Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-02-19
INTERCOLLEGIATE.
HOW SOME DEADLY EXPLOSIVES
ARE MANUFACTURED.
a Ticklish visit to "A Dangerous Place.
Some Remarkable Facts About Dyna-
mite and Its Parent, Nitrogiycerin.
stirring a Sensitive Mixture.


Come up to the factory some day, and
I'll show Won now we make ntrOgi yCerin'
was the invitation | received one afternoon
IN he uIl country from an extensive manu-
Iarturei OF the terrible explosive.
fhe invitation was II very cordial one,
tut there were considerations which made
ste somewhat slow in accepting it. we
have about seven tons of dynamite in one
magazine and two tons of ylycerin in an
other sad my would he host. These
were among the considerations which de
TERED me,
But" he added. there's no particular
danger in looking at the dynamite unless
the building catches fire. You can play
baseball with the cartridges, and they Will
never strike back, or you can pour the
dynamite out on the ground and set fire
TO it without being injured. Unconlined
the explosive will burn harmessly, but
should not advise you to touch match to
Il loaded cartridge When the gases ex-
pand they Ito - IL extreme haste, and if
anything trlre to restrain them it breaks,
and some one gets hurt
The nitroglycern man laughed rather
grimly Then. apparently thinking that
he had not made his invitation quite allur-
aug enough he continued But it's diff
ferent with nitroglycerin Baseball and
fireworks are strictly prohibited Glycerin
rs easily offended, and when it resents an
affront the world hears about it, but the
object of It's displeHslIre never does
'Glycprln Is H. tickle and changeable,
100 H. the wind One day Il slight shock
will explode IT. and the next you may hit
"a can with hammer and live to tell the
story
THE glvcerins readiness OF reluctance
10 explode doubtless depends upon its quail
My One run of stock may be well washed
aind clean, and another may be full of i'm
purItIeS II n can is filled to the very
corks too. so that the substance within
mas no opportunity to wash against the
sides do not think 1t will explode so cas-
lly as one which is three-quarters or seven
elghths full
TONS OF DYNAMITE.
4 found the dynamite and ntrogl ycerin
factories AT opposite ends of picturesque
little valley several miles from the town.
10th structures were of very crude archi
lecture and resembled ordinary sheds or
barns But from the moment we rode
down INTO the narrow gulch tine air seemed
filled with whispers of death
When we entered the dynamite factory
and the glycerin man pointed out the big
boxes full of loaded cartridges, explaining
that the dynamite made here was merely
wood pulp saturated with troglycerin |
nardly heard what he said. but watched
am with hawklike vigilance
He picked up Il slender brown paper tn be
That looked like II Roman candle. and
winch he SAID was dynamite cartridge.
. upld my breath until the tube was safely
CeposIted upon the table again He poured
some Of the dynamite which closely re
sembled Stw'iu~t INTO shell aud rammed
II down with round stick n one would
road Il muSkpt
Aothlng of an alarming character hap
;~,ied and began to breathe with more
regularity | was more at ease rs we left
ire seven tons Of dynamite behind. but the
same horrible feeling of sullocation and
t9uidness came oven me again as we APP
g,roachrd the more dangerous nitrogly
c4rin mandatory
fms hulthng contained several huge
wooden watts, II few pals and barrels, an en-
1Iue and great iron kettleike re
ceptacIe.
The iron receptacle was called an "ag
I2tor and, simply described, consisted of
ii small Kettle within large one. The
space between the two was constantly filled
Il
on the hillside The inner kettle was fitted
with several paddles which were turned
dY IA crank
About 800 pounds of acids, sulphuric
and nitric mixed were poured into the
smaller kettle a thin but continuous
stream OF glycern slowly followed, the
engine began to pant, the crank revoved,
the paddlrs churned the glycern and
acids, and the manufacture of nitroglyc-
erin was gong Oh before my eyes.
MAKING THE DEADLY LIQUID
My host cont rolled the flow of glycerin
Ov means OF Stopcock. and watched the
dgitator and the thermometer which reg
l~tered the heat OF the perllous mixture
with unremittlng vigilance
'\itrogl yctrin my friend said lis
formed by the action OF nitric and sui
phurIc acids upon glycerin When those
red fumes come up, the greatest caution
must he observed They Indicate that the
oil l. on fire, and if the mixture gets warm
enough an explosion will follow
DO YOU see that thermometers? The
mercury registered - dogs centigrade a
minute ago but it l. 20 degs now and still
climbing higher. We must stop this at
once ialloo More steam there!"
He shut oil the oil rs he spoke, and Il sec
Oud .atct the paddles III the agltdtOr were
churnng the mixture more rapidly
aegan 10 edge toward the door, but the
Ldycerln man called me back
Il We got II under control now" he said
The paddles nave whipped the oil under
the acids and eXtinguIshed the fire Tn,
MerCury Is falling and | can turn on tn,
oil, again now with safety. But if haC
not shut 1t of al once, and if the paddle.
mad not developed more speed, you and
would nave enjoyed a foot race together
down the valley When the mercury get.
pto about 30 dogs centigrade il is mucl
safer TO be somewhere else than in it's vcn
lty This stream of cold water constantly
circulating about the base of the agitatol
Seeps the mixture cool When the weather
Incomes warmer we are Obliged to use ice
After $25 or 230 pounds of glycerin haC
been put IN the agtatoT and stirred Ions
time the mixture was emptied into tn,
drowning tank Then II was transferre,
10 the other tanks and carefully washed
and AT the end of about four hours tn,
milky. amber tinted nitroglycerin wa
poured INTO rectangular tin cans Thes
cans were deposited in a huge iron safe ant