The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-04-11

now GUNpowDER is MADE
,,.... WHARF pIen Never laugh.

unn,e Where Men Ne'e1
a NV hUu AZ vo,, think you would IKE 70
live, fearing every moment a,.r % i, ~ ,aT Spy.
IG no. FSr tosf Of starting an explOS,!S% ,n
, ,R.1E would send you in an instant 10 "''
other WorldI ii, 10 very Meas.
anti We'll, it isn't; yet HUNDREDS oaiU % t nav
iva in lust that state-Tofk te zen, sIgSt
s avS IVA wear after year in the very s rgau
o oS asit were; all that the WoFlu may
have gunpowder. .,., those men 20
You can easily guess tna ,, taO''
about quietly, and never iau ,g,5or I. very
You know that gunpowaef % ' H.,
a.n nUS IN A gun, or near o llre, ny!
uS anSsnU so, don't know that It Is equally
g eInspS ~ al through the process o.
nIace e visit, and strangers are very se l.
lam allowed to so into one. lhe ;yoI sIe
S SOu @r from any town, In tho WOODS,
S Uu escb branch Of the work Is done in .
s S|S sa building. These houses are
anita distance from each other, SO that Il
Sue blows up 1t won't blow up The resi-.
I'M TSen he lower parts Of the building are
made yery strong, while the roofs are
yary lightly set on, so that II 1t explodes,
only The roof will suffer- But In spite Of
every care, sometimes q whole settlement q
ofthe powder mills will go of almost ID 1,
An instant, and every vestigc Of tho toil
Of wears win be swept away In q iewsec-
But though you feel like holding your
breath to look at II, It Is really q very IN
teresting process 10 see. It's made, per;
Mans YOU know, Of charcoal, saltpeter and
brimstone Each Of these articles Is pre-
Dared in house by itself; but the house
where they are mixed Is the first terrible
one. In this building an immense mill
stone, rolling round and round In an iron
bed, and under the stone ore put the three
fearful ingredients Of gunpowder. There
they are thoroughly mixed and ground
together. This Is very dangerous ope'
ration. because II the stone comes in con-
TACT with the iron bed il is very apt TO
strike fire, and the merest suspicion OF n
shark would set off the whole. The ma
terials 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. Thedoorois shut and
the machinery lett 10 do It's terrible work
alone When ithas run long enough, the
mill Is stopped and the men come back.
This operation leaves the powder in hard
Jumps or cakes.
Tue next house is where the cakes are
broken into grains, and, of course, Is
quite as dangerous as the last one. But
The men can't 60 away from this; they are
obliged to attend to il 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 of 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 houseis covered with
leather, and Is made perfectly black by
the dust Of the gunpowder. Il contains
set Of sieves, each one smaller than the
last, through which The powder is sitted;
and an immense ground and laboring
mill, where 1t is ground up, while 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 gel ont Of
that house.
The stoVing.house is the next on the
list and there the gunpowder Is heated on
wooden trays. 1t Is very hot, and no
wOrkmen stay there. From there 1t 90 es
to the packing. house, and it is put up in
barrels, kegs and canisters.
Safely, through all these houses, It goes
atlas! to the storehouse. One feels like
drawing long breath to see the fearful
stuff safely packed away, out of the
hands Of men in this curious house.
You've heard OF things being as dry as
apOwder'house, but you wouldn't think
this house very dry, 1t Is almost imbed-
ded in water. The roof is one big tank
kept full Of water. Did you ever hear of
awster.root before? Instead OF steps to
80 in there are shallow tanks Of water,
through which every one must walk to
the door. ri ~
10 none Of these powder houses is any
light ever allowed except sunlight. The
wages are good, the days work Is short,
ending always at three or four o'clock.