The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-06-30
Gunpowder and its History.


other mills. Instead of one great building,
it is composed of many rough-looking
little sheds,-sometimes as many as seven
ty or eighty. These arc long distances
apart, separated by dense woods and great
mounds of earth, so that if one 'house"
is blown up the others will escape a like
fate. OF some the walls are built very
strong, and the roofs very slight, in the
hope that if an explosion happens, its force
will be expended upward only. Other
houses have enormous roofs Of masonry
covered with earth; the roofs of Others are
tanks kept always full of water.
The constant danger inseparable from
the work weuld be greatly increased were
there not strict rules, always enforced
No cautious visitor can be more careful
than the workmen themselves, for they
know, if an explosion happens, it will be
certain, instant death to them. SO no
light or fires are ever allowed; no one lives
nearer the mills than can be helped; some
OF the buildings are carpeted with skins,
and the floors are kept always flooded with
an inch or two Of water and In front of
every door is shallow tank of water.
Before entering, every person must put on
rubber shoes and walk through this water,
for the nails in a boot-heel might strike a
spark from a pit Of sand or gravel, which
might explode single grain of gunpow-
der, and cause widespread disaster. So
the rubber shoes worn in the mills are
never worn elsewhere. Then, too, every
one is expected to keep his wits about him;
there is never any loud talking and laugh
ter, and no one ever thinks of shouting.
Yet with all this extreme care, explosions
sometimes occur, and then there is seldom
any one left to tell how it happened
The mode of making gunpowder is now
adays about the same everywhere. The
saltpeter, the charcoal, and the sulphur
all must be ground very finely. Among
rude tribes in Asia, as in old times, the
grinding is done by women and children.
who pound the ingredients with wooden
pestles in wooden mortars, and often finish
by blowing up the entire family, house
and all. In other places they pass
crank-shait through barrel and fix it in
a frame. This barrel they partly fill with
what they wish to pulverize, and also with
a quantity of brass or wooden balls. BY
turning the crank rapidly the balls and
the material are both rolled around from
side to side, and finally the grinding is
effected. Next they mix the three TO-
gether in proper proportions, spreading it
on a wooden table, turning it with
wooden paddles, and rolling it with wood
en- rollers; then they put it back into the
wooden mortar or tub and pound it again,
any blow, Just as likely as not, being the
last they will live to give. Ifthey and the
powder survive this, they then spread it
on cloth in the sun to dry, and if it
don't blow up before they can gather it
together again, the husbands and fathers
Of these brave women and children soon
have plenty of powder | have been told
Of lady, brought up in the East Indies
whose most vivid remembrance of her
early life was the blowing-upo Of enativen
family by such means. But in the mod
ern powder-mills there are deep, circular
troughs Of stone or iron, around and
around in which travel ponderous wheels
Men with wooden shovels keep the mate
rial under the rollers, where it is thorough.
ly crushed.
When enough of each ingredient is
ready to make batch of powder, they
weigh it-about 75 parts Of saltpetor. il |
of charcoal, and 10 of sulphur. These
proportions, however, vary somewhat, de.
pending upon what powder is to be used
for, and the strength required.
The weighed-out ingredients must now
be mixed. Usually, the charcoal and sui |
phur are put together first in revolving
barrels, in which are loose zinc, brass. or
copper balls; and when this is completed.
the saltpeter is added, and the rolling
process is repeated until the whole is well
intermingled. In some mills the three in.
gradients are put in the barrels and mixed
in one operation, but this mode is attended
with greater risk.
All this, however, is mere st;,Tino.
The real Sniring must be done under great
pressure.
Now begins the greatest danger The
stirred-up materials are taken to another
shed, called the Incorporating mill.
where there are more wheels and troughs;
but instead of men with shoyels, there are
wood and copper scrapers attached 10 the
machinery, that follow the wheels and
keep the mixture in place. The ingredi.
ents are placed in the trough, the wheels
started, and the men lock the doors and
go away. Hour after hour, around and
around in the dark, all alone rumble these
mighty wheels. SO long as the little
scrapers attend TO their business, evenly
spreading The mixture three or four inches
deep 10 the bottom Of the trough. ali viii
be well; but if anything goes wrong
Pgb---bang that i the end Of that mill
If tho crushing-wheela and the iron bottom
Of the trough should happen to touch, the
chances are they would Astrike fire." but