The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1876-02-01
.FOoLING WITH Dynamite
Recent Cases I'm the Pennsylyauial
ss-L,.r. Oil Regions s,sasf

Oh Crrr, dan. 22s--The dynamite ex-I
plosion at Bremerhayen has interested
the public iu this powerful explosive -
In . the oil country nitro-glycerine is1
used daily either in fuse form or adul.
terated, and known as dynamite 1t us
confined in TIM cases, lowered into oil
wells. and there exploded; the explo-F
sion opening the crevices of the rock,
and causing the oil to flow more freelyN !
Inrhandling it daily men become afamil-
lar aud careless, and consequently ter. /.
rihle accidents are frequeht.id The pow:
er of this explosive ise tremendous. Al
single drop placed on an anvil and
struck with a hammer is sufficient to-
hurh the hammer through the roof -ers
crack the anvil. avdg b897as ad ESQ isis
The first explosion 'of, nitro .glyceripes
ID thegoiEregion, which proved fataloto.
life, was In the infancy loflthel business
A iteamster was carrying several cans OF
the article on his wagonrfrom Titusville
toa small village Thelroad wesrppgb.
aud stony, and he had been told todriye
with caution, as a.slight concussion will
explode the, stuff Seen after. his de-
parture an explosion shook the ground
AT the distance of ohalf a. mile the
horses were found One had been kill
ed, but the other was uuipjured. The
wagon was id splinters, and the iron.
was twistedt and broken. AFTER dill.
gent search the thumb and fore6ager of
the man was found hanging ctobthe limb
Iof tree some sdistancesi in the wpods -
Several hours work discovered, other
parts Of the body, but all the remains
collected of The unlucky teamster did
not gil cigar box ..aa.a..,,,...,; ~. -
In 1872 a family living on Dennis
Run, near Tidioute, was destroyed BY
the explosion sofia torpedo TcoHtainina
dynamite. The family consisted .of 3
man and wife and child. The man Was
q moenligh torpedeist,9 or one who puts
ltorpedoes into a well for which be has
mo patent For doing this he wasi iia.
bfe to arrest and imprisonment From
the circumstances it was inferred that
he was holding tile torpedo between Zig
legs, and thatfwaile he uasin the act OF
attaching the head it. exploded. His
shoulders and head were thrown several
hundred feet in the air. The lower por-
tions Of his body and his extremities
were scattered in every direction, HE
wife Was killed Instantly, but her body
was not mutilated. The bouse in which
they resided vas demolished. In the
centre Of this destruction lay little bs-
by alive, her only. injury being q slight
flesh wopna. -goKoA Sg3. 5l.ye.l
| In 1874 teamsters who was driving
q load of nitro-glycerine from Porker
to, Petrolia, was killed by the explosion.
IA portion, Of his face, was found in the
top al, p tall pine;tree. sone hundred feet
from the ,place.of theIaccident. The re-
mainder bef his body was wholly de-
stroyed. Iood2s sdl nj aoiissc lafoo s1siIG
Some months ago anTold man who
owned,a well, and was unused to hand.
ling torpedoes, put one of them down 10
the depth Of LOO feet, and was unable
to explods1it He.then let down another,
and for soma reason this also failed to ex-
plode. The old man became very angry,
and ran, down set Of drilling tools,
weighing several thousand pounds, on
top ,ef the torpedoes. " The result was
told by himself as follows:
"Ibadn't no more than got out about
fifteen hundred feet OF, range before ] felt
the earth shake, and those tools shot up
out of the hole, and the old well spouted
oil and wafer like all possessed !
thought that | had Tapped the crust of the
internal regions and released the nres."