The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1872-02-15
IDAHO WORLD.
4 HOUSE WHERE MEN NEVER LAUGH.

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live, fearing every minute to be blown
up; not daring 20 speak loud, to jal
anything, for fear Of starting an explo
sion that would send you in an instant
to the other world2
You don't think il would be very
PLEASANT Well. it isn't; yet hundreds
Of men live in just that state, work, re
ceive 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 those men
go about very quietly, and never laugh
You know that gunpowder is very
dangerous in a gun, or near fire, but
perhaps you don't know that it is equal
" dangerous all through the process of
making.
A powder-mill is fearful place to
visit, and strangers are very seldom al
lowed to go into one. They are built
far from any town, in the woods, and
each branch of the work is done in a
separate building. These houses are
quite distance from each other, SO that
if one blows up. it won't blow up the
rest, Then the lower parts of the build
ing are made very strong, while the
roofs are very lightly set on. So that if
it explodes, only the roof will suffer-
But in spite of every care, sometimes
whole settlement of the powder-mills
will go off almost in an instant, and ev-
cry vestige of the work of years will
be swept away in a few seconds.
But, though you feel like holding your
breath to look at it, it is really a very
interesting process to see. 1t is made,
perhaps you know, of charcoal, saltpe-
ter and birthstone. Each of these ar
ticles is prepared in house by itself
but the house where they are mixed is
the most terrible one In this building
is an immense stone, rolling round and
round in an iron bed. In this bed, and
under this stone, are put the three fear
full ingredients of gunpowder. They
are all thoroughly mixed and ground
together. This is very dangerous OPP
Grafton, because, if the stone comes in
contact with it's 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 then
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 This opera
ton leaves the powder in hard Jumps,
or cakes, Thenexthousei is where these
cakes are broken up 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 it's
walls. Every one who goes in has to
take off his boots and put on rubbers,
because one grain of the dangerous
powder, crushed by the boot, would ex-
plode the whole in an instant The floor
of this house is covered with leather,
and is made perfectly black by the dust
of the gunpowder. It contains set of
sleeves, each one smaller than the last
through which the powder is sifted, and
an immense groaning and laboring mill,
where it is ground up, while men shovel
it up with wooden shovels. The ma
chinery makes 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 Clearinghouse comes
next. Glazing is done by mixing black 6
cad with the powder, to give it black !,
and shining look. The powder is put :
INTO barrels, which revolves for several II
hours. That polishes the grains by rub. =
ping together, The black lead is put Y
With them and they revolve several Q
,ours more. Ofcourse, the dustfies from y
III these operations, and the workmen, a
ilent like the rest, look like very black Q
legroes, working in the blacklist of .
'owder, in aroom whose walls and floors 8,
re blacker than the rest, if possible. q
has a very singular look to stran- ~
er, and, added to the horrible silence, III
,akes one feel that the whole world has
one into mourning Often, the gun >,
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