The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-12-12
A VISION OF DEATH.
SAVED BY A wORKINGMAN's PRES
FNCE OF MIND.

The internal (yet very useful) COM
pound, SAYS the Bradford PA. Era,
speaking of nitro glycerine, is so swift
and terrible in its work, and annihila-
tory in its effects that many persons eX-
perience a singular feeling if even in
the presence of the Misunderstanding
fluid. They know that slight concus-
sion would send them into eternity with
the rapidity of the lightning's flash, and
hardly a trace of their bodies be found.
Men who are accustomed to nitro-gly-
cerine are supposed tohavcnon of these
feelings. and nerve is a necessary re-
quisite Nevertheless, the presence of
appalling danger sometimes illustrates
the best of them, as will be seen by the
following incident:
At a certain factory not a hundred miles
from Bradford We're gathered the members
of the firm and some of the workmen. The
gentlemen were intently watching the pro
cess of manufacturing the eXplOdent, when
one of them incautiously dropped his cigar
stub on the floor, which was covered with
running water bearing on the surface small
parcels OF nitrO-glycerlne. The latter caught
fire and burned brilliantly with a Sputtering
noise To say that the spectators were
alarmed would be to put it very mildly
They were simply paralyzed with terror, and
watched the spreading of the fiery stream
WIN tne DelpltSS FASCINATION WlIn WHICH
victim is said to look in the GlitteringeyeS of
a rattlesnake. All around them were cans
filled with nitTO-glycerine, enough to anni-
hilate an army, and every man felt as though
he the victim of a hideouS nightmare
which held him powerless. Flight was i'm
possible their limbs refused to perform
their Office, and an awful death seemed in
evitable. The apparently doomed men saw
the little lake of fire spread slowly but surely
on the floor, and the flames hiSsed as though
OF tGsa rfsafta
to await their victims. None of the Specta-
tors will soon forget this thrilling episode in
their lives, and money could not hire them to
repeat the experiment. When the fire had
almost reached a can filled with glycerine
one of the wOrkmen reused from his leth-
argy, and taking off his coat spread it on
the floor and eXtinguiShed the flames, when
of course all danger ceased. One of the
gentlemen present, when describing his ex-
peT1ence said 81 never knew before what
it was to be sick from fear. When l saw
the Internal stuff burning, and felt that
every man of rs would be blown to atoms in
five seconds, every muscle of my body seem
ed palSed. | gaSped for breath, INV head
swan, and only felt deathly sensation OF
nausea in my stomach. All present turned
Gn aShy palenesS of the face. Then ! vainly
wondered whether there would be any pain
in the deathstroke. The remembrance of a
nitro glycerinc horror, where the still palpi-
tating heart Of one of its victims was picked
up minute after the explosion, came to my
mind and | surmiSed whether my heart
would undergo that strange experience after
being torn from my body. The thought OF
my family caused me the most poignant an
Cuish, and tears cOuTSed dOwu my checks
Then several incidents of my life, of which
] cannot speak with pride, were wildly pre-
sented to my minds eye and induced vague
reflections on the subject of future punish
ment Sometimes in my dreams | have felt
myself in the presence of friChtful peril
such rs lying in the path of an express train
or tottering on the brink of a vast abyss, but
was utterly incapable of moving hand ol
foot for my preservation. So it seemed in
this ease. | could not lift a finger though
there was comparative safety in flight, par
alyZed with terror as was literally my cOndi
tion. After what seemed an eternity OF
waiting for my inevitable fate, my attention
was arrested by movement on the part OF
one Of the wOrllmen, who took off his coat
hmricdly. Then he hentforward, and, will
the utmost deliberation, laid it ON the poo
Z of fire, moving it gently along and patting II
with his hands until every spark was eX
tmguiShed. The reaction from the terrible
suspense was almost overpowering, and
felt weak as a child, but ON going out int,
the open air my Old-time spirits came bacl
very rapidly. MAY ! never have another
such experience -