Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-11-14
NlrRo.olYc:RiNE's MYSTERY.
Remaris able Exhibition. OF o.. Terri.
BILE Force-Aa Explanation.
ICor. indianapolis New

when the production hgins to fall of
and like all other operators | rr.ortcd Ia
the same method for my own well
There Is with the great majority uf men
employed in working about oils wells a
reasonable fear of accident from prrma
ture explosions from nitro -glycerinc.
never could induce men In my employ Ia
assist the agent that came to De- the
work, and ! always had to assist him
myself. The fear that is first felt npon
wears of after few trials.
II is perfectly safe to handle IL II kent
at a temperature below ~ degrees, hut
above that temperature u becomes dan
gerous, the higher the temperature the
more sensitive tn conclusion, aud u ~.
| plodes at 300 degrees, hut the point I
wish To make is the solution of the fol.
! lowing:
That any satisfactory explanation
can not he given of the singular feature
of the almost complete annihilation of
matter. Some savants have attempted
to explain the mystery of this character
istic of nitro glycerinc 10y the theory ~
instant evaporation Of matter. That
might be- true as To flesh, but could the
great masses of bones in the human body
be vaporizcd in an instant, In the twink
ling of an eycl Could iron he rclucci
to vapOr in an Instant Others offer the
theory of atomization of matter. This
theory was disproyed by most mclan.
choly occurrence in Alcghany county,
| New York, two or three years ago.
Charles Berridge. n well known oil pan,
was blown up by nitro glyccrinc. The
ground around was covered with spot.
less, new fallen snow; on either side
was a high and abrupt hill only few
rods apart. Berridgc was very larg.
man, Of perhaps 1870 pounds weight. The
remains were searched for carefully aud
long; for he was good man and popu
lar. The coffin in which they wcrc borne
to the grave, contents and ali. weighed
but fifteen pounds. The spotlcss snow
remained rs spotlcss as before.
| The statement that the greatest force
of nitro -glyccrinc explosion Is always
upward is the reverse Of the fact H.
greatest force is always downward for
the two following rcasons, as u h al
ways proved by the destruction of all
material substances within It's influence
The pressure Of the atmosphere ~ fifteen
pounds 10 the square inch n less than
the solid earth. and the greatest force Is
always exerted In the direction ~ the
greatest resistance. As an illustration of
this downward resistance. call Ia
mind one of those disasters. by
premature explosion II nitro- glyccrine,
that occurred to a gentleman, friend
of mine, by the name Of Clark, who was
an agent for the Roberts Torpedo com
pany, Of Titusvillc, Pa. The magazine
and manufactory Of this company was
located n short distance out of the city of
Titusville, Pa, and the agents for the dif.
fercnt districts drew all of their supplies
from this magazine. Mr.. Clark lived u,
Tidioute, about fifteen miles from Titus.
vile. He went for n supply of nitro.
giycerine for his district, ut Titusyillc,
and loaded 600 pounds upon his wagon.
covered II with canvas 10 hide II from
view and protect II from the sun. Mud
drove into the city. lie hitched his
horse in the busiest portion, and allowed
it to stand for several hours in the hot
sun of an August day. BY the time hc
was ready to start the nitro. glyccrine
was ~ warm as the atmosphere. which
made il very sensitive 81 any concus-
sion. When about half way home,
as he was approaching small
hamlet called Enterprise, for some rca.
son that will never be known this
600 pounds exploded. A gentleman
who started from Titusyille ON horse.
back overlook Mr.. Clark with his load.
and, knowing the kind Of cargo Mr..
Clark was carrying fell back 10 n safe
distance, and kept II up 10 the time Of
the explosion, and was the only eye
witness to this disaster. All he knew
about il was that he saw simply cloud
of dust, and heard dcafening sound; his
horse was thrown To his knees, and him.
self TO the ground, badly stunned by the
conclusion.
All that was ever found Of that horse,
WAGON, the 900 pounds Of nitro glyccrine.
and MIR. Clark, was the face Of Mr. Clark,
all in front Of the ears upon both sides,
cut as smoothly NJ the sharpe.t knife
could do il. The face was uninjurcd, ex.
cept one eye was gone. A few sheds
! of flesh, whether of the man or horse
none could tell. were found n short dis
tance from the spot Of the explosion.
| Not fragment of anything else was In
sight, or ever found In the vicinity or
anywhere else. II was complete ami.
hlation Of the entire outfit.
| The gaycl roadted was as hard and
dry as constant travel and long
| drought could make II. At the place III
the explosion il was scoopcd out several
feet deep and across the entire width.
One barn, said 10 be eighty rods from
the explosion, was twisted out of place.
so violent was the force of the explosion.
To better understand the position % Mr..
Clark ut the time, II Is proper to state
that the seat Of his wagon Was elevated
two or more feet on the front end II the
wagon box. This placed him above the
horse and his load back of him, ~ the
explosion was back and beneath him,
and the scooping out Of the road BID and
annihilation Of the horse, wagon, tin
cans that contained the glycerinc, and
all there was Of Mr. Clark except his face
proved. What became II all the mate.
rials that were 81 violently and instanta
neously sunder,d and destroycli And
what is the philosophy Of thc mcthodi
| My own idea and explanation u simply
this: The force Of this agent i- so great
at the instant Of explosion tina, u p~r
feet vacuum Is formed by displacing the
atmosphere, and the limits IT this
vacuum are measured by the quantity
and quality Of the exploded nitro glye
crime.
II this proposition Is the true one. the
mystery is solved by u. NJ no material
substance can retain its form In pcrfcct
vacuum. For the instant of the On.
plosion the laws Of gravita,ion aud ~.
hesive attraction are suspended, and the
laws of repulsion of chemical aitinitis.
act, to drive every form of material
back TO primitive elements. the huid
portion Of organized life 90 vator ~
gases, the solids of all Substances to
atoms, inhnitesimal and therefore not
visible 10 the natural eye
1
| Relative Nasissai saavssess
Bodenstdet supplies the following
Russian estimate Of the relative smart
| II ~.x.--. ..l.-l -. 4