Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1877-09-08

BILE Of doing as much nj hief as good.
Both may come uade .e title Of ex-
plosives, for the PISS sometimes
"blows up" men and i ,nss as effectu-
ally as gunpowder. IN i..ct, this is an
age Of explosives, "hen The favorite
ws} O; dealing with ami oa.ted abuses
IS 70 ~cstter them to iragmen,. How
myry people We meet who always
speak OF every idea in which they
ces cd TO believe, as an exploded
s, pe,s!ii:.ion."
The easiest way to get rid of thing
is to blow it.up, but it may not be the
s,le4t. If we put .harge OF dyna-
mite in rock that obstructs the pass
aoge to cur house, in order to remove
.e nui .ance, we demoli-h the house
as veil ss the rock. There is moral
in this which some of our dyn@niss re-
70 n"rs would do we'll to ponder.
Superstition hinder the progress Of So
oie;y, some rlore and some less, and
we would be Glad to get them all out
O. The w,.y but hey may be "blown
~ silcr a fashion that does more
harm Ian good. An institution may
be very defective. very much behind
the timos, al q GOOD deai in the way:
hut it IS ,,'.sh.Is so inwrought into
the whole framework Of society
;'at you cannot explode it suddenly
eno violeh y without shatteling 9th
er mi $ that we canrot afford to lose.
We have some defective laws in our
s'a'ute-books and absurd practices
IN OFT courts, but they also are better
han nothing. We have medical men
Tho hold to theories that may with
p.,piiety be called "expioded," and
yet they may save more lives ,han they
des,.oy.
Various modes Of producing an ex-
plosion have been lately introduced,
'ontingent upon the nature of the ex-
piosive. Gunpowder, laid loose upon
The surface of rock, goes off in the
si', and accomplishes nothing. Nit.o-
glycerine needs no deep drill, but on
ly a slight covering of earth, and it
will rend fhe rock to its foundation.
1t is the degree of raridity with which
The compound works that determines
he result. Gunpowdtr requires time
in ovd"r to its action. :, t. some 9TH
or explosives are of "- 5aas than no
me" For this reas' y .elatter cal-
act be used in guns % sort-they
blow up the piece b, &c lie shot is
discharged. There IS 50 a moral in
this. Some of our men Of the age"
are in such haste to complete the work
VII ch hey have i'll h. nd, that they
explode the machine they operate
with, and, perhaps, blow themselves
up with it. Gunpowder is zoo slow
for them.
1t is not worth while to waste our
explosives. A great deal of powder
IS used in salutes and celebrations
and, if we were not used to it, per-
haps it might seem TO be rather an odd
way of showing respect for a greas
man, or our gratitude for a great de-
liverance, to fire off cannon and fill the
air with smoke; but that is not what
I now refer to. 1t is rather The bring
ing out Of heavy ordnance, and the ex-
penditure Of costly ammunition for
the accomplishment of small Objects
killing flies with cannon. There is
something which, perhaps does not
need to be done at all, or might be
done quietly, and at little cost. when
straightway grand organization is
established, with salaried officers and
splendid buildings, and agents sent
abroad everywhere to solicit funds
and all foc what? Here, again, it
would not do to specify.
One thing more. In getting out
stone for building purposes, and mar
Bile for statuary, explosives are rarely
used, but the slower process of cutting
and chiseling is preferred. And sothe
best work of the age IS not done by
sudden and violent methods, but by
patient persistence and quiet, resolute
endeavor in the right direction, just
as granite is split by the insertion at
short intervals of little wedges on a
straight line, which, at Che proper
moment, combine to produce just the
fracture that is desired.
Explosives are good in their place.
but they are not always good. Gum
powder is dangerous thing to handle. 7
Everybody knows that, and we all con- !
y g.