The Forrest City times., 1901-11-01
MEN WHO TOY WITH DEATH.
They Handle Dynamite and Lead an
Uncertain Career-Some
Narrow Escapes.

SpFlDpHe4u 1t yGu44cdHs mere are
men in Springfield " no face death six
days out of seven. and think nothing
of it, and it is death of the most hor-
rible kind. These men handle the
dynamite and nitroglycerin which
are used in blasting rock in the differ
emit quarries, and they pay but little
heed TO handful Of the dim beyond
in the shape of stick of high explo-
sive done up in yellow wrapping
paper.
These men are experts in their
trade, and hold the positions of fore
men of the various gangs who do the
drilling and blasting in East Long
meadow and Nilbraham. They are
young men mostly, the trade not being
conducive TO old age. They begin as
assistant foremen and remain such I'M
til premature crash causes a yacan-
cy. AT first the fear Of high explosives
is drilled into them until they regard
the sawdust-iined boxes with horror.
But in a few months they become &C.
Gus stoned 10 their trade and handle
the big sticks OF dynamite as boy
handles a big firecraeker. They claim
that dynamite is no; such terrible
thing after all. unless you eat it, and
then Il will give you a violent head
ache. Men have often done this, and
ii makes them very Ill for short time.
A new assistant foreman is almost al
ways broken in in this manner.
Dynamite IS an uncertain quantity,
however, and acts differently al diff
ferent times. Ii burns without an ex-
plosion and can even be cropped on
the ground without going of, but this
is rot safe experiment % try. Let
a sick be stroked with a piece OF
metal. however. and If the man who
does i wishes to communicate with
his friends he viii have to use a long
distance telephone. Nitroy. ycerin is
almost an unknown quantity, and even
the most hardened quavryr1an handles
It with the utmost care.
In loading a rock with dynamite
various methods are used. bat the
most popular one Is TO put the ex-
plosiye into the hole quietly and then
press it in even more gently with a
stick. When the hole has been almost
filed the percussion cap attached 10
a 30-seconG fuse is pat n ard then bit
more dynamite pu5 n q apofit. The
whole charge i hen covered tenderly
with little sand AMI q match touched
10 the fuse. Y HE his is Icing done,
the innocent soEs Of sunny italy have
been seeking the long grass and tall
trees for safety. Each one yeHs fire"
at the top OF his lungs as he runs. and
JUS before The blast goes IF there is
nothing to be seen bnt the fleeing
/ foreman. After the crash and when
The shower Of rock has subsidized to
some extent the sorrowing foreman
/ goes IN search Of his Italians. He finds
them peacefully slpmberiag or talk.
/ ing in the woods, and when told 10
90 back to work each asks in
curious tone if the blast has gone of
1t was heard in the three adjoining
counties three minutes before II
/ takes some hours TO drill a hole for
/ blasting, and that IS the sad part OF
/ the whole game After the blast
there is nothing left Of the hole and
no example OF handiwork to hand
down to poSterity
Strange things are apt TO happen
TO the little tin box in which the
sticks are kept. This box is placed
carefully in the big tool box each
night and the keys Of both boxes are
placed deep in the pocket of the
foreman during the night Wild adj
ventures often take place near the
/ boxes, and one of the foremen told
/ Of narrow escape which a gang OF
men under him had this spring. The
+ dynamite was used freely during the
i day, and some loose sticks of it were
+ left in the bottom Of the big tool
+ box. When the six o'clock whistle
blew the Italians floeked TO the tool
! box Ike homing pigeons. The men
4 began 10 throw their picks and
/ crow bars into the box at long range.
/ Just then the foreman came on the
/ scene and yelled at them TO stop. as
+ he dove behind the nearest tree. No
/ one knows why the whole gang were
not blown into bits. 1t was Just one
/ of the strange freaks of dynamite.
! OF course, as dynamite and Jelly"
1 are not allowed 10 be carried on the
/ trains. they never are, but there are
some interesting times for men who
sit in seat holding a bag in their
arms during the entire journey. One
/ local foreman said he took a trip
awhile ago in crowded ear, and il
anyone had hit his travelling bag no
one on the car would have reached
the next station collectively. When
he got to The end of his journey he
went to hotel To get luncheon, and
while he was registering placed the
bag ON the desk beside him. A man
came in while the foreman was pre-
! senting his autograph TO the clerk,
and was hurt because the bag was on
/ the desk. To assert his rights as a
true citizen of a free country he
| grasped the bag and threw it on the