Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-10-24
VISIT TO DYNAMITE WORKS..
with an Argument ~ to the ExDlo-
siveness Of This Chemical
Compound.

Whether dynamite explodes easily
or not, is apparently moot question.
At least, it is one that dynamite work
ers are not agreed on among them
selves, according to Cleveland Moi
fett's report in St. Nicholas, of con-
versation he took part in not long
ago.
Farther down the road, he writes, I
came to railroad track where a
long freight train was standing on q
siding. Some men were busy here load
ing car with clean-looking wooden
boxes that might have held starch or
soap, but did hold dynamite neatly
packed in long fat sticks like huge
firecrackers. Each box bore this in
scription in red letters: High Ex-
plosiyes. Dangerous" looked along
the train and saw that there were sew
eral cars closed and sealed, with a
sign nailed on the outside: Powder.
Handle carefully"
In this case powder" means dyna-
mite, for the product of dynamite
factory is always called powder. I
think the men feel more comfortable
when they use that milder name.
There was powder" enough on this
train to wreck a city, but nobody
seemed to mind. The men laughed and
loitered. They might have been lay
ing bricks, for any interest they
showed.
asked one of them if it is consid-
cred safe to haul carloads of dynamite
about the country. He said that some
people consider it safe, and some do
not; some railroads will carry dyna-
mite, while others refuse it.
Suppose a man were to shoot q
rifle ball into one of these cars" I
asked, edo you think it would ex-
plode? 2"
This led to an argument. One of the
group was positive it would explode.
Conclusion, he declared, was the thing
that sets off dynamite. Another knew
of experiments at the works where
they had fired rifle balls into quanti-
ties of dynamite, and had only con-
cluded that sometimes 1t exploded and
sometimes it didn't.
Then third man spoke up with
an air of authority. you've got to
have red spark" said he, "to set
off dynamite. I've handled it long
enough to know. Here's an expert
ment that's been tried: They took an
old fiat-car and loaded it with rocks;
then they fastened a box of dyna-
mite to the bumper, and let the car
run down steep grade, bang! into
another car anchored at the bottom.
And they found that the dynamite
never exploded unless the bumpers
were faced with iron. 1t didn't mat
ter how much conclusion they got
with wooden bumpers, the dynamite
was like that much putty; but as
soon as red spark jumped into it
out of the iron, why, off she'd go.'
Then he instanced various cases
where powder-cars had gone through
railroad wrecks without exploding,
although boxes of dynamite had been
smashed open and scattered about.
"How about that car of ours the
other day up in central New York;"
SoiNl Viz III SO AInAs Every CuiHS WAS
blown to pieces, and six lads were
killed."
He smiled grimly, but the other
persisted: "That collision only
proves what say. The red-hot loco
motive plowed through car of dyna-
mite, and of course she went up.
But it wasn't the conclusion did it;
it was the sparks"
All right, the other man said, his
friend could sit on dynamite-car
whenever anybody began shooting
rifle-balls into it. The friend was
positive it would be safe enough
place to sit, if the rifle balls didn't
strike iron.
''You say that it takes red spark"
l observed, Ito set off dynamite. Do
yol mean that white spark wouldn't
do IT,"
CHATS what mean," said he. "It
seems queer, but it's fact. Put a
whita hot poker into a box of dyna-
mite. md it will only burn; put in
a red-hot poker, it will explode"
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