Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-03-28
PRODUCING DYNAMITE
SAND DUNES OF INDIANA DE-
VOTED TO THE EXPLOSIVE.
One Of the Large Factories of the Coun-
try Operated Within Thirty Miles
Of Chicago.
From the Chicago Tribune.

rom the chicago tribune.
In the midst of a stretch of desolate sand
dunes in Lake county, Ind, scarcely more
than thirty miles from Chicago, is a spot
which might well be the Mecca of the an
archist. Everywhere is sand-sand in beach,
es hillocks, ridges and hills-and out of
these drifting, shifting heaps rises smoke
from the stacks of one of the largest plants
in the country devoted to the manufacture
OF dynamite.
1t is plague spot to those who look upon
1t from affair." but to those whose duty takes
them into mixing houses, nitrators, acid
works, packhouses and magazines in the
plant of nearly five hundred acres it is a
place where wages are good. where en-
rloyment is steady, and where-even
through the atmosphere of unceasing watch
fulness and care-the spirit of gossip and
laughter and song may find its vent.
But watchfulness and care on the part of
men have not sufficed to reassure the build
ers of such plant for profit. Each build
Ing is separated from the others by wide
spaces, in which sand entertainments have
been heaped as further precaution against
a possible explosion in one building COM
n.unicating itself 10 another. Several tram
way lines connect these structures, how
ever, making the wide distances Of small
consequence in the matter of time. The
whole plant is heated by steam and lighted
OF fire, and, with these general precautions,
the studied carefulness of employees in
every department of the work is the price
of safety in this ever-menacing occupation
OF dynamite making
Evolution of Machinery.
AS might readily be conceived, the ma
chinery adapted to the manufacture of dy-
Mantle, nitroglycerine and gelatine has been
slow in approaching perfection. 1t has
grown by steps almost as cautious as those
by which the chemist has come to a knowl-
edge of what will happen when he mixes
two substances in a mortar. In the early
days of chemistry the stroke of a pestle in
mortar has sent a laboratory up in smoke
or blown 1t to fragments for idle winds
Today chemical laboratory is a good fire
risk, and the time may come when even a
factory making dynamite will be allowed a
site in city block. That time has not yet
come, however
Nobel discovered dynamite in 1SG7-a dis
covery, however, which simply made nitro
giycerine portable with comparative safety
and capable of being exploded in a dry
state. A box of dynamite may be thrown
from any height or may sustain a violent
shock without explosion. 1t is much safer
than gunpowder when all possible condi-
tions of shipment and storage are consid-
cred
Primitive Dynamite.
In the beginning dynamite was made by
saturating wood pulp, sawdust or charcoal
with nitroglycerine. Later 1t was found
that keselauhr, a slicious earth, spongy
and compressible, was the best agent for
this absorption. 1t absorbs larger quaint
ties of the liquid and holds 1t against evap-
Grafton. In this form dynamite freezes
easily, and 1t hardens past working at A.
degrees; on being warmed TO 80 degrees or
above, however, it regains its full force In
small quantities it may be burned without
danger: in large bulk, however, it is likely
to explode while burning. To explode 1t
special decorating caps are used in the
cartridges.
Another explosive agent. used almost as
extensively as dynamite. is blasting gela-
tine, mixture of nitroglycerne and nitro
cotton. which is enc of the most effective
explosives. 1t Is tough. elastic semi
transparent substance, more insensble to
shocks than is dynamite. and it is neces-
sary to employ for its explosion an espe-
c!ally strong detonator 1t is insoluble in
water and this quality renders it specially
suitable for subaqueous blasting Both
dynamite and gelatine are packed in paper
shells that have been dipped in paraffne
The packing of dynamite cartridges is done
by hand. while gelatine usually is packed
by machine.