The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-30
HIGH GRADE EXPLOSIVES
A TOPIC on WHICH THERE Is A VAST
LOT OF INSTRUMENTATION.
What Dynamite Is, How 1t Is Made
and How 1t Acts-Safe Enough il
Not Carelessly Handled.
New York Times.

speaking or dynamite and Otner expo
sives," said an expert plaster, sit is doubt
| full IL there is another subject on which the
average lay mind is more misinformed.
Taking the Tarrant explosion, for example,
more ridiculous theories have been aired by
| citizens in letters to newspapers giving the
| possible causes of the explosion than would
| fill a good-sized joke book. And, as If to
make sure that the opinions expressed
should receive the proper attention, many
| of the writer's felt so cock-sure of the cor
rectness of their own conclusions that they
have not hesitated to mention in their com
munications that they were experts on the
subject.
| GAS will be remembered, four so-called
suspicious iron drums were discovered in
the ruins shortly after the fire. The drums
were of quarterback sheetiron, were two
feet in diameter were four and one-half
feet long, were provided with stout iron
chimes, upon which they were to be rolled,
and were of about one hundred gallons ca
| pacity. When found, two of the drums
showed that their heads had been blown
out, LEAKING ragged hole about foot in
| diameter
| Now, there is probably not an expert in
existence who would be willing to testify
| as to what those drums contained unless
/ he made thorough examination. Yet the
ridiculous statement has been made that
the drums contained nitro-glycerin-in
| other words, liquid dynamite. I am no
more prepared than any other man who
| handles explosives to say what really was
in the drums But for several good reasons
| 1 am willing to swear that nitro-glycerin
was not the contents.
ITO begin with, nitro-glycerin is never
packed in drums-the manufacturers have
| too much respect for the compound. Five
gallon cans is about the extreme quantity
| in which this explosive is shipped, and
| then there are no chimes or other rolling
| arrangements about the cans. There is
not place in this land where nitro-glycer-
| III is drawn off from tanks through a
| spigot and sold like beer. Moreover, In
| the heart of New York there is more
| sale for nitro-glycerin than there is for
| life RATS on Broadway. Again, no matter
| how used man has become to handling
| explosives, he retains his esteem for nitro
/ glycerin. Finally, had nitro-glycern
been in those drums, and had that guam
Fifty of that explosive gone off, not sky
| scraper within four blocks of the scene
| would have remained standing. The island
would have rocked. Not house in the
| lower part>of the city would have escaped
| unchanged. The shock would have been
felt down on Fire island. and instead of a
4
| lapsed, there would be a hole, blown from
| twenty to thirty feet to rock and the rock
would be burned and crumbled so that 1t
could be scratched away in chunks by
ones finger nails
1T may seem TO layman that the men
| handling high explosives in quarries and at
mines become careless. They may seem
| careless to one who has not learned to look
at the stuff without expecting to soar
heavenward for his audacity, but the pre-
| cautions which these men have been trained
/ TO exercise have become so much a second
nature to them that they are no longer
| conscious of observing them. If by any
chance new man does not show in fac
| tory or on job that he Is properly care
1 full, his career as a powder man is cut very
1 short.
| WHAT DYNAMITE is.
"Some one once said, Dynamite is like
a woman-you never know what it is going
to do next Without commenting on the
woman part of the statement. dynamite, or
ntro-glycerine. is one of the most reliable
as well as the strongest friend man has.
| Dynamite, you must know, is nothing but
nitro-glycerine soaked up in sawdust or in
Indian meal. This makes of the liquid ex-
plosive solid one, which can be handled
to be better advantage, which can be
strengthened, on a scale of percentage, to
| contain more or less of the explosive oil
| 10 the Oh nllrO soaked
| up in given quantity of sawdust-and
which is more easily handled, both as to
| safety and as a matter Of storing the stuff
| in assures of rocks and lodges, where a
| fluid would run out and away when used.
| Dynamite is cast into sticks known as
| cartridges. These are cylindrical in shape,
| and measure from an inch to an inch and
/ half in diameter by about six inches in
| length. In color they resemble the yellow
| Of linseed oil. and they are oily to the
| touch.
Il have seen some remarkable freaks in
| the line of tricks of dynamite. Explosive
1 as the stuff is, / have seen a case of 400
| cartridges fall LOO feet into a shaft and
| the case was simply smashed and the
dynamite landed in heap like so much
| harmless mush. On the other hand. saw
| man drop a cartridge from his hand to
| the ground, and there was not enough left
| OF him for a grease spot. This popularity
| OF dynamite, its tendency to explode under
| certain conditions and its non-explosive
| trait under more aggravating circum-
| stances, is something that is not explain
| sble But the fact remains that when
| properly handled, dynamite IS not danger
| Gus. Here and there we read OF blaster
| who blows himself up, and in nine cases
| out of ten it is simply that the man began
drilling in an old hole, not knowing that
| il was partly loaded with an old charge of
| dynamite.
UNLESS confined dynamite will burn like
| so much grease. L have seen a whole car
fridge Of dynamite thrown into the frebox
OF a boiler and the stuff burned roaring
Ike a tugboat blowing off steam. On an
other occasion / saw a man who had be-
come excited at burning cartridge throw
| IL to the ground and trample on ii trying
| to stamp out the flames and the man lived
| to tell the tale 1t is of frequent occur
| renee that dynamite Is accidentally set
| afire. This happens mostly in winter The
| cartridges then freeze. In that condition
| they are useless as far as blasting is con-
| cerned, for. whether confined or not. they
| simply burn. To thaw them il is neces-
sary either to immense them i'm hot wafer
| or to place them near a fire. The hot
| water. however, draws the strength out of
the cartridges. Therefore the bonfire meth
| cd is more often used. Hence the fires
"To set off dynamite an explosion is
| necessary. For this reason n Illuminating
| 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 ton at time and
| a slice of mountain IS blown down to be
| crushed into stone for our roads and drive
| ways.
ITS ACTION DOWNWARD.
lone of the peculiar actions of dynamite
| as compared to other explosives Is that its
action is downward. Often when in a
quarry it is desired to break huge rock
quickly cartridge Of dynamite is simply
| placed on top of the rock and after being
| covered with a little heap of earth is set
off, The rock is split into a number of
pieces. Were black powder heaped on a