Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-03-26
A Tin Can Fu.ilade.

The p..ch canning Industry wc onee
attempted upln . large scale Ia Atlantis.
II 90. during TIE ho, sammsr Of 1876
,h., several sn,,rpr,ins Northern men
oombiasd their N rt. snd e.pi,al TO .'sr,
/. e,nnsry. A large bulldog "a. scout
ed Peaches of every variety -sre par'
chased ia large ql,ntitis.. and forty OF
hhy BOY. aud girl, -sre gagged TO do
the work. for several day. the e.nnsry
vas = scene of busy activity. Millions
Of p,.eh.. ~sr. sliced and boiled snd
thea packed Ia the cans. The cans ~err
toashly made snd the haL soldering
~. hastily dons by inexperienced hands.
Oa. ho, day thousand. of these e.D'.
al ready fof .hipmsn,. -ere piled on the
.,ds-.lk. Thsy rcm.iped ,hsr, al day.
.ai the ray. of al Aasa', .an 'ooa ,arn.
ed the p,.ehs. ia,o boiling. fsrmsn,sd
.la.h. The can. s-elled up aud stood
the strain I. loas q. they eOdld. aud
then came the natural result.
II ". little after midday when the
hr, explosion occurred. a can on the
top Of the pile exploded. aud prOminsn,
si,if-n fihy y.rd. a-sy found bis shirt
froa, covered -iih the blood red freq.
neat. u "a lsdian peach. The startled
m.n gave . yell Of horror and ran.
Other explosions follo~ed ia rapid success.
sion. TIE yoang l.dle. Of the esnneiy
made d.rins s,temP, to cover the esns
~iih . shelter Of bjrd.. bi, by ,hi,
time the pile h.d turned into = regular
volcano. and the sirl. bad 10 beat . r..
treat covered -iih peaches. Their eye.
and nose. we're stopped 9TH peach pulp
snd their White die.se. were dripping
~iih peach juice.
There ~.s q gt,a, deal OF the old war
feeling .mong the ei,ixsn.. aud several
old CJnf,der.,s.. when they heard the
racket. we're under the impression that
there va. s.m.ll battle going on. They
drew ihsir pistol. aud rushed to the
scene OF action. ba, only 10 receive .
b'o.dside u fsrmsa,ed Pesehe. 10 their
f.ee,.
The police stood around and gave OF
der. fOr the instant removal Of the s,uh,
bat their voices were drOsned Ia the ia.
.il.de Of Bursting cans. III. ptopfie,of'
of the factory. after yainly trying TO qals,
their r1,ou, msreasnii.s, Id to avoid
.u,., and bid 10 . remote quarter Of the
city.
The explosions grew more 'illsa,, and
fragment. Of peaches we've hurled TO .
great distance. Some Of the dry good.
houses ia the vicinity found !, necessary
TO take Ia their goods as the shO-er Of
peach juice ws. ruinias them. Young
ladies' oaI bassy ridins With their escorts
few by the poin, Of danger like the
-ind. aud pursued THEN journey laugh.
ing and crying aud ~ipins the msnsl,d
remain. Of the peaches from their faces
w.hsr-omsn carrying baskets Of
clean linen TO their patrons fell victim.
to the peach Can battery. and departed
-i,h ,Olly Of protests and complaints.
T. 'ery hour matters grew wous. The
mighty mass Of tia cans seemed to
.qairm and ~rigsls undsr the heat. IL
-.s no, safe to act within hfy yard, OF
the pyramid as !, eOn,inaed TO shoot OF IN
every direction.
Al las, hand Gre engins made i,s sp
pesrsnee, aud for sn hour . steady
stream Of water ~.s directed against the
cans. Gradually the explosions grew
lees frequent, and faslly they ceased en-.
,irely. The sidewalks and building. for
. square around presented horrible ap.
pesr.nee. dripping with peach loblOlly.
and the atmosphere Vas thick With
heavy, fruity odor.