Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-04-18
SCOTCH DYNAMITE WORKS.
NITRo-GLYcERINE FACTORY ON THE
 SOUTHWEST COAST OF SCOTLAND.

The Excessive Precaution that is Neca..
 sary-A Delicate Operation-suscepti-I
 bilitv of Nitro-Glycerine to Concussion.
 How the Explosive is Handled.
 The factory lies in the heart of great ex- panse of sandy plain on the southwest coast of Scotland. On approaching it a visitor is hailed by the mounted guard that patrols the environment of the factory; and he will have to show very satisfactory credentials before he is allowed to go further. On the way to the managers house village is passed where live the whole of the operatives employed in the manufactory of nitro-glycerine. It is merely street of small tenements standing on the threshold of the palisades which en- close M. Nonel's houses. Some distance from the managers house is the shed where the practical process of making nitro-glycerine is seen at a glance. Before the visitor gets there, however, he is divested of his watch, chain, money, keys, and every particle of metal he may have about him. This seem- ingly excessive precaution is perfectly neces- sary, for fall of even penny on floor containing grain of the explosive might be attended with disaster. Felt shoes have to be worn.
 A DELICATE OPERATION.
 In the first shed reached there is a large tank in which are two parts of oil of vitriol and one part of the fuming nitric acid. A cistern above the tank contains glycerine, and when this is introduced into the acid the compound known as nitro -glycerine is at once formed. The operation is, however, all ex- tremely delicate one. The tank is in charge of workman upon whom the sole responsi- biity of an explosion rests If too much glycerine is introduced into the acids at one 1GA1 rise above 77 degs. Fahrenheit, and a spon- taneous explosion will at once follow so that the operatives eyes are never off the ther- mometer-his own hope of safety lies in keeping down the temperature of the mixt- ure to some or degs. below it's explosive heat. He is aided somewhat by ice and cold water which are outside the vat; but the compound is occasionally cratic and will gain heat notwithstanding all precautions. For such a case the only alternative is to move lever, which lowers one side of the tank, and allow the whole of the contents to run through sluice into 8 pond, when it is about an even chance whether it will ex- plode ere it leaves the shed or wait until it reaches the open.
 The second step is to wash the newly formed chemical combination in water, which very slightly absorbs it. It is then put into 'sWinchester quarts," and conveyed with the utmost care into wooden huts or dug-outs. As an instance of the extreme susceptibility of nitro -glycerine to concus- sion, it is related that a man was once seen to slip in the act of depositing bottle in a hut; he merely tripped, in the ordinary sense of the word, but there was an instant ex- plosion and hardly fragment of the poor fellow was gathered for decent burial. Passing on through other sheds, we see the mixture of the nitro glycerine with pecu- liar foraminiferous earth, the new substance being dynamite This is then carried to a long shed, where it is pressed into cartridges by machinery, the operatives being young women.
 MANY PRECAUTIONS TAKEN.
 Not the least curious of the many curiosi- ties at these works are the ponds into which the washing water is run. Tradition has it that the detonative property of the water was not discovered, until an angler one day attempted to seduce the fish with May-fy. At his first cast, however, the pond blew up, and he found himself some hundreds of yards away, happily unhurt. To obviate similar danger now, Saturday is reserved exclusively for cleaning the works in every department, and among other things for deliberately blowing up the ponds. After congratulating himself on a safe journey through the various houses, the stranger is apt to hurry from the factory and only to breathe freely when he is again at the station. He will not have failed, however, to notice the many precautions taken to insure safety for those who daily risk their lives in these very hazardous opera tions.
 Each section of the operatives is distin- guished by a peculiar canvas suit with a colored marking; no one may go on any pre- tence leaving his own department. The women work in felt shoes and bathing dresses, and every single workman or workwoman is stripped and reclothed before going to their labor. The explosive, too, are handled in the smallest possible quantities, save in the first room of manufacture, where enough is made at one time to blow up city. The nitro glycerine itself is transparent, colorless oily fluid, slightly soluble in water, but readily so in spirit, ether or fat. One favor. ite way of destroying it is by boiling it ir potash, when it decomposes, glycerine and hitter being ormed. Perhaps the most curious use to " A it has ever been put is the result of tho searching investigations of its medic inal properties by Dr. William Murrell, who found it almost specific for angina pectoris neuralgia and many developments of heart disease-St. James Gazette.