Evening journal., 1902-01-02
WHRN YNAMITR IN
and IN NOT SAFE
Recent Explosions Make
Timely the Topic
Winter the Season Of Peril-One
Wilmington Company Deals in
the Explosive

The recent serious explosions of
dynamite make timely the remarks of
a dealer in the deadly explosive as TO
the causes OF the unexpected blow-ups
and the way to prevent them. IL
properly cared for dynamite Is perfect
w harmless. according to the dealer.
but the least bit OF carclessness means
that there IS danger.
"A combination of cold and careless
ness IS the cause OF the majority of
these explosions said the dynamite
seller Dynamite freezes very readily
and when It Is frozen Il will not 20 off
lit has no power. Blasters. them
must thaw it, When they 90 about it's
thawing in the wrong way. bang gl-it
goes or"
The dealer took a stick of dynamite
IN his hand. Il presented the appear
ance of n cylinder of stiff and greasy
yellow paper, an inch and q quarter in
diameter and eight inches long. That
is the uniform size of dynamite sticks.
He unfolded the paper az one end, and
the explosive within could be seen; a
lpale gray substance Of about the con-
lsistency OF wet sawdust.
Now. said he, I'll guarantee that
nine-tenths of dynamite in the use
about the city was frozen when the
blasters went to get It this morning,
They had to thaw it. and If they were
clever fellows they thawed it in the
right way by what is known as the
double boiler method. Thus they par
TALLY filled boiler with wafer: Ia it
they set a smaller lidded boiler thai
contained the frozen sticks. then they
lcautiously heated the whole contriv-
ance. and the hot water thawed the
dynamite
"The wrong way Of thawing Is TO
make a little bank of earth. and 10
lean the sticks up against this bank
land build a fire nearby If all goes
well the heat thaws the sticks. and no
hahn is done. but what is to prevent a
spark from blowing on the sticks and
/ lexplOding them? Dynamite does not
always explode by fire: sometimes it
win burn and sizzle as harmlessly as
wood but IL is a mysterious stuff, Il
viii occasionally explode. and the best
thing to do is to keep fire as far away
from it as possible.
There is only one firm engaged I'm
the manufacture Of dynamite that has
offices i'm Wilmington. OF course
there is more OF the explosive to be
found in other offices. 1t is shipped
from the factory packed in sawdust. in
cases that weigh fifty pounds. The
cases are marked with big danger
signs. AS soon as the dynamite ar
rives the dealers transport it to their
magazines. being careful not to drop
t.. not to let it be knocked about in
any way and not 10 bring FIRE within
its neighborhood. and they deliver
their orders direct from the magazines
where it is stored.
III contractor is In business in a
sma1 way he buys only enough dyna-
mite at a time to last him through the
lob he has on hand Thus he never
has any Of it'lying around. If he is in
business I'm a large way he buys It di-
rect from the manufacturer. and it is
delivered TO him by freight at the spot
where he is at work He stores il
then in q magazine that he has already
put mp on the grounds. and one man
has charge of the magazine and its
contents. This man carries some TWEEN
ty or thirty sticks around with him in
box. handing them out as they are
needed for the blasts The box itself
never leaves his hands He also has
the key to the magazine. and no one
else is allowed 10 go near It.
ITO set OF a blast by means of dy-
lnamiie cap is dangerous. The cap is
little thing. a brass cylinder an inch