The times., 1899-08-06

STORIES OF DYNAMITE.
Queer Freaks of the Explosive Re-
counted by B1aster.


"A cartridge of dynamite is pretty much
like woman-you can never tell what it
is going to do next, because 1t doesn't
know ITSELF" said boss blaster. Il have
seen powder salesman throw q cartridge
Of dynamite into a red-hot frebox of a
twenty-horse boiler and the stuff just
burned like lard. Next day I saw a black
boy repeat the experiment with a black
smiths forge and a pill of dynamite no
larger than a pea-and there will be
wholesome fear and soft coal in that boy
as long as he lives. / have seen case of
100 sticks of dynamite fall 500 feet down
a shaft and never wink, and I've seen an
Italian drop half cartridge from his hand
10 his boot and not q grease spot did the
poor fellow leave behind.
AT that the poor fellow deserved a bet
ter fate, for he made a desperate fight for
# before he scattered. He was loading a
blockhole at the time and had Just broken
a cartridge in half, when he dropped one
of the pieces. Before it touched the ground
he sort of half caught 1t and then began
desperate brief juggling act Again and
again he half caught the deadly thing.
Then he missed it. He made one last ef-
fort and stuck out his foot to break the
fall against the hard ground, but 1t didn't
work. There was bang and II was
lucky no enc stood near him. Which shows
my time ! have dropped similarly hundreds
of cartridges of dynamite and still / am
here with good digestion.
But II is in winter, when dynamite
freezes, that IL is most capricious Then
If you want Ii TO go of ii simply refuses
or burns with a dull roar, like boiler
blowing OF steam. II is IN thawing dyna-
mite that most of the accidents happen
about which you read. There are two
of r. frU Hx-na to y,fo
the cartridges on a steam boiler or within
safe distance OF q fire; the other by i'm
mersing them in pals of hot water. AS
the latter method draws out considerable
OF the nitro-glycerine from the cartridges
and, therefore, weakens them, ii is often
discarded in favor of the more risky fhaw-
ing by an open fire / once saw an mex
perienced man thaw &, dozen cartridges by
an open fire, though, as the sequel will
show, he completely lost his head when
suddenly confronted with an unusual emer-
gency. He had placed the cartridges with
In a foot of an open wood fire and had
seated himself nearby TO await develop
ments when one of the cartridges caught
fire. Had he left Il to burn itself out
the chances are thousand TO one that
nothing very startling would have happen
ed for Il is concussion and not fire that
explodes dynamite. Instead, he rushed for
ward, picked up the burning stick by one
end and holding it upward like a candle
began TO blow and blow until he was black
in the face He never let go until the flame
began 10 nip his fingers, and then in his
excitement he threw the cartridge to the
ground and began to stamp on il with his
heels as If he were killing a snake; and
by thunder, he stamped out the burning
cartridge and lived to tell about it, The
cart boys called him Angel after that, be-
cause by rights he ought 10 be an angel
now.
"One day a professor from Stevens In
stitute of Technology came to the quarry
and asked me to perform a certain expert
ment for him. We printed with dynamite
direct from a newspaper onto a block OF
iron. The professor said the experiment
proved most interesting, as he had dis
covered among other things that dynamite
works downward and not upward, like
black powder. Our way OF proving that
in quarry is TO lay stick of dynamite on
top of a bowlder After the shot the
bowlder is smashed to bits But the pro-
fessor had his own notions. He carried
three round blocks of iron, six inches in
diameter and three inches thick. Then he
took newspaper from his pocket and
spread one sheet over the face of the block
/ placed half a stick of dynamite on top
and covered il with a little heap OF sand
and touched her off. You would hardly
believe the result, but you can see the
block on exhibition in glass case In the
Stevens Institute library and you can
read on IL distinctly-of course, the type
appears backward-the printing of that
part OF the paper which covered the block
at the time OF the explosion. But the pro-
fessor had another wrinkle up his sleeve
He picked an ordinary oak leaf and spread
it over the face OF a second block. / pre-
pared charge similar to the first and
this time the ribs of the leaf and even its
outlines appeared distinctly pressed into
the iron surface. According to the
professor. the action of the dynamite was
so quick that the ribs OF the leaf had not
time 10 burst apart before they were i'm
pressed on the iron. In the case OF the
the printed letters were harder
than the surrounding white OF the paper,
therefore the impression.
The professors third block is not on
exhibition for the reason that we never
found a piece Of ii larger than a Glove
and that reminds me, what do you sayf"
The reporter said Yes"