Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-12-29

'''ih Al iolH outSiuc ar, tlc heat turns the
mixture into Il vile mess, unfit for breath
lnS The only remedy is ventilation
Now that 1t is cold weather and our room.
are closed from free currents of outside
air. let us look after the matter thoroughly
and do our best to prevent injury to our.
selves from polluted air
Modern Explosives.
The fearful explosion Of dynamite, and
consequent loss of life, al Bremerhaven
will remind many of 4 similar disaster
which took place at Aspinwall some nine
years since. The dynamite on the pier o.
Brcmerhavcn, it is said, was in the person
al baggage of passenger. The nitro
glycernc which exploded on board the
steamship European, at ASpinwall. in
1866, was invoiced us "oil." Its powerful
properties were quite unknown ut that
time in this country. There were about
seventy cases of the stuff in the hold of the
ship, which had been transported from
Hamburg to Hull, England. and thence
to Liverpool by rail. 1t will never be
known whether the explosive quality of
the compound had been heightened by
partial decomposition in the tropical heat
Of that ,cw latitude, or whether the care
less handling by the laborers in the vessel ;
hold brought about the di>astcr The
steamer was blown up, many people were
killed. and much shipping and wharf
property and buildings We're wrecked.
Great Indignation was expressed against
the shippers who had disguised their con
signment in order to insure its transporta-
ton. In the shape in which it was carried
it completely deceived the very people
who should have been aware of the dam
gerous properties Of the cargo which they
were obliged to handle. The shipment
was consigned to san Francisco. and
bv Il curious coincidence, a similar disas-
ter occurred in that city about the same
time. TidinTs Of the two explosions
reached New York almost simultaneously
An express company in san Francisco had
received. in COURSE Of business, a case
containing several packages Of nitro-glv-
cerine, the outer wooden covering of
which was saturated with the perlous
stuff leaking from the inside cases. No
body called for it, and some man was in
structed to open it, in order to see what
the contents of it might be. The first
blow Of his malllet caused IN explosion
which killed eight or ten people, wrecked
the warehouse, wounded many persons.
and destroyed property to the value oftwo
hundred thousand dollal>
Both these disasters occurred when the
manufacture of nitro--l vccrine WAS Vet
new, and while the art of packing il safe
" for transportation WAS comparatively
unknown. Ofthc various serious accidents
which have happened from Il careless Use
of mi Ia
We're killed and several were wounded. At
Bergen. y. j.. in 1861. WAS most notable
In this instance. a laborrr attempted to
4 red hot poker into it. We now know
enough of the most powerful explosives 10
handle them, at least. with great care and
to transport them from place to place
without incurring any such awful penaltie-
Of ignorance rs those which followed it
! ignorant disposition less than ten wears
ago. Indeed. the article of commerc,
known rs DYNAMITE which caused the cx-
/ ploson at Bremcrhaven, was the result o.
/ Alfred Nobci's experiments To discover ;
I form in which nitro-Gl ycerine might b,
safely handled. Nobel. a Swedish chem
Isl At Hamburg. after studying the compo
>ition and properties of such explosives a
the wood powder of Schultzc. and tn,
compressed gun-cot;on of Abel, Introduce,
nitroeum. or trinitrirr. to the world on 4
large scale 1t was no, until l>6.l that i
became We'll known in the arts. and tn,
series Of shocking disasters which followe,
its introduction brought it at once into
great diSE,vor; those who SAW its immense
value rs an explosive dreaded its hiddel
forces.
OF each of these compounds it may be
said. rs of fire. that " it is a good servant
but bad master" Railroad buildinr,an
ali enterprises requiring blasting, tunnel
ing or excavation. have been vastly
chcapened by the Introduction of theS,
tremendous explosives. 1t was estimate,
at one time that the IooSac Tunnel woul,
require less than onc-half the time an,
money to finish it by using nitro -glvcerin,
than any ordinary process would involve
In blasting. the borc-holeS MAJ be smaller
and further apart with nitro-glyccrnc OF
dynamite than with Tunpowder. Although
IN explosion with these modern compound.
is extraordinarily sudden, the mass. to bt
detached Is not thrown out with the vio-
lence ola gunpowdcr blast. but is shattered
and iissured without much projection
The increased volume of an exploded
charTe OF nltrO-Tlyctrlnp, or dynamite, l.
enormous rs compared with gunpowder
being about thirteen times larger than that
of powder There have been many SO
called perfectly saf, " explosive prcpara
tions. of which dynamite and dualinc are
the newest. 1t is evident that. like the
non-explo>ivc burning fluid, pcddled about
in the country, these are not to he trusted
implicitly. There is no such thing rs ;
safe explosive. The most nearly safe. un-
der certain conditions. not yet clearly I'M
derstood, may be in>iduouSly. by the oper-
alton of the laws of chemistry, transformed
into uncomfortable elements.
| A CENT TIEMAN-What i n gentleman