The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-20
HUMILIATION IN CANS
THE SWIFT, TRkMENDoUS FORCE
OF NIYRO-GLYCERINE

Men VINO Handle Torpedoes In the Oid
Country-Little Accidents That Have
Wiped Shooters Out of Existence Utterly.
Bolivar, N. y, Jan, 16,-There is at
least one class on men who are never
bored by insurance agents. They are
the nervy fellows known in the oil
country as Shooters" Their business
is to transport nitro glyceriue from the
storage magazines to the oil wells, and
explode the charge in the oil-bearing
rock at a depth of from five hundred to
three thousand feet. SO risky is the
work that the life and accident insu-
rance companies refuse to rate them at
all. Their work takes them over rough
mountain roads in all kinds of weather
and at all seasons of the year. AS a
rule, they are fearless fellows, With
muscles of iron and nerves of steel, and
a knowledge of the risk they run makes
them usually very careful. A careless
shooter does not remain in the business
long; he takes the sky route.
Nitro-glycerine or Stock as the
shooters call it, is drawn from the mag
azines to the wells in low wagon, the
box of which rests on long, heavy
springs. The box is divided into cells
into which an eight-quart can of stock
will fit snugly. The cells are padded
With felt and hair, and the cover Ats
1f,n ,,1ac ~ cat.
when the wagon is in motion, even over
rough roads. The railroads win not
carry nitro glycerine, and the only
method of transportation is by wagon
or boat. There are two or three facto-
ries near Pittsburg that supply the
West Virginia and a portion of the
Ohio oil fields with nitro glyceglne.
The stock is shipped down the Ohio
river in flat boats that fly red flag as
danger signal. The shooting wagons
carry no red flag, but on the sides OF
the box you will find a warning sign
printed in letters that can be read fifty
feet away.
When an order comes to the torpedo
office for a shot it is turned over to a
shooter. The drive may be three miles
and it may be twenty; the roads may
be smooth or they may be ice bound
but 1T makes little difference to the
shooter. He is always trusting to luck
, to pull him through safely. Sometimes
he leaves home before daylight, to re-
turn far in the night. He glances over
his order and goes to the shell house
and picks out the number of tin shells
necessary to hold the number of quarts
ordered, and places them in the mon
hooks on the side of his shooting wag-
on. Then he bitches UP and drives tc
the magazine behind a team that al
ways stops when he yells "Whoa!
He unhitches the horses at the maya
zine and ties them to a tree. Then he
enters the magazine and looks the
stock over carefully for leaky cans
One by one he carries the cans out tc
have been placed in the cells. He locks
the magazine door carefully, bitches ur
his team, and starts toward the wei
that is to be torpedoed.
The farmers he meets on the road
give him a wide berth; they exhibit nc
desire to lock hubs with him, ant
though he may pass fifty people or
foot, not one of them will. ask him for q
ride. He carefully avoids any towns
that are in his way by driving around
them; he doesn't want to break any
Here and there he may rattle across q
little bridge near farmhouse and q
face will appear at a window. 1t Is the
farmers wife, and she breathes a sigh
of relief when the shooter and his dan.
gerous load disappear at a bend in the
road. He appears to be driving reck
lessly, but he is not If the road il
smooth he let's his team trot briskly
but over the rough stretches he picks
his way carefully, realizing that at any
moment a sudden jar may send hin
and his team flying into space.
When he reaches the well he unhitch.
es his team and ties it few hundred
| feet away. He takes his tin shells anc
| carries them into the derrick. He Il
| told at what depth the well Is to bt
shot, and some of the lease hands helI
| him in getting ready. He takes a rec
of stout cord from the wagon and at
| taches it to the bail of a tin shell, after
passing it through a pulley. Then hi
carries the cans of nitro glycerin,
from the wagon to the derrick f1ool
and pours the stuff into the shells A.
fast as a shell is filled with nitro glyc.
crime it is lowered to the bottom of the
well by means of the rope and pulley
The empty cans are cerefully placed IL
the wagon, to be used again. Tit
shells rest on top of each other, and OF
| top of the last shell lowered an iror
| firing head is fitted. If there is not al
ready several hundred feet of oil OF
water in the well to act as tamping. tn,
! water is run in after the shot is low
cred. When everything is ready, thu
| employees leave the derrick and seek ;
safe place several hundred feet away
| 'rh= shooter takes sharp )llte,
| eight pound iron weight and drops i
| into the well. Then ne runs as fast a.
his legs will carry him. The ''go-dev
| H." as the weight is called, strikes tn
| firing head and eXpIodes the shot
There is rumbling sound, column o
oil and water rises a few feet in thu
derrick and falls back again, then will
an irresistible rush the column rise
high over the derrick top and falls in
| golden shower in every direction liz
the flow of Yellowstone geyseT
Sometimes the flow continues for al
hour and sometimes for only a few
! minutes.
The greatest flow recorded in the OF
1