Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1894-01-19
THEY HANOI NIrRoeLYcERIN.


Refreshments and Perils of the Well Shoot
ers' Vocation.
4 Probably one of the most dangerous vo-
cations in which men are employed in this
workaday world is that of shooting, oil
wells with nitrogly cerin. The tin shells
or tn hes into which the explosive is poured
at the well are about 5 feet long and q
inches or more in diameter. The lower end
is pointed, and at the top are two bail
handles, Filling these long tubes requires
q steady hand and firm grasp A slip or
jar would precipitate destruction, and
gently, in steady stream, the oily fluid is
poured in. Each shell is lowered to the
bottom of the well as fast as filed, and an
other put down on top of it until the de-
sired quantity is placed, when the ego
devil, J" a five pound iron, 10 inches long or
so, is dropped point down upon the mass,
and the shooter runs for his life Down
ward the sharp iron rushes 800 or 1000
feet, and even more quicklyis thrown up
again with mutIied roar and accompanied
by an eruption of gas, oil water, gravel
and fragments of rock. Sometimes this
comes SO quickly that the shooter is I'M
able to get beyond reach and is injured, but
usually he is at a safe distance. s-E
The men who follow this dangerous voca.
ton have superstition that the fearless
man is perfectly safe in it, but that death
follows the Individual who manifests any
apprehension for himself. Many Instances
are told which strongly bear out this opiIl-
ion. Doubtless the secret of it is that the
apprehensive man feels nervous and sooner
Or later is certain to make slip which will
cost him his life. Between four and five
Voc rt ,31,,t la,
Eindlay, o., that illustrates this. George
Struble, an employee of the High Explosive
company, was hauling the stuff to the mag
azines and wells. He had said he would
be killed soon and made all the arrange
ments for his BURIAL if burial We're posi-
BILE. On his way back from well to prai-
RE Depot shortly afterward the strange
prem onition came true. AS with every
such case, no one was left to tell how the
catastrophe happened. 1t is supposed some
of the glycerin had been left sticking to the
cans, and a sudden jar had set it OFF, but it
is one of the incidents of the business that
when calamity comes no one can more than
guess the manner of its approach. Struble
was torn in pieces, and all that was left of
the wagon were scattered slivers
Hairbreadth escapes are Of almost daily
occurrence, and presence of mind with
abundance Of nerve is an essential charac-
teristic Of the men who daily walk, ride and
work with threat more terrible than the
sword of Damocles continually above their
heads. One of the most thrilling cases on
record is that of shooter who had begun
to lower the first tin into the well, when the
rope, instead of continuing taut as it was
paid out, suddenly slackened. There could
be but one explanation, and that much to be
dreaded. The well had suddenly begun to
flow again. 1t would be but q few minutes
until six quarts of nitroglycerin would be
hurled out of the we'll. That meant death
aud destruction. There was no time to es-
cape. Run as he might, there was no time
to reach place of safety. He knew there
was but one chance in a hundred of saving
himself and the property about the well,
and he took it. Planting himself squarely