Idaho semi-weekly world., 1893-12-05
.NITROGLYCERIN.
HOW SOME DEADLY EXPLOSIVES
ARE MANUFACTURED.

AHE MANUFACTURED.
4 rtshtish visst ss Dangerous Place.
Some Rsm.rkabis rarts About Dyns-
| mite and iss Parent. Nitrosiyccrin.
Stirring Sensitive ststurs.
Come mp TO the factory some dey, and
I'll show you how we make nitroglycerin," /"
vas the invitation received one AFTERNOON
IN the oil country from mn extensive manu-.
Ascturer Of the terrible explosive.
The Invitation WAS Z very cordial oue.
but there were considerations which made
me somewhat slow in accepting it. eve
have about seven tons OF dynamite in one
magazine. and two tons Of glycerin in an
other" said my would be host. Thess
were among the considerations which de
terred me.
but" he added, there's NO particular
danger 10 looking at the dynamite unless
| the building catches fire. You can play
basehall with the cartridges. and they will
never strike back, or you can pour the
dynamite out on the ground and set Dire
70 II withous being injured Uncondned
the explosive will burn harmIessly. but
should not adyise you TO touch . match to
= loaded cartridge When the gases ex-
pand they do 70 in extreme haste, and II
anything tries 70 restrain them It breaks
and some one gets hurt
The nttroEiyces5is man laughed rather
grimiy Then. apparently thinking that
he had mot made his invitation quite aIiur.
Ing enough. he continued "But it's diff
ferent with nitroglycerin. Baseball and
fireworks are strictly prohibited Glycern
b easily offended. and when II resents IN
affrunt the world hears about Il. but the
object OF its displeasure never does.
"Glycerin is a. fickle and changeable,
TOO. ~ the wintl One day a slight shock
will explode it, and the next you may hit
| can with hammer and live to tell the
story
The glycersn's readiness or reluctance
TO explode doubtless depends upon its quail
ity. One run Of stock may be we'll washed
and clean, and another may he full OF i'm
puritiea II can is filled to the very
corkA too. no that the substance within
has no opportunity to wash against the
| sides, do not think 1t will explode SO eas
lily a. one which il three-quarters or seven
eighths full"
TONS or DYNAMITE.
found the dynamite and nitroglycerin
factories at opposite ends Of picturesque
little valley. several miles from the town.
Both structures were Of very crude archi
lecture and resembled ordinary sheds OF
barnA But from the moment we rode
down into the narrow gulch the air seemed
filled with whispers Of death
When we entered the dynamite factory
aud the glycerin man pointed out the big
boxes full Of loaded cartridge, explaining
L hat k<.
wood pulp saturated with nitroglycerin.
hardly heard what he said but watched
| him with hawklike vigilance
He picked up slender brown paper tube
| that looked like Roman candle, and
which he said was dynamite cartridge
held my breath until the tube was safely
Deposited upon the table again He poured
some OF the dynamite. which closely re
sembled sawdust. into shell and rammed
it down with a round stick as one would
load a musket.
Nothing of an alarming character hap
pened, and began to breathe with more
regularity | WAS more at ease rs we left
the seven tons Of dynamite behind but the
same horrible feeling OF suffocation and
coldnesy came over me again as we ap
preached the more dangerous nitrogly
cerin mandatory
This building contained several huge
wooden watts, few pals and barrels, an en-
gine and a great iron kettIelike re
ceptacIe
The iron receptacle was called an .agi
tator." and. simply described. consisted OF
q small kettle within large one The
space between the two was constantly filled
with a stream of cold water from a tank
on the hillside. The inner kettle WAS fitted
with several paddles. which were turned
BY a crank
About l.500 pounds OF acids, suiphuric
and nitric mixed. were poured into the
smaller kettle. A thin but continuous
stream OF glycerin slowly followed; the
engine began to pant, the crank revolved,
the paddles churned the glycerin and
acids, and the manufacture OF nitroglyc
erin WAS going on before my eyes.
MAKING THE DEADLY LIQUID.
My host controlled the flow of glycerin
BY means OF a stopcock, aud watched the
agitator and the thermometer which reg
istered the heat of the perilous mixture
with unremitting vigilance,
"Nttroglycerin.' my friend said, "'is
formed by the action of nitric and sui
phuric acids upon glycerin When those
red fumes come up, the greatest caution
must be observed. They indicate that the
oil Is on fire, and il the mixture gets warm
enough an explosion will follow.
"l)o you see that thermometer The
mercury registered 65 degs, centigrade a
minute ago. but it is 20 degs now and still
climbing higher We must stop this at
once Halloo. More steam therep'
He shut of the oil as he spoke and sec
oud later the paddles in the agitator were
churning the mixture more rapidly
began to edge toward the door. but the
glycerin man called me back.
1--we got it under control now." he said
THE paddles have whipped the oil under
the acids and extinguished the fire. The
mercury Is falling, and can turn on the
oil again now with safety. But if had
not shut it off at once, and if the paddles
had not developed more speed. you and |
would have enjoyed foot race together
down the valley When the mercury gets
up to about 80 degs. centigrade il is much
safer to be somewhere else than in its vicin
ity This stream of cold water constantly
circulating about the base of the agitator
keeps the mixture cool When the weather
becomes warmer we are Obliged to use ice. +"
After 225 or $50 pounds of glycerin had
been put in the agitator and stirred long
time, the mixture was emptied into the
drowning tank Then it was transferred
TO the other tanks and carefully washed.
and at the end OF about four hours the
milky amber tinted nitroglycerin was
poured into rectangular tin cans These
cans were deposited in huge iron safe, and
the explosive was ready. Earle H Eaton
In Youths Companion.
Coal in England and A America.