The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-06-02
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=. smole,e.. Powder s1iii--aeI, poorto
r,.,u,ty-work that 4. More Hazardous
u..,,u M, n wpfAhti,s IS ~ teli(

,,cad,h OF these United States there are
only two mills supplying our govern.
MON, with ordnance powder and one OF
these mills has been In operation In
california for more than thirty years.
rho standard OF requirements for ord.
ronce powder. In our country Is higher,
.Son anywhere else In the world. The
.owdcr we produce Is In every respect
s,vncr,or 10 the best that Europe can
rnnuf>cture. To California then, the
amy and navy turn In this their hour
a, need, and here are being wrought the
snrws OF impending war. r.,
Carload upon carload ID rushed east
uard az fast us steam can carry the
consignment. Stored therein are thou
snnds OF pounds OF smokcless powder for
tO.rnlibre rifles, smokeless powder for
artillery for urmy and navy, and brown
rrismatIc powder for both army and
navy Fancy three trainloads at one
shipment bearing their terrible burden
10 headquarters. 4 (. n. :, I, r ~
By next week the daily shipments
across the continent Gof brown and
sn,okclcss powder will reach in pounds
the 10000 mark. Each hour Of the
twenty. four finds a force Of 200 skilled
workmen stralning every nerve and
muscle faithfully to the dangerous du-
lies In hand. yrAi 43- n II
orders by wire come thick upon each
others heels into the midst OF the work.
ers in this vale Of the San Lorenzo. and
at intervals the telephone rings sharp
command. The war department is trans
hitting its tersc, tense messages. J 81
Recently there was: an accident at the
mills In the canyon. Powder profess
slonals refer to such disasters as "pre-
mature EXPLOSIONS" In q large build
Ing filled with heavy machinery were
$4,000 pounds OF the strongest kind of
black powder one OF the most danger
Gus OF explosives known. The site OF
that structure Is to-day deep hole In
the ground, into which the water has
seeped, forming q little lake. 4 or the
dense growth Of redwoods around It,
nothing remains but few, trunks, burn
ed almost to the roots, and ghostly
survival Of eucalyptus. Bitter manroot
iwines about the blackened tree stumps,
and across one Of them d rusty bit OF
twisted Iron pipe lies where 1t fell, like
meteor from a molten sky.
The shock reused with terror the
Sleeping world for miles around, and
flung from their beds in a house a half
mile up the mountain side the super
!ntcndcnt. his wife and babe. The win
dows OF their residence were shattered.
Eleven men were killed, and none knew
how Il happened. No one ever knows
Just how premature" explosions occur.
Powder makers will tell you that they
are the result OF carelessness. We new
er hear ''the careless mans" story, for
the very good reason that he is always
dead when his testimony is needed. !
A few years ago q local company, at
considerable expense. sent q man east
for several months to Investigate pre-
caulionary measures in regard to nitro
gycerine. He returned with all the
knowledge obtainable upon$the subject.
and $1,000 and many, months were spent
in erecting matchmaking with the
proper preventions against premature
explosion. The plant was transferred
with the utmost care. ..5s.l;es
Two hours later this new safe" build
ing went up In asSpremature" explo-
sion. And that's as much as one can
believe in new safe" ideas to guard
against powder explosions.
Drawn up in battle array, with
mouths toward the ,forest,Sinto which
they belch their thunder. are the rined
cannon, an eight-inch. six inch and six
FOUNDER. the former weighing 10000
pounds. They carry, respectively, pros
tectllcs weighing $50, 100 and.si1 pounds,
md two men are constantly at work
polishing and cleaning their brass and
steel, for moisture gathers quickly in
the depth OF the wooded canyon, and 1t
takes much muscle to keep the weap-
ems Of war In condition. The si1-inch
cannon has already taken human life.
Its first blood was shed on, the deck of
the Olympia. The man who fired for
got 10 inspect the recoil cylinder, which
was empty of glycerlne.
One day last week two workmen were
bus!ly engaged on the earthen breast
works into which The projectiles plow
their way when practice Is going on.
They had somehow misunderstood or
ders az 10 the time OF repairing the bank
OF earth. A250-pound projectile await
ed the touch that would send 1t through
the screens into. the breastwork beyond.
Everything was in readiness for the
test. The signal "F'ire!" was upon the
lips of the superintendent, when a pre-
mention Of something wrong stayed the
command. He walked to the side of
the works, where two laborers, uncon-
sc!ous of their peril, were shoveling the
earth high In the air.
There are miraculous things happen
ms every day In this world of ours.
These men, literally digging their own
graves. were warned in time and led
back to safety
But there Is one impression more
vivid than the others which shall think
OF and shudder ut SO long as I live. A
great machine at work seems almost hn-
nan. but this creature OF iron, fend-
lsh In Its power, sullen in Its movement
as "a lion pacing In dull rage the confines
OF It's prison-this thing OF monster pro-
portions. travelling it's circle like, hor-
I!ple Jusgernaut, IL neither beast nor
human nor yet machine. 81
We call 1t the wheelmill." said SUI
perintendent Peyton. There are four
others on the place, and the men arc
blasting rock to make bed for two
more, TO be placed In n granite house.
Each OF these wheels weighs 5000
pounds. and the new ones will weigh
10000, solid iron, connected like these
oy a short axle and running on an iron
oed Powder must be thoroughly incor-
porated. Placed upon this. bed the char
coal and saltpetre are ground to fine
ness. This becomes highly explosive.
To keep II together and render 1t safe
certain moisture must be. maintained.
should the man at the wheel neglect
ms duty-should he let the powder reach
Inc explosive degree of dryncss-there
would be an explosion sufficient to
wreck the place. This machine has kill
ca Two men. f1t.is hard 10 tell by just
what act OF carelessncss One OF them
may have miscalculated the time for
adding moisture. or In cleaning this
p1ow which scrapes. the powder from the
s.aes he may have used q metal instcad