The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-22
DILL Is

Hitchcock, Harry Woods and two horses
were practically annihilated. The wages
of employees Of the factories range from
1925 to $50 per month.
Strange as II may seem, the man VINO
made and exploded the first pound of MI
tro-glyceTin in an oil well Is hale ana
hearty at Y years of age. He is Col Will
lam A. Myers and his home Is at Bolivar.
n. Y. He built his first factory In the
United States, near Titusville Pa, in 1868.
Up to that time powder had been used
to torpedo oil wells. 1t was then that an
explosive that could be discharged under
water was found in nitro-glycerin Col.
Myers father was Philadelphia chemist
and taught his son how TO make IL. The
first well torpedoed was on Col. Mills
lease, near Titusville, and the charge con-
sisted of only two pounds. Oil was worth
80 barrel then, and a torpedo that would
double the production of a well was worth
almost what the maker chose to ask for
it. Col. Myers built twelve different fac
tories in different parts of the oil regions
from 1868 to 1885, when he retired from
the business. Only one of the original fac
tories stands intact to-day. Myers made
several fortunes and spent his money like
Prince. but fortunately for him, he
still has a snug sum laid by.
Well shooters spin great yarns OF their
experiences, and the stories are of the
are fatalists to considerable degree in
their belief, and it is probably one rea-
son why they do not fear the fluid. They
state that when one would think il was
the most dangerous the explosive is the
safest. The smallest drop can be placed
on an anvil and struck by the heaviest
sledge hammer and the hammer will bound
back over the shoulder of the striker no
matter how much he may try TO hold II.
Some claim that it will tear the arm Off,
but this is exaggerated. Transporting the
explosive from a magazine to a well is
not as dangerous as timid people think,
according 10 the shooters. 1t is transport
Cd in square cans such as are used for
varnsh. In preparing for shooting a well
a long lin shell is suspended in the tub
ing and the shooters pour the fluid in as
IL it was water. 1t is not unusual for
200 quarts to be In a well shooters wagon
on one trip. a slight leak in a can may
be touched off by friction and explode the
entire load. If 1t should explode in the
center of a town every building would
be reduced instantly 10 debris
Ever since the big explosion two miles
east of Montpelier people give the nitro
glycerine wagons aud the magazines
wide berth. A big hole in the ground
probably thirty feet in diameter and fif-
teen feet deep In the center, marks the
place where the most disastrous nltro-gly-
cerin explosion Of Indiana ever occurred.
George Hickock, who lost his life there,
was the oldest shooter in Indiana aud Is
said to have held the record for the best
time in executing the dangerous task.
There is no doubt that he dropped the "go-
devil" in moro of Indiana's famous oil
wells than any shooter ever in the field
Considering the danger he encounters.
the shooter is poorly paid. The glycern
companies pay him 10 cents a quart for
doing the work, which means he gets from
50 to sl6 for every charge he handles