Connecticut western news., 1876-09-22
AN EXCITING EXPLOSION.
What was Done by n Driver while Sur
 rounded by Burning Dynamite.

What was Done by n Br1Ver while Sur
 rounded by Burning Dynamite.
 While transporting a wagon load of dynamite from one storehouse to anoth- CT in St. Louis the other day, Frederick Julian was dragged forty or fifty yards, a wagon was smashed, and several build ings leveled to the ground. The driver was only slightly injured, and was able the next day to give a very intelligent account of the explosion.
 "We have two powder magazines" he said, Gin which we store our giant powder. One is in Lowell and the other up on the bottom land near the Seven Mile House. In the former we had lot of damaged powder, some of which had been stored there for more than year and half. I went up to remove some of this damaged powder from the Lowell magazine to the other, to have it renovated. 1 put four inches of sawdusJ in the wagon and then put in ten fifty pound cases of powder, on the top of which I put twenty empty boxes that l desired also to remove. This heaped the wagon up full, so that l had not even room to put my feet down on the bottom of the wagon bed. I drove out to Bellefontaine road. didn't smoke any on the way. Near the gate of the cemetery smelled smoke. l haven't the remotest idea how the fire could have been started, but immedi- ately comprehended that my load was burning. I reached down, dropped the reins and pulled out the nearest box. When I lifted it I saw that it was on fire on tho back side. I tossed it out of the wagon and caught hold of the box near est to me, which was burning still more. threw that out, too, and in doing so burned my hands pretty badly. Then l saw that the fire had started pretty we'll back, and was burning in the saw dust and all along under the empty boxes, so that I could not possibly get at it to put it out. My horses began to be frightened, too, and if you know any thing about dynamite you know that when it takes fire it burns with an in- tense heat. was therefore afraid that if the load burned there it might set fire to some of the houses. Accordingly I let tho horses go toward the common.
 ,"By that time the flames were blazing up among the boxes and detected the peculiar odor of the burning dynamite. jumped off the wagon and unhitched the horses. At the same time lot of men came out and began tearing Mrs. Clark's fence to prevent it from taking fire. I led the horses about twenty or thirty feet away from the wagon and stood holding them by the head and looking at the thing as it burned. The men had the fence torn down and were standing little back, but between Mrs. Clark's house and the wagon looking at the blaze, so you can know it must have burned violently for some time. Twas standing, as said. only just so as to be out of range of the heat, with the horses between me and the wagon, when the explosion came. It was an awful noise, but it did not stun me so but that hung to the horses and was dragged forty or fifty yards in a state of bewilderment. Then I lost hold of the horses, but they ran only few yards, and-I went up and caught them. They were not much hurt.
 ''I started with 500 pounds. l threw out two boxes containing 100 pounds, and from the length of time it was burn ing I judge that half the remainder was consumed before the explosion came. That would leave 200 pounds. It was heard four or five miles in every direc- tion. The force of the explosion didn't seem to come my way at all. The stuff is queer about the direction of it's vio- lence. It strikes mostly down. There were plenty of men between the wagon and Mrs. Clark's house, yet the house was shattered and the men only slightly hurt ''