The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-25

Here and there We read of a plaster
who blows himself up and in nine cases
out of ten it is simply that the man be-
gan drilling in an old hole, not knowing
that 1t was partly loaded with an old
charge Of dynamite.
"Unless confined, dynamite will burn
like so much grease. I have seen a
whole cartridge of dynamite thrown
into the fire-box of a boiler and the
stuff burned roaring like tugboat
blowing off steam. On another occa-
sion | saw a man who had become ex-
cited at a burning cartridge throw it to
the ground and trample on it trying to
stamp out the flames, and the man
lived to tell the tale. 1t is of frequent
occurrence that dynamite is accidental
ly set afire. This happens mostly in
winter. The cartridges then freeze. In
that condition they are useless as far
as blasting is concerned, for, whether
confined or not they simply burn. To
thaw them it is necessary either to i'm
merse them in hot water or to place
them near fire The hot water how
ever, draws the strength out of the
cartridges Therefore the bonfire
methad is more often used. Hence the
fires.
ITO set off dynamite an explosion is
necessary. For this reason a fulmina-
ting cap Is affixed to the end of the
fuse so that when the spark has eaten
through the fuse the cap is set off and
at the same instant the whole charge Of
dynamite goes off, sometimes half a
tntt ut $ L.,
is blown down to be crushed into stone
for our roads and driveways.
zone of the peculiar actions of dyna-
mite as compared to other explosives is
that its action is downward. Often
when in a quarry it is desired to break
huge rock quickly, a cartridge Of dy-
Mantle is simply placed on top of the
rock, and after being covered with lit
tie heap of earth, is set off. The rock
is split into number of pieces. Were
black powder heaped on rock in the
same way the heap of dirt on top would
simply be blown away, leaving the rock
unframed. This downward action Of
dynamite makes 1t at once the most
useful and the most powerful of explo-
siyes known. / once assisted at a num-
Der of experiments at the Stevens In
stitute it being desired to prove the
downward action of dynamite and its
incredible force. A number of blocks
of iron, six inches in diameter and three
inches thick, were practiced upon An
ordinary newspaper was spread over
one of the blocks. A cartridge of dyna-
mite was placed on top of the paper,
Il
and covered with a heap of dirt, the
charge was set off When the block
was examined after the explosion the
print of the paper was distinctly i'm
pressed into the surface of the iron, |
The reason was that the paper, where |
the printers ink had touched 1t, was |
harded than the rest of the paper and |
by the incredibly hard and sudden |
blow struck by the dynamite, the inn
print of the shape of the letters was
made as plainly on the iron as if it had |
oeer cheese. A similar experiment was
then made with an ordinary oak leaf |
and the outlines of the leaf, ribs and |
Ill., was gouged into the iron. Both of |
hese blocks of iron are in the museum
attached to the institute.
with few outlines of dynamite, or
nitro glycerine, as it really is, made !
public, perhaps it will quiet an uneasy
rray of experts, who fear that dyna-
mite and similar explosives are stored
lnder their dining rooms. There are
of explosives besides these
,est known and most dreaded agents
hat might have caused the Tarrant ex-
'losion. Fierce as that explosion may
Gem to citizens who saw it, and careful
s the explosive chemicals should be
xcluded from the midst of a communi-
y, If that particular explosion had been
aused by an agent intended for that
purpose, New Workers. would have
title spot in their midst which 1t
would be worth travelling miles to see."
New York Times.