The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-20
Terrinc Power Of Nitre-t;iycertne Demon
strsted Daring ef the Mooniighters
Strange Escapes From Destruction
Tho Law and the sitro-Gi, cerine Man

broken. A part ~ the engine, weighing
more than one hundred pounds. was found
n third 81 a mile away. and tho agitator
and coils. weighing morn than thr-, tons.
were blown fully eighty feet. To mark
the spot where tho factory stood Is a hole
IS feet deep and On feet IN circumference,
Scarcely "a cigar boxfil Of thu remains Of
Ward was found and Gross. who wa evil
IDENTIFY como distance from tho building
when the explosion occurred. was found
with his head blown on and hs BODY
mangled.
Nitro-glycrr.ne accidents ara h. om ming
less frequent each year. II may bH that
the improvements made In the manner Of
handling IN" high explosive have reduced
III" danger Of accident, or " may H. that
IN" old recklessncs- ~ the average shooter
- giving waN 10 a NOR careful regard
for III" manner IA which he leaves this
earth Perhaps the nd way ~ leaving
The world, 10y lring blown 10 atoms. has
CEASED 10 IT, good form among the society
81 oil-well shooters.
Interviewer with the history ~ the oil
country - the history Of the nitro glycerine
business. and In point Of interest Il easily
shars honors with petroleum. The ne
ccssity 81 finding some method 81 doing
away with the parafi he ihn' incrustod
tn" veins Of The rock and the pipes was
early thrust upon the pioneer Ia the oil
Rnt"rts applied for a patent for q system
" exploding torT-do-s- Ia oil wells to in
crease their pruduCtivenc-s and after a long
fight got a monopoly II the business
In 1891 he substituted nitrp-glycrrine
for g%unIowder. A shooters war immr-
diat"ly started. Roicr's charged tro-
mrnious pric's. s2OO Tor a medium shot,
Which now costs $40. An army ~ moon
lighters th"rcupon Sprang mp in the oil
region. These monnlighters would put
a shot In a well az night and do u for a more
reasonable figur' than Roberts They
werU nerNy men indeed. running not only
the risks 81 capture hy the rlcCtiveS the
ltol-rts Issoplr had on their track dav aud
hight. but al~p IA" chances OF exploding
th" ~nitro-giycerin" while travelling through
IA. woods In the darkness II l. said a.
lawsuits Ven brought against producers
who patrpni1'd the mooulIghter- and
noted attorneys figured In the litigation.
tn" hr~i oil vel shooter to fall a Vlc'in
- ni,ruglycarine was William Mun-,n Il
Franklin. la "a small building ~ Rene.
midway between Franklin aud Ol city.
h" manufactures and -tor,-d tha explosive.
D." morning IN August. 1867. he entered
II is shop and a faW minutes later nj cN-
rlo-ion shattered the luilding aud 'or'
a hg hole in ;he ground Fragments %
Mun~nn'S body Were -,rewn over acres.
tn" nitrbglyc-rine was kept stored in
magazines In Isolated places ia tho woods.
Inc huiPrfs NbfnIanN DUN one o. these
magazines on the sida % n hill, two miles
from Ttusyille. and here occurred the
second fatal accident. Pat Bruphy. who
wa- In charge ~ the magazine. went there
n usual one day ia July, i>Cs. ant al. hour
later AZ explosion WIS heard throughout
the surrounding country. Pcople aud
horses on the STREETS ~ Titusvill. We're
thrown down. windows broken AID chin
news throw, to the ground. Hardly n
u particle Of Trophy could I~ found.
H. the summer at is7oRn acc1deut occurred
which d.inonstrated rho anna zing strength
- TIE explosive. Al ScrubsraS-. "
mango ouuty n ". ksdC"ld. an agent II
on" ~ the companies. hid a can ~ nitro
glNCrrine In some bushes ext getting 90
r.turu the new day AMI useit MIR. George
lc''ernaI,. Will" packing berries, found
the can and gave l. 20 her husband Fct-
t.rman thought u wa larl all ard sci. II
20 hi- wells intending To Use II ~ a m"riant
Feticrman found n heated Journal on an
ngipe one morning and poured some uf
tho fuid on 'he aNle white tho engine vas
IN rapid motion The explosion which
followed shattered tho nginc house into
sphnterS, TUNED three men in tho der
rrk. some distance away. and manglcd
Fetierman. tearing IN one arm ard crushing
his hend 20 a icllv fettcrman had poured
lc-s than n spoonful Of the explosive on
the axle Of the engine.
In IN" following year Capt. West and
Charles Palmer ~or" transferring cans OF
glyCsrino from n wagon Ia their maya
Yin" and Palmer wa handling the rams
~ reckle=sly hat West warned him soy
cral times To- H. mnrr careful. Palmer
had gone into the magazine with the four
iornth SGT uf cans " hen suddenly IA" maya
zine disappeared In a cloud Of dust and
smoke, leaving no irac' 81 the man what
ever. West was standing beside the wagon
and e-raIE.d unhurt The horses ran
furiously through the streets OF ntusville.
the cans which had not ts-n taken out
dancing around in the ted 81 N" wagon
Why they dii not explod" ~ one Of the
mysteries of the business
Many attempts were made hy moonlight
er- to pt'al ni'ro-glycrrin" from th" DIFF
fpront magazines. Ia 1915. ON tho turti-s
farm. In Mexican county, repeated attempts
were made To- rob a large magazine. Three
men lost their lives finally. II l. supposed
they tried 20 brrak the hook on the door
with n hammer They sucs-sdcd IN eN-
plpding the glyCorinc and only small frsg-
menis ~ the men remained 10 tell ID" tai"
The moonlightrr lid not haul his glycnrine
In n wagon, but carried u In n mealSack
slunR over his shoulder, Sometimes ~"
moonlighter was intoxicated and NJ such
times the way he yuggled his m"al~ack
with two ten-quart cans 81 glyCcrino IN
IL. generally had the effect Of depopulating
m. region round shout him IN shor, order.
James feen"y ~ the first man ~ho ever
won't through n glyccrine explosion AMI
lived to tell aheri; II. In February, iSso, Nc
and Tack,,t put six ans under the seat
of their sleigh and start~l to torpedo a
we'll ~ Tran Hollow. near Bradford. The
s.agh ~hpi~d IA n rIt IN ia" road and
Wa overturned. The glvcernc eNplod"d.
throwing 1arke't In tho air ana managing
him. while fe-nrv lay Fat H. tho ut Ia the
The violence 81 the shock pa~-s~t
over him. bu, he was covered with snow
and fence rails. 4 dwelling nearby was
wrcrkssi and 'wo inmates eIou.l injured
Nv falling tim'ers. FsSney H. still Ewing
and r--,dcs IN Bradford.
The greatest lo-- ~ life over canSsi
nv one "Splu~iun occurred VA February. I
IsSi. Charles Rust ~ Bradford went So
SAWYER CITY =, shoot n well Jam.s
Thra ,h"r. William Runton. Charle~ Crnu~r.
known ~ Rig Charlie. tn NoonlightCr.
and Rust. were on tho DERRICK -four. Rust
fll~i tho hr-, shell. adjusted the firms
head and struck ~" cap two shan blows
with hiz hand Thee wRs a binding
fash. a d~,af~ntnc report. ami dust. sfnuk"
an avirg mi--i~s allied the air.
p.~~- of The d.rncb NV hundreds -
vari. with th- force % cannon halls IN"
lt trou-- - the f~orrh-ad and pa--si
hs skull. killing him instantly
TArA-h.f and Runton w-r- tslh-i, AMI
ltus, "a thrown = hundr~i varsi- ~ ~,
80 l-g- tom - aid me iA~ haiier.-i.
Irsi SlaiteHv. \ toy On h- NaV 10 -cho-i.
"a ht ~ a tac~ - tn d-rnck and kisd
1hre- l.ovs ~Alkirr l~hind yuin,g SlafisFlv
w,fr ufur-i ard Div aud Nil-a gauge
..Nu. 0nN f@-f amnN as IaTff rnfm1