Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1872-11-09
DUB SERVANT GUNPOWDER.
BY THOMAS X. BEECHER.

BY THOMAS X. BEECHER.
I suspect, though of course I cannot
prove, that more powder has been
burned during any twenty years since
its invention in the service of religion
alone, than in that of war.
Travellers in South America are
amused by the fixing and popping and
banging of squibs, crackers and bungos,
that may be heard in connection with
nearly every religious service of the
churches. In Sao-Paulo, Brazil, a long
procession was to start forth from the
University Church, before the richly
dressed ecclesiastics came forth with
their images large as life, and with
troops of little girls disguised as angels,
decked with diamonds and wings glori-
GUS with colors taken from tropical
birtls-the whole air was filled with
deafening explosions high up, from
rockets in the daytime.
Ienquired of bystander, whose face
was solemn and religious, what the
rockets were sent up for. He answered,
"To notify God that the procession is
about to start" Here was new use
for gunpowler. "Why notify him?" /
asked. "That he may withhold the
rain while the procession is moving"
And certify that, though it had rained
almost steadily for at least ten days be-
fore and ten days after, and on the
morning and evening of the same day,
yet not Il drop fell upon the imposing
procession.
In like manner other travellers tell
us of the free use of explosives made
by innumerable Buddhists throughout
Asia during tho celebration of their
rites, which, 50 the Jesuit fathers inform
us, SO strongly resemblcd the rites of
the Roman Catholic Church that the
missionaries judged them to be Satan's
counterfeits.
The Chinese again supply the world
with noisy apparatus for noisy and sec
ular uses. Their export of tirecrackers,
over and above their own consumption,
is an item that arrests attention even
when compared with their enormous
t6a trade.
Join to these noisy performances the
salutes of all sorts customary III this
navies--all the booming artillery on
State occasions on land-the rejoicing
and fireworks which delight the eyes of
mankind universally y-and we have u
total expenditure of powderin the SER
vice of ceremony and amusement far
surprising all that has been consumed
in war. Peace SMELLS nf gunpowder
moss than war.
Wars are fearful paroXysms. We see
the cnginery of death concentrated, and
the piles of the dead are heaped into
conspicuous mounds. We remember
them and eXaygerate the work done by
guhp0Wder at such times. But one-by-
one deaths are taking place in times of
profound peace; generations of men are
fading into oblivion in greater numbers
than death ever destroyed, yet are hard
ly noticed. In like manner there is a
use of gunpowder going on and q ser
vice rendered by it which attracts little
or no atteution. ii is so constant and
distributed. But if we 60 no further
than simply this use of gunpowder for
the ceremonies and amusemcnts of man.
kind, we shall be more nearly accurate
if we call it the servant of our pleasures
rather than the weapon of our ware
fare.
But beyond all this, is o use of gum
powder in these utilitarian days, sur
passing the use for war and ceremony
and pleasure all put together. The
use of gunpowder as our servant, saw
ing work, approximate in value and
variety the uses of steam.
Coal and iron are at the foundation
| nf
machinery possible; and machinery is
mans device for subordinating the
forces of nature to do his work. But
the production of coal and iron is cheap
ened by powder at least sixty per cent.
A single man will mine about three
times the quantity of anthracite coal
with the aid of powder, than he can
without it, it follows that the powder
he uses is equal to two men.
The coast of coal has been reduced
by the use of powder at least one dollar
and quarter ton, probably two dol
lars ton. That is to say, if the coal
producers had no powder in their SER
vice, they could not put coal in the
market to-day. For they cannot afford
to lose one dollar even, much less two
dollars on each ton. With the stop
page of the coal supply, there must be
a stoppage of many a rolling mill,
foundry and machine shop. Iron and
coal I repeat, are at the foundation of
our modern civilization. But iron and
coal themselves exist in forms of use
by help of gunpowder.
View the matter in another direction.
Our system of railway communication
is an amazing creation of the last half
century. But for these advantages of
cheap transit over great distances, all
our ability to manufacture in large
quantities and at cheap rates must fall
to the ground NORTHEASTERN what are
a million dollars worth of goods worth
in Lowell, Mass, if they may not flow
forth from that manufacturing centre
to regions far distant, easily and cheap