The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-04-18
As Dangerous as Dynamite.

Hugh I. q ckerman, 0f Abilene, Aan y
gentleman largely interested in flsur
milling, said to reporter: "The. recent
fearful mill explosion in Chicago, I see
by the papers, has given rise to much !.
comment and several theories have been
advanced as to its cause. For my part,
after an experience of over twenty years
in tie business, Lean notssec any good
reason for looking beyond;: flour. dust.
If powder magazine should blow up
there would be every reason to asclibe
the explosion 10 the powder, and the 6ne !
flour dust found in every mill where
great care is not taken toskeep it down,
is almost as explosive as gunpowder. :
Few people appreciate this, but it isa
fact well known to all millers. Certainly
barrel of -four is as harmless IN article
as can we'll be imagined, but in the q
process of manufacture high explosive,
scarcely less powerful than dynamite, is
generated. : This consists Of nothing
more than the fine dust which> comes
from the stones. When in mass it is
perfectly harmless, but let it once become
disseminated through the.air of a room
il the form of an almost impalpable!
powder, and it is likely to explode at
any moment With terrific violence. I
am not scienti ic man enough to give the
reason for thi., but know that, like many
other substances harmless when in mass,
-four dust, when finely divided and con-
fined, is one ofthe most terrible agents
ofdestruction in existence. While vis- I
iting Minneapolis to attend miller's
convention in 1868, I witnessed casualty
which shall never forget.
GA large party of members of the con.
vention were making tour of the mills,
and great pains had been taken to put
everything in the best order for their re-g
ception. A number of the visitors had ];
entered the Washburn mill and were
walking around looking at the machine
~. Just before their arrival number
of men had been set to work with broons.
sweeping the floors and carefully brushing
the dust out of the corners. As a con-
sequence the rooms were filled with min
ute particles of the fine dust which came
from the stones, the air being fairly laden s
with it. chanced to be with another
party, and just as we we're passing into :
the street, we heard sharp explosion,
nstantly followed by a long, rumblipg
noise, ending in peal like thousand
claps of thunder. I and those with me
were thrown to the ground with great {
violence and partially stunned. When I
recovered somewhat and staggered to &
my feet I saw in place of the crest Wash
burn mills heap of ruins, the walls
being torn in pieces and huge irregular
hole being made in the ground. All the {
neighboriDg buildings were more or less
injured, some having half their walls.
torn out, while there was not a whole
pane of glass within $50 yards. The (
noise Of the explosion summoned the FIRE
department and the coDfagration which
started up vas at once checked. But
the loss of life had been terrible. Eleven
mill proprietors and over forty workmen,
who chanced to be in the mill at the
time, we're instantly killed, in some cases Z
their bodies being torn to pieces so as to-
render recognition impossible, while over
dozen men were wounded by flying freg.&
ments, some of them fatally. 1t was one !.
of the most disastrous explosions ever
known.
sat first it was ascribed to the boilers 3
on investigation it was found that these
we're unipjured. Much testimony vas
taken before the coronor's jury, and the
responsibility fixed upon the -four dust.
It appeared that just before sweeping
commenced all the windows in the mill
had been closed, so that the particles
were closely confined in the building.
AS one workman said, the cir was white
with -four, in highly divided condition.
Both testimony and experiment proved
that an explosion may occur at any in
slant when these conditions prevail.
Fire is not necessary; in fact it is
doubtful whether fame alone will cause
the dust to explode, it going of much.
more readily by percussion. No one was
left alive in the room where the disaster
commenced, but probably workmaH
dropped an iron bar or hammer or it
may even have been occasioned by
lent stamp of a foot.-&. Louis Post Dis.
| 7)nfch.