Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-08-11
A DYNAMITE FACTORY.

A DYNAMITE FACTORY.
Lie In q Village Where the People Seem to
Tread ON Eggs.
rSt. James Gazette.l
The factory lies in the heart Of great
expanse of sandy plain of the south
west coast of Scotland. On approach
ing it the visitor is hailed by the
mounted guard that patrols the environ
ment of the factory; and he will have
to show very satisfactory credentials be-
fore 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 manufacture
of nitro-glycerine. 1t is merely street
of small tenements standing on the
threshold of the palisades, which en-
close M. Nobel's houses. Some distance
from the managers house is the shed
where the practical process of making
nitro-glycerine is seen ct q glance. Be-
fore the visitor gets there, however, he
is Invested of his watch, chain, money,
keys, and every particle of metal he
may have about him. This seemingly
excessive precaution is perfectly neces-
sary, for the fall of even penny on q
floor containing grain of the explosive
might be attended with disaster. Felt
shoes have to be worn. In the first
shed reached there is large tank in
which are two parts of oil of vitrol and
one part of the tuning 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 opera
ton is, however, an extremely delicate
one. The tank is in charge of work
man upon whom the sole responsibility
of an explosion rests. If too much
glycerine is introduced into the acids at
one time, the temperature of the mix
ture may rise above n degrees Fahren-
heit, and spontaneous explosion will
at once follow; so that the operatives
eyes are never off the thermometer
his own hope of safety lies in keeping
down the temperature of the mixture to
some seven or eight degrees below its
explosive heat. He is aided somewhat
by ice and cold water, which are out
side the vat; but the compound is oc-
casionally erratic and will gain heat,
notwithstanding all precautions. For
such a case the only alternative is to
move a lever, which lowers one side of
the tank, and allow the whole of the
contents to run through sluice into a
pound, when it is about an even chance
whether it will explode ere it leaves the
,,,,%;1 oahao Tho
The second step is to wash the newly
formed chemical combination in water
which very slightly absorbs it. It is
then put into Winchester quarts" and
conveyed with the utmost care into
wooden huts or dugouts. AS an instance
of the susceptibility of nitro-glycerine
to conclusion, it is related that man
was once seen to slip in the act of de-
posting a bottle in hut. He merely
tripped, in the ordinary sense of the
word, but there was an instant explosion
and hardly fragment of the poor fell
low was gathered for decent burial.
Passing on through other sheds we see
the mixture of the nitro-glycerine with
peculiar foraminiferous earth, the new
substance being dynamite. This is
then carried to long shed, where it is
pressed into cartridges by machinery,
the operatives being young women. Not
the least curious of the many curiosities
at these works are the ponds into which
the washing water is run. Tradition
has it that the decorative property of
the water was not discovered until an
angler one day attempted to seduce the
fish with May fly. At his first cast,
the pond blew up and he found himself
some hundreds of yards away, happily
unhurt. To obviate a similar danger
now Sunday is reserved exclusively for
cleaning the works in every department.,
and among other things for deliberately
blowing up the ponds.