The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-11-12


him:
Let me conclude with the mention
Of remarkable family of explosive
makers, the Duponts of Wilmington.
who for generations now have had
practical monopoly in this country of
the powder making business. includ-
ing dynamite and nitroglycerin. In
this enterprise great fortune has
accumulated. so that the Duponts of
to-day are very rich men. far beyond
any need OF working in the mills them
selves. and have been for years. Yet
work in the mills they do-all of them
practically-and direct in detail all
the processes of manufacture, and
face continually. day by day, i'm their
own persons the same terrible dangers
that the humblest mixer faces in his
tasks.
There has grown in their hearts
through the century n great pride Of
courage, like that of the officer who
leads his men into battlc-a pride far
stronger than any longing for pleas
ure. And they cannot, iC they would
leave these slow, grinding mills, where
any day n spark may bring catas-
trophe to make the whole land shud-
der.
There came Il day for instance-this
was n long time ago-when swift
flame swept through one of the mixing
rooms, nearly empty OF powder ut the
time, yet so permeated with the stuff
in floors and walls that the building
was burning iiercely in n few seconds
No man can say what started it, al
though it was believed that heavy
box. slid along the wooden floor
brought n fash out of the dry timberS
At any rate, the flash came, and the
blaze followed on it so swiftly that
the building was wrapped in fire be-
fore the men inside could reach the
door, and they presently burst out
blazing themselves. for their clothing
was sifted through with explosive
dust. Indeed. it is always true in fires
at powder-mills that the workmen are
n serious menace to the buildings by
reason OF their own infammability.
SO the next thing was Il plunge into
the placid BrandywiDe, which winds
across the yards between willow-hung
banks. In went the men; in went
young Alexis Dupont; and with little
hiss their flaming garments We're eX-
tinguished. Then. as they struck out
into the stream. they looked back and
saw that the wind was carrying Il
shower of sparks from the burning
building to the roof of n cuttng-mill
near by, where tons of powder lay.
For one of the sparks to reach the
tiniest powdcr-train would mean the
blowing up of this mill, and it might
be, the blowing up of another and
another by coEcussion.
All this young Dupont realized in
single glance. Here would be an
awful disaster presently, and many
lives imperiled, unless those falling
tirebrands could somehow be kept of,
that roof. To know this was to act.
Millionaire or not peril or not, it was
his plain duty as a Dupont to fight
those sparks, and. without a moments
wavering. he turned back and acram-
bled up the bank.
"Come on. boys!" he cried, start
the bucket line" And a moment later
he was climbing to the roof of the
threatened mill And there he did all
that q brave man can do; he stamped
out the falling emberS he dashed
water again and again upon the kind
ling fire rs the men passed up full
buckets; and for n time he seemed to
conquer. But presently the fire famed
hotter, the sparks came faster, and
the water came not fast enough lie
saw-he must have scen-that the
struggle was hopeless. that the mill
beneath him was doomed. that the
explosion must como soon. They called
on him TO save himself lie shouted
back an order that they pass up more
water, and keep passing water
The men below did their best. but
&c was a vain effort. for I'm those days
the roofs of powdcr-mills were made
Of pitch and cemeut-not of iron. as
to-day by this time the fire had
eaten It's way nearly through Alexis
Dupont, working desperately. stood
there with flames spreading all around
him. il was plain to every one that
the minutes OF his life were numbered.
Again they shouted and
The explosion came like an cSccu-
ton, and out Cf the wreck of St they
bore away his crushed aud broken
body The last thing ne knew was
that he had played thc game out fairly
20 the end-hc died like q Dupont said
the men.