The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1900-04-28
A DANGEROUS TRADE.
PERlLS THAT sESET THE MAKING OF
NlTRoGLYCERlN.
Methods Used In the Manufacture of
This Dangerous Explosive The
Care That Has to He Exercised In
the Factories.


Nitroglycerin and its peculiarities
are little known, even in localities
where it is made. People generally
give it wide berth, and even less
number know how it is manufactured.
Probably in no place in the United
States Is there such great amount of
the explosive used as in the Indiana
Oilfields. Indiana has four nitroglycerin
factories, and they are seldom visited
by curious people.
The explosive is made from a cOmpo
ally pale yellow in color, and quite col
orless when pure. 1t is odorless, and
has a sweet, pungent, aromatic flavor.
If touched by ones tongue, or even
brought into contact with the skin, it
will produce a severe headache. A
large tank, called an agitator, is where
the fluid is mixed, and the mixture is
composed of equal parts of nitric and
sulphuric acids. Inside the tank are
several paddles, like those of a churn,
and it is here that the real danger in
the manufacture exists. The paddles
are put in operation and a steady
stream of sweet glycerin is turned into
a vat until $50 pounds are thoroughly
mixed with the 1900 pounds of acid.
The chemicals coming in contact pro,
duce all intense heat and in order to
obviate the danger cold water is rJn
through pipes encircling and running
through the vat At 81 degrees f.
red vapor, almost like fire. arises. If
cutting off the supply of glycern in the
agtator does not lower the temper
ature, it is time to say farewell. Before
90 degrees are reached nothing but
atoms of the structure and it's contents
are left.
In It's manufacture water is used to
flood the workroom, since drop fall
ing on the floor might lead to an explo.
sion. Not a nail is to be found in the
floor of the factory, and the visitor is
cautioned not to drag his feet Those
who make the dangerous fluid say that
a jar will not cause an explosion; that
friction and fire are the only agencies
by which 1t can be discharged. One
may pour a barrel of ntroglycerin
from a high building to cement walk
below and it will not explode, but a
small quantity of it dropped from the
same height in can will blow the
building down. A sharp cOncussion in
stantly touches it off. Factories be-
come useless after few years opera
ton and have to be destroyed. The
timber becomes saturated with nitro
glycerin and an explosion is imminent
at any time.
The average production of nitroglvc-
erin from 1,500 pounds of acid and go
pounds of glycerin is about $50 quarts.
About 1GO quarts constitute an average
shot for an Indiana oil well. While
magazine explosions are not rare, the
real cause of the blowing up never be-
comes known. Those who are close
enough to see the cause always go up
with the building. The average time
for a shooter or nitroglycerin maker to
remain in the business does not exceed
five years. Death is instant, and no
one has ever recovered from a nitro
glycerin accident. Bodies are torn to
atoms no larger than bits of sausage.
The wages of employees of the fac
tories range from $125 to $3.50 month.
Colonel William A. Myers of Bolivar
n. Y, was the man who made and ex-
ploded the first pound of nitroglycerin
in an oil well. He built the first fac
tory in the United States near Titus
vile, 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 nitroglycerin Colonel
Myers father was Philadelphia
chemist and taught his son how to
make 1t.
The first well torpedoed was on Colo
mel Mills lease, near Titusville, and the
charge consisted of only two pounds,
Oil was worth 50 a barrel then, and
torpedo that would double the produc-
ton of well was worth almost what
the maker chose to ask for it. Colonel
Myers built II different factories 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 today. Myers made
several fortunes and spent his money
like prince, but fortunately for him,
he still has snug sum laid by.
Well shooters spin great yarns Of
their experiences, and the stories are
| Of the hair raising order. Well shoot
ers generally are fatalists to a consid-
cradle degree In their belief, and it is
probably one reason why they do not
fear the fluid. They state that when
one would think it was the most dam
gerous the explosive is the safest.
The smallest drop can be placed on an
anvil and struck by the heaviest
hedge hammer, and the hammer will
bound back over the shoulder of the
striker, no matter how much he may
try to hold it, Some claim that it will
tear the arm off, but this is exaggera
ton. Transporting the explosive from
q magazine TO a well is not as danger
Gus as timid people think, according to
the shooters. 1t Is transported in
square cans such as are used for var
nish. In preparing for shooting a well,
long tin shell is suspended in the tub
ing, and the shooter pours the fluid
In as If it was water. 1t is not I'M
usual 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 to debrs.-Indianapolis Jour