The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1883-02-02
How Gnnpowder is Made.

How Gnnpowder is Made.
eve first make our charcoal, and
then pulverize it fine as flour, and
grind saltpetre as fine as flower"
"Then they with the sulphur are
pm: in mixer and mixed"
"When do tbe ingredients become
explosive ?"
Gas soon as mixed. Then we grind
them all up together"
"What time does the next train
pass here 90
(which way ?"
"Any way"
"There is no danger"
"The powder is always wet while
being ground. 1t is ground under
two iron wheels weighing about
eight tons, and each ls inches wide.
These wheels travel in a circle, and
the powder is on an iron bed. As l
said before, the powder is kept wet,
and if in grinding it gets dry you
lose your mill. If the powder be-
comes too wet it raps upon the wheels
something not to he desired. The
thing to do then is to put scn1e more
powder in the milE, aud this reduces
the mix to its proper stency."
''How much powder do yoa charge
a mill with at once ?''
"Two hundred and fiil
or ten kegs"
"And f,she lets go does the whole
business go at once?" -
Eyes. That is, if only one mill
let's go. But if the packing honse
should take notion to fire itself off
there would be several hundred kegs
instead of one. It requires about
two hours and half to each charge
of powder, and it is then sent to the
press and subjected to a pressure Of
two hundred tons. 1t is made into
cakes twenty-five inches square and
one inch thick before being placed in
the press. After leaving the press
it is sent to the corn mill, which
takes the cakes and chews them up
into grains. The grains are then
run over screens, to get the different
sized grams. There is more or less
dust accumulated, and this goes
through the press again. From the
screens the powder goes to the dry
house, where it is spread out Oil
tray of muslin 26x24 inches, and
these are stacked up to dry. The
dry house is heated by hot water.
The room contains a large coil Of
pipe, and through this is forced boil
ing water from a boiler outside. At
ter being dried the powder is trans
ported to the glazing room, and there
it remains twelve hours receiving a
polish. Then it goes to the sefara-
or, where tho fine grains are ,spa-
rated from the coarse. 1t is now
ready for packing. When pac'sed it
is taken to the magazine. :"
"Do you have any trouble ii get
ting men to work at this delightful
business %
"No, sir. We can hire all tie help
we want by paying good Sages."
"When we employ man I've re-
quire him to discard his own boots or
shoes and wear a make witch we
prescribe. They are shoes with no
nails in them. They are pegged
with wooden pegs. In the winter
time our men wear gum sh4es, and
in the summer they usually go in
their bare feet. We do not permit
anybody to have any matches or
nails or files, or in fact any tools ex-
cept the wooden shovels used in the
grinding mills. As soon as, piece
of machinery gets out of orAer it is
stopped, and the fact is reported to
:he master mechanic who makes the
repairs"
"What kind of a hammer does he
use p
"He uses copper hamGler. It is
claimed that copper hd lnmer will
not strike Ere, but / had Yman killed
once at Xenis while using a cotton
hammer. 1t struck Ere and exploded
a mill.