The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
BREAKING Up ARMOR PLATh
A Ton of Dynamite q Week Used in tho
Process by Caleb Bland.


MoNocAoY Pa, Oct Up In tho ravine
n half mile from here Is where they use a ton OF
dynamite every week in an armor plate grave
yard Steel armor plato that fails TO pass the Gov
nment inspection is sent here to be broken into
fragments To be returned 10 the smelteTs al the
mills The noise Of the process may DO heard
fifteen miles away. Operations are directed by
Caleb Bland. He has forty men al work twenty
who drill holes In tho Armor plate by night and
twenty who do nothing but explode dynamite
by electricity during the day
As many as forty holes drilled In a single
steel plate These holes arc filled with dynamite
which Is fred by wire, one shot after another
reminding one Of the roar Of artillery or the thun
der Of batteships in action This is kept up all
day The sides Of the surrounding hills break
in a measure. the terrific sound, yet tho roar 10
deafening and the earth shakes They use the
finest diamond drills. and the men eng aged in tho
business have been doing little else for long tina
II is remarkable that no, moro people arc hurt
The workmcn four tons OF dynamite every
month and yet accidents They now
blowing TO pieces armor plate from the Mdvale
Steel Works, under contract The plates are ship
ped by rail to the MonoCaoy ravine over the Read
ing railroad and when they are broken into bits
are sent back again. They also blast into frag-
mcnts large condem led cannons from various gun
They busy every day. The terfRo firing
begins about O'Clock every morning and con-
tinues until well on in the afternoon. Frequently
gunners or nut hunters are alarmed by the fear
full noise. not knowing what is the cause. They
break up thousands Of pounds Of chilled steel every
day. The drills are run by steam. The drilling
is done by night. so that they can FIRE during the
day and not keep any one from sleep The only
complaints they now have re from some new men
on the night shift who cannot sleep in the day
Said one Of the bosses
"Our old men who work at nigh, can sleep in
the day quite we l. no matter how much noise
we make They are used 10 it. those men
can sleep during the most terrific explosions
II is wonderful yet they do IL ! he women folks
for miles arOuni attend to their household work,
not at all mindinG the Of the exploding dvnA-
mite They are accustomed TO it, I he children
go to school and study their lessons but are not
disturbed. II is just as If they were studying
near the firing line Of an army every school day.
They don't mind it. Wonderful what We can
get used to Strangers coming along hold their
ears and leave in terror II they'd stop awhile
they'd get used 10 II No. we have no complaint II
from our men about injured eardrums. Some
wear cotton in their ears but not many We
can fire hundred shots by electricity very fast,
nearly ono second, If Il is necessary. You
can imagine II requires good many shots 10
use up ton Of dynamite In six working days
We are careful in handling the dynamite and
that's why we have so few casualties We have
the best Of appliances to prevent tho scattering
OF fine iron or steel in the air and to avoid damages
resulting from nving fragments We had a
man in our employ who was blown up, losing
/ his feet, hands and both eyes Ho still liveS
| and is doing tho work Of an evangelist"