Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-03-07
Precautions that are Necessary,

visited the large powder works, three
miles back of Newburgh, n. Y, says:
"A wayfarer unacquainted with the
nature of his surroundings and failing
10 observe the ominous signs tackled up
here and there along the road-"Pow-
der Works; no admittance on these
grounds"--will not be likely to suspect
The character of the little buildings
half hidden in the stunted natural
forest of oak, hickory and chestnut
Trees, unless perchance his attention is
called by one of them blowing up.
But If he looks carefully and draws
correct conclusions from what he sees,
he will feel encouraged to sit on the
lence, al respectful distance, rather
than perpetrate trespass. There are
thirty-three buildings in all, of which
only three are out in open ground, and
at very considerable distance from
the others. One of these is the office,
handsome stone structure, bowed to-
ward the mills, so as to present the
strongest form of wall in case of hay.
ing to resist the shock of the explosion
of a mill, and fitted with oiled muslin
instead of glass in the windows on that
side, so that the superintendent, Mr..
W. ii. Smith and his clerk, may not be
annoyed by the glass tumbling about
their ears and hurting them, possibly,
on such an occasion. A second of
these buildings, the residence of Mr..
G. d, Walker, the foreman, is partly
protected by distance and by the rise
of a hill. The third, still more remote
is where the charcoal is made and
stored. Down in the yard proper,
among the trees, are three steam en-
gine houses three magazines, four store
houses inhabited by workmen and their
families, sixteen buildings devoted to
the various processes required in the
manufacture of powder, saltpeter re-
tning house. and a wash house. A
board walk, more than mile in length,
connects all these buildings, which are
from $50 to $50 feet apart. That walk
is to prevent all necessity for the work.
men treading on the ground, for a bit
of tlinty grit carried into a mill on a
mans heel might sky him and the mill
in a second. Between the buildings
are what look like very large corn
cribs built of logs, but filled in with
big rocks, instead of corn, clear up to
the top. They are there to stop flying
timbers, and rocks, and chunks of ma
chinery, and perhaps man OF two,
when q mill blows up. The under
brush is cleared away, that there may
be no danger of forest fire, but the
larger trees are all left standing, that
they may do the same service, on occa
sion, as the stOne-tilled cribs The ar.
chitecture of the principal buildings is
peculiar. They are low, barely high
enough for the machinery and the
work to be done in them, with walls,
on three sides of rock three feet thick,
but with light sheet iron roof, and a
fourth side of light frame, loosely hung
on hinges, SO that it may 60 off easily
when the mill blows up, and so lessen
chances of possible damage. The
magazines are of sheet iron, raised
three feet from the ground by stone
piers. One of them is big enough to
hold 10000 kegs of powder, if neces-
sary, and the others are about half as
large. They are put very far off, on
much higher ground than the rest of
works, and of course there are no
buildings other than those Of the mills
within a great distance of them.