The Dillon tribune., 1886-12-24
DYNAMITE.
Written for the Dillon TRIBUNE.
ARTICLE THIRD.

ARTICLE THIRD.
AS we promised in our last we will nov
take the re" :. through dynamite factor,
An ideal one situated on an arm OF tn,
San Franci bay, and on the line Of tn,
railroad, IL. convenience in receiving ane
shipping goods. Its large cargoes will
come BY water, its regular Tuesday ship
ments Of powder will be made BY rail
This factory manufactures both its sulphur
ic and nitric acid ana refines its own ely.
cerine. The crude glycerine, which is a
by.product in soap and candle making, is
imported chiefly from Europe. Most Of
the sulphur cargoes are from Japan, nj.
trate Of soda from the famous inter beds
Of Chill, and woodpulp from the factories
on the Hudson river.
We arrive at the station by the morning
train and find ourselves on the shores of
the Bay butin billy country, the begin.
ming Of the Mount Diablo range. The
works are located in small valleys which
debouche upon the Bay, the shore Of which
is followed by the railroad. In the first
and smallest Of these valleys is located the
glycerine refinery. One can walk through
this. but without copious explanations from
the courteous foreman as to the functions of
the various apparatus, we only learn that
the crude glycerine is purified and concen.
trated by distillation in wrought iron stills.
When the product is finished, it is run into
iron drawers holding about eleven hun.
dred pounds each. These are sent to the
nitro.glycerine house.
From this building short walk brings
US into the next valley. This contains
number Of large buildings. The frs, is a
warehouse near the track. Here are stored
materials harmless in themselves, but de.
stined to be worked up into powder, or
used in the manufacture. Woodpulp,
,nagnesia, paraffin wax, cartridge paper and
sal soda are some of the stores. Beyond
the ware house arc the acid works. The
largest building covers the sulphuric acid
chambers. 1t has three roofs. Under
each is an immense lead.lined room one
hundred feet long, thirty feet high and
twenty. four feet vice. We enter long
low rooted building alongside, to get our
first view Of the interesting process Of max.
ing sulphuric acid. A boiler sends steam
by numerous pipes kissing into the cham.
bers. A long row Of furnaces called the
'burners" comes next. We look through
the slit in one OF the doors and see the blue
flames Of sulphur burning on the hearth Of
the furnace, mixed with the reddish brown
vapors Of nitric acid arising from small
pot in the midst Of the sulphur. These
vapors pass with air and the products Of
the burning sulphur through achimney
into the chambers, there to react upon
each other and the s.eam, and produce sui.
phuric acid, which falls like rain upon the
lead floors. From the chamber floors it Is
drawn by syphons into lead pans on the
top Of the burners. thence it runs over a
second system Of pans till it reaches the
platinum boilers, where it is finally con.
centrated BY intense heat to the state
anhydrous acid. The process is
continuous - from the burning sui.
phurs to the small stream of heavy oily
looking acid running from the last platin.
um, there is no break in the circuit. As
made in the chambers the acid is weak
The concentration in the lead pans is ec:
fected by waste heat from the burners and
the Aues Of the platinum furnaces, but as
the acid becomes stronger its acidity for
water increases also. When it reaches q
certain degree Of concentration, lead will
no longer stand the intense heat necessary
to remove the water. The final concen.
tration must be in glass retorts or in pla.
tinum. The latter metal is very costly
but its advantages over glass are SO grea,
that few factories are now built without It.
The usual form is fiat bottomsd elliptical
basin set on furnace SO that an intense
heat is brought to bear upon the bottom,
over which the acid flows in a thin sheet
The water driven off carries with it q
small amour. Of acid which is CONDENSED by
suitable apparatus and pumped back to the
chambers.
From the sulphuric department we pass
to the nitric. This plant consists Of a
number OF iron retorts and a system OF