The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-06-25
Powder

PENNINGTON, June I'D, 1882.
Editors Herald:
l went to Salt Lake City yester-
day, and was somewhat surprised
and scared to see powder" painted
in large letters en- the door of rock
house that stands a little north of
the Hot Springs, and only a few
yards west of the wagon road.
instantly judged that the City
Council had been lately granting
privileges to parties to line the
county road with powder houses
faster than they could build them,
and that dwelling houses were being
temporarily transformed into maya
zines. After hurrying my team past
the dangerous institutions, | made
some enquiries in regard to the
matter, and learned that only two
houses west of the wagon read were
as yet loaded with powder, but that
several new buildings were about to
be erected for that purpose.
Shortly after the magazines eX
ploded a few years ago, Arsenal
Hill, there was some discussion as
to what was the safest material to
use in the erection of powder
houses, and l believe brick was con-
sidered the best, as the Jar of an
explosion would crumble the brick
to small atoms. Since reading
those reports, l have travelled past
the arsenals scores of times, as brave
as soldier, but now | am Stumped.
l always thought | could dodge
small brick-bats flying through the
air, if happened to be near the ex-
plosives when they went off, but
to imagine those huge boulders
crashing through my system, is
more than 1 can bear to think of !;
so / make haste to apply to the
HERALD for relief.
If no powder was kept there, we
could take it for a huge joke being
perpetrated by the Salt Lake
Council on we simple country peO-
pie, but it is more than a joke, and
we feel that it is time to begin
thinking of the happy time to come
again. when, if a loud clap of
thunder is heard in the southern
part of our county, the wives and
children of men who have gone to
Salt Lake City, will not have to
worry all day, wondering whether
they are lot of widows and father
less children or not.
believe the main object the city
fathers had in view when they Sc
lected the present location was to
prevent the repetition CT so many
glass doors, windows, ETC., being
shattered as there were in the explO-
sion of 1776; they certainly did not
take into consideration the amount
of suffering they might occasion to
their innocent relatives in the coun-
try.
It is a well known fact that the
wagon road and railroad runs close
| to the magazines, and if lightning,
or some other agent, were to cause
an explosion at certain times, hun
dreds of people would be instantly
killed, wounded or badly scared
Also, several families are living
near there, and a rock schOolhouse
stands only 500 or 400 yards distant,
with nearly fifty names on the roll.
I will close by making the sug-
gestien that the City Council require
each powder agency to eIcavate a
room large enough for their stock of
powder under some of the main
lodges of lime rock near Salt Lake
City,so that when they do go OFF, in
stead of there being much weeping,
etc., among our happy people, the
only effect will be a slight rise in
guDpowder and cheap lime for
many years to come Until they do
conclude to remedy the evil, l, like
the unhappy Gar of Russia, will
try to keep out of the way of the
Internal powder pits.
Respectfully, G. 7.