the sun
ever shone upon. More Of q place
for the scenes Of Midsummer
Nights Dream, than for the location
Of mandatory of one the most fat
al compounds known to man, and at
the same time one of the most indis-
peusable. Cattle are quietly feeding
on the bright green slopes whore the
early dewdrops glitter; the melodi-
Gus notes of their bells mingle with
the deep and ominous thunder OF
the grim and grimy "cylinder mills"
We cross a swaying suspension bridge
and soon find ourselves among the
powder makers.
Mr.. e f. Newton, the civil super
tendent, is in his little brick Office,
and feels kindly disposed toward Wis
itors who are nothing if not inquisi-
tive. With Sam Griffith as guide, We
begin a round of inspection with the
view of learning a thing or two about
the manufat ture of powder Two high
and cylindrical structures under a
shed attract our attention, and we
approach them. They are the con-
trivances wherein wood is distilled
into charcoal about once in fort
night. Their altitude is fifteen feet,
and their diameter thirteen; they
hold nine cords of wood each, and
receive their regular supplies from
the bass and cotton tree forests of
Harrison and its adjacent towns
Some mills use the wood of the will
low for making charcoal, claiming
that it has virtues not found in any
other kind employed. At the end
of forty-eight hours, the charcoal j S
taken from the retorts and is found
all ready for use. 1t has, when the
charring has been perfect. q glossy
and velvety black color, shows the
grains of yearly growth with beau
tiful distinctness, and will not soil
the whitest fabric or the cleanest
hand with which it may come in con-
tact.
Next we enter the place in which
the saltpetre, -''villainOus saltpetre,"
you remember, as Shakespeare terms
it, "digged out of the bowels of the
harmless earth" not far from the spot
where mans terrestrial life began, -
enter next, we say, the place where
saitpetre is dried and otherwise man
ipulated before it is fit TO be used as
an ingredient of gunpowder. This
company imports the article direct
from Calcutta, China, whence it is
shipped in bags like unto those used
for salt or coffee. The full bags are
rather heavy, considering their bulk,
and a good development of muscle is
requisite on the part OF those who
handle them.
We now proceed to the building
located farthest down stream, on the
site of the one in which that explo-
sion took place on the 9TH of last No.
vember. These are called the cyln-
der mills, and here the process prop
er of manufacturing powder begins.
The building is cheaply construct
ed affair, although it rests on deep
and solid foundation. All the man.
ufacturing buildings ofpowder works
are put up on this economical plan.
When an explosion occurs in build
ing it is of course torn into fragments,
be it merely temporary or be it sub
stantial hence the wisdom of maxi
ing the structures as inexpensive as
possible, and of character that they
can be replaced with very little loss
of time and scarcely any outlay of
money. The mills that we have now
entered are 22x52 in horizontal di-
mansions, and contain ten great cyl
inders each feet long, 80 inches in
diameter, and divided equally into
two compartments. The rate of
their ordinary rotation is some six.
teen times per minute Into these
cylinders are put two of the ingredi-
ents, charcoal and sulphur, IL parts
parts of the latter and Is parts of the
former Of saltpetre, IA parts are us
ed. These are about the proportions
in which the ingredients are mixed
by every powder maker in the world
The same receipt was used in the re-
mote ages of antiquity, and even the
sagacious Chinese, as long ago as the
peaceful days when the gentleman
whose name was All Sin could hard