Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1902-04-24

day, and it has orders to come right
back the same day. | rode out on the
train but | couldn't wait for it, so l
walked back The railroad station is
called Mooar But when you reach
Mooar you are still not at the works
by good deal although you have seen
great black clouds of smoke rolling
heavenward from the chimneys down
the ravine long before you reach the
atOn. The works are mile back
from the station in the timber. A
beautiful driveway built of crushed
stone leads the way to the factory. On
each side are shade trees whose
branches join across the road and
make Of it a perfect tunnel in summer
time. The trees got so thick and the
branches dropped so low that they
had just been closely trimmed in or
der that they may grow more bushy
and less scraggly.
A switch also runs to the works. The
wagon road a'ad the switch both belong
to the powder company. The road
leads through farms, and ON both sides,
OF the road were farmers busy harvest
ing the crop, unmindful of the fact
that not Il mile away was enough
powder to blow them all to kingdom
come it al accident should occur For.
as a matter of TACT, there Is no telling
what the damage might be if an eNplo-
sion should take place and all the pow
der on hand be blown up at once.
The road leads to the timber and
thence it winds down the ravine to
the factory. The land is all covered
with a thick growth of underbrush
and scrubby oaks. In many places
the bushes are so thick as to be
perfect jungle and impossible almost
OF being traversed. Rabbits are plen-
tiful and unafraid, for the keen-eyed
hunter knows better than to trespass
tnither. There are numerous signs
up bearing the legend: mo hunting
or trespassing allowed on these
grounds But none need be told twice
to be careful with shooting irons. A
stray shot might strike powder mag
azine and blow up the whole south
eastern corner of Iowa, and nobody
would be left to tell the story
The railroad switch, which is built
from the station down, belongs to the
company and is built in a very cheap
manner. It is very swift incline
all the way down, SO steep that car
turned loose at the upper end would
find it's way down to the works with
1,,,t ;4c,
tum, and its speed, one can imagine,
would be something frightful before it
reached it's destination.
But only one accident has ever oc-
CURED, and then it was not serious
Better care is taken now, for a work
man in the works lives out at the sta
ton and is allowed his time while
walking down the mile to his work.
Instead Of being required to be at
the factory when the o'clock whistle
blows he only has to be at the end of
the switch ready to walk his beat.
This is deemed "snap," for it is told
with some little show of pride by his
friends. It must be a rare favor to
be allowed to walk a mile to get to
work in a powder factory, where one
IS liable to be blown higher than Glide
Ioy's kite before you could say ''scat"
The switch engine from Keokuk
comes out every morning and brings
out material to use at the works and
to take the finished product back to
town for shipment. It takes from
four to six carloads Of raw material
each twenty-four hours. and half as
much of the finished product is shipped
out. The raw material consits of sui
phur, charcoal, saltpetre and black