Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-07-11
How Gunpowder is Made.

How do you think you would like to
live, fearing every moment to be blown
up; not daring to speak loud. to jar any
thing, for fear of starting an explosion
which would send you in an instant to
another world You don't think it would
be very pleasant9 Well, it isn't; yet hun
dreds of men live IN just that state, work,
receive pay, and live, year after year, in
the very sight of death, as it were; all that
the world may have gunpowder. You
can easily guess that these men 60 about
very quietly, and rarely laugh.
You know that gunpowder is very dan
gerous in a gun, or near fire, but per-
haps you don't know that it is equally dan,
gerous all through the process of making.
A powder mill is fearful place to visit,
and strangers are very seldom allowed to
90 into one. They are built far from the
town, in the woods, and each branch of
the work is done in seperate building.
These houses are quite distance from
each other, 80 that if one blows up, it
won't blow up the rest. Then the lower
parts of the building are made very strong,
while the roofs are very lightly set on, so
if it explodes, only the roof will suffer.
But in spite of every care, sometimes a
whole settlement of the powder mills goes
off almost in an instant, and every vestige
of the work of years will be swept away
in few seconds.
But though you feel like holding your
breath to look at it, it is really a very in
teresting process to see. 1t is made, per-
haps you know, of charcoal, saltpetre and
birthstone. Each of these article is pre-
pared in house by itself; and the house
where they are mixed is the first terrible
one. In this building is an immense mill
stone, rolling round and round in an iron
bed. In this bed, and under the stone,
are put the three fearful ingredients of
gunpowder. There they are thoroughly
mixed and ground together.
This is very dangerous operation, be-
cause if the stone comes in contact with
its iron bed it is very apt to strike fire,
and the merest suspicion of spark would
set off the whole. The materials are
spread three or four inches thick in the
bed; the wheel, which goes by water
power, is started, and every man leaves
the place. The door is shut, and the
machinery left to do its terrible work
alone. When it has run long enough the
mill is stopped, and the men come back.
The operation leaves the powder in hard
Jumps or cakes.
The next house is where these cakes are
broken into grains, and, of course, is quite
as dangerous as the last one. But the
men can't go away from this-they are
obliged to attend to it every moment; and
you may be sure no laugh or joke is ever
heard within its walls. Every one who
goes in has to take off his boots and put
on rubbers, because one grain of the dan
gerous powder, crushed by the boot, would
explode the whole in an instant.
The floor of this house is covered with
leather, and is made perfectly black with
the dust of the gunpowder. 1t contains
set of sieves, each one smaller than the last,
through which the powder is sifted; and
an immense ground and laboring mill,
where it is ground up, while the men
shovel it in with wooden shOvels. The
machinery makes a great deal of noise,
but the men are silent, as in the other
houses. The reckless crashing of the
machinery even seems to give greater
horror, and one is very glad to get out Of
that house.
The glazing house comes next. Glazing
is done by mixing black lead with the
powder, to give it black and shiny look.
The powder is put into barrels, which re-
volve for several hours. That polshes
the grains by their rubbing together.
The black lead is put with them, and they
revolve several hours more. OF course
the dust flies from all these operations,
and the workmen, silent like the rest, look
like very black negroes, working in the
backest of powder, in a room whose walls
and floors are blacker than the rest, if
possible. 1t has a very singular look to
a stranger, and added to the terrible silence
makes one feel as if the whole world had
gone into mourning. Often, the gun
powder, revolving so rapidly in the bar
rels, gets very hot; so this, too, is a dan
gerous operation.
The storing houses is the next on the
list, and there the gunpowder is heated
on wooden trays. From there it goes to
the packing house. and is put up in barrels,
kegs and canisters.
Safely through all these houses, it goes
at last to the store house. One feels like
drawing long breath to see the fearful
stuff safely packed away out Of the hands
of men in this very curious house.
You've heard of things being as dry as
a powder hoase. but you wouldn't think
tins house is very dry. 1t is almost en-