Sun River sun. [volume] (Sun River, Mont.) 1884-1885, 1884-11-20
N1TRO-GLYCERINE'S MYSTERY.
Remarkable Exhibition of Its Terri
BILE Force-An Explanation.

'he OH regions TO torpedo oil wells
when the production begins to fail
off, and like all other operators l rc-
sorted to the same method for my own
well. There is with the great major
ity of men employedin working about
oil wells u reasonable fear of accident
from premature explosions from nitro
glycerine. never could induce men
in my employ to assist the agent that
came to do the work, and always had
to assist him myself. The fcar that
is first felt soon wears off after a few
trials.
1t is perfectly safe to handle it if
kept at u temperature below 32 de-
grees, but above that temperature it
becomes dangerous; the higher the
temperature the more sensitive to con-
cusslon, and it cxplodes at 300 de-
grees, but the point l wish to make is
the solution of the following:
"That any satisfactory explanation
can not be given of the singular fea-
ture OF the almost complete annihil-
alton of matter" Some savants have
attempted to explain the mystery of
this characteristic Of nitro. glycerine
by the theory Of instant evaporation
of matter. That might be true US to
flesh, but could the great masses of
bones in the human body be vapor-
lied in an instant, in the twinkling of
an eye? Could iron be reduced to
vapor in an instant? Othets offer the
theory Of atomization Of matter. This
theory was disproved by most mel
ancholy occurrence in Allegheny
county, New York, two on three years
ago. Charles Berridge, weil-known
oil man, was blown up by nitro -gly-
cerine. The ground was covered with
spotless, new fallen snow; on either
side was high and abrupt hill only
Il few rods apart. Belrldge was Il
very large man, of perhaps $50 pounds
weight The remains were searched
for carefully and long; for he was II
good man and popular. The coffin in
which they were borne to the grave,
contents and all, weighed bnt fifteen
pounds. The spotlcss snow remained
as spotless as before.
The statement that the greatest
force Of nitro -glycerine explosion is
always upward is the reverse OF the
fact. Its greatest force is always down
ward for the two following reasons,
as it is always proved by the destruc-
tion OF all material substances within
its influence. The pressure of the at
mosphere OF fifteen pounds to the
square inch is less than the solid
earth, and the greatest force is always
cxerted in the direction of the great
est resistance. As an illustration
Of this downward resistance, l call to
mind on of those disasters, by prema-
ture explosion Of nitro-g -glyccrine, that
occurred to gentleman, Il friend OF
mine. by the name Of Clark, who was
an agent for the Roberts Torpedo
Company, of Titusville, Pa. The magn-
zine and mandatory of this company
was located Il short distance out oi
the city of Titusyille, and the agents
for the different districts drew all OF
their supplies from this magazine
Mr.. Clark lived at Tidioute, about fiji
tocn miles from Titusville. He went
for II supply Of nitro glycerine for his
district ut Iitusville; and loaded Coz
pounds upon his wagon, covered il
with canvas to hide it from view ant
protect il from the sun, and drove int
the city. He hitched his horse in tht
busiest portion, and allowed it Il
stand for several hours in the hot SUI
of an August day. by tho time hi
was ready to start the nitro lycerin'
was rs warm as the atmosphere, whicl
made it very sensitive to any concus
sion. When about half way home, as
he was approaching Il small hamlet
called Enterprise, for some reason
that will never be known this GO(
pounds exploded. A gentleman who
started from Titusville on horseback
overlook Mr. Clark with his load, ant
knowing the kind of cargo Mr.. Clarl
was carrying, fell back to Il safe dis
tance, and kept 1t up to the time o
the explosion, and was the only eye
witness to the disaster. All he knew
about il was that he saw simply {
cloud of dust, and heard Il deafenins
sound; his horse was thrown to hi
knees, and himself to the ground, bad
ly stunned by the concussion.
All that was ever found OF thai
horse, wagon, the 600 pounds OF nitro
: glycerinc, and Mr. Clark, was the face
of Mr.. Clark, all in front of the ears
upon both sides, cut as smoothly as
1bo cb.,r,oet knifa col,11 do if The