The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-02
DYNAMITE
HOW THE TERRIBLE EXPLOSIVE
 IS MANUFACTURED.
Section of Indiana Sand Dunes De- dicated to Its Making-Few {. Persons Go Through
 the Works.

In the midst or sueeSh os so.se iy more than thirty miles from Chicago, IS a spot which might well be the Mecca of the anarchists, says The Chicago TIT, Reaches. 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 10 the manufacture or ,rdsas ryhaie tsers an his pilgrimage to the birthplace of one of the most destructive agents known to chemistry. The tramp. the hobo and hood make wide circuits of the, silent buildings over which the smoke at times seems to take the form of that grim messenger, Death. It is plague spot to- those whose duty takes axe saea acid works, packhouses and magazines in the plant of nearly 800 acres. 1t is place where wages are good, where efn- through the atmosphere of unceastng watchfulness and care-the spirit ot gossip and laughter and song may ma It's vent.
 cf men have not sufficed to req ssute tn, builders of such a plant For profit. Esch building is separated from fhs others Iy wide snaces, in which sand emoank- p..ecaution against possible .xp'osioh in one building communicating u3eI Io another Several tramway lines con meet these structures Of Sm II cone uu.pce in the matter of time. The wnole plant is heated by steam and iigh.ed " el,ctricity, thus minimizing tho derg.; 5 of fire, and. with these gener Il hiseau- tloas. tho studied carefulres@ O. tm- pleycs in every department of ne vol KS is the pr ice of safety in this ever men acirg occupation of dynamite makingf
 Few visitors have ever gone Inrough ttese works. Few persons 1aye ever tx- rtGt, fn an hp L,en content to look on the plant from afar as the modern inferno, and oue Of this disposition to look and wonder have grown many ideas that are at variance with fact. There are stories anoat that in some of the danger" depart ments of the works men talk in whis-. pers. unwilling to have the sound waves from the human voice break snarp- ly into the atmosphere
 It is needless to dispute such fantastic Inventions; to say that every necessary precaution is taken in these departments, however, is to state only mildly the ex- fact the immunity of the place from serious accident may be ascribed.
 As might readily be conceived the ma- chinery adapted to the manufacture or dynamite. nitroglycerin ah1 gelatin has been slow in approaching perfection: It has grown by steps almost as cautious LIS those by which the chemist has come to a knowledge of what will happen when he mixes two substances in a nor tar. In the early days of chemistry the stroke of pestle in a mortar has sent a laboratory up in smoke or sblown II to fragments for idle winds. Today 4 chemical laboratory Is a good fire risk. and the time may come even factory making dynamite will be allowed site In a city block. That time has not yet come, however.
 Nobel discovered dynamite in 1S67-s discovery, however. which simply made nitroglycerin portable with comparative safety and capable of being exploded ir dry state.
 Since 1t was first brought out it has established itself so firmly that it com mands extensive sales, and few agents have been more helpful or essential 1T mining and engineering. No other blast ing agent excels 1t in point of safety Neither in transit or in storage ha! 1t caused the disastrous accidents sucl as those with which the name of gun powder has been associated. A box 0 dynamite may be thrown from an. height or may sastain violent shocl without explosion. It is much safer thar gunpowder when all possible conditions of shipment and storage are considered
 In the beginning dynamite was mad by saturating wood pulp, sawdust ol charcoal with nitroglycerin. Later it wa found that Kieselquhr. a slicious earth spongv and compressible. was the bes agent for this absorption. It absorb larger quantities of the liquid and hold. it against evaporation.
  and it hardens past working at 42 de grees; on being warmed to 90 degrees ol above. however, 1t remains it's full force In small quantities it may be burned without danger; in large bulk, however it is likely to explode while burning. TC explode it special detonation caps are used in the cartridges.
 Another explosive agent, used almos as extensively as dynamite is blastin, gelatin "a mixture of nitroglycerin anC nitfocotton. which is one of the mos explosives. It is tough elastic semi. transparent substance. more insensibl, to shocks than is dynamite, and 1t i: necessary to employ for its explosion an especially strong detonator. It is insolubl in water, and this quality renders il specially suitable for subauueous blast ing.
 Roth dynamite and gelatin are packed in paper shells that have been dipped in paraffin. The packing of dynamite cartridges is done by hand, while geia tin usually Is packed by machine Packers receive about S6C a month fo this work, and consider it compara.vely free from danger. The mixing house. are considered most dangerous. although accidents are few oven there. In one big plant near Chicago, which has beer in operation more than twenty years only eight men have been killed, and when it Is considered that at times 20 men have been employed, it will be seer that dynamite workers are less liable tt accident than are men in many other oc equations that commonly are regarded a: scarcely in the hazardous class.
 rurY TTPPENnER TO ErAp