Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-12-02
MAKING INTERCOLLEGIATE.

MAKING NiTRooLYcERiN.
Not So Dangerous, Workers Say, a.
People Think.
A day with the nitroglycerin makers.
to say the least, Is nerve celebrating.
The fumes from the acid tanks may
cut ones nostrils and stimulate the
heart to unusual activity. and the pun
cert and stimulating aroma from the
mixing chemicals may make ones head
ache to the splitting point. but not
withstaLding this there Is in the at
mosphere sort of air Of unusual risk
that appeals to the tenderfoot-that is,
efter he has figured it out with
mathematical precision that the chances
are about one in a million that the
blant will be thrown out Of operation
in a hurry during his stay. There Is.
however, says the Indianapolis News, a
throb Of gratitude 10 the powers that be
in the heart Of the tenderfOot when at
last he does get clear of the danger
belt with his body intact.
the process OF making nitrOglycerin
Is not extra interesting in itself. The
new Hartford City plant is one Of the
most modern in the country. with its
new compressed air appliances. The
old appliances used in mixing the acids
and then mixing the acids with the
glycerin into n tank and mixing them
with revolving paddles was much more
picturesque. At the Hartford City
plant the acids are kept in great iron
tanks similar to those used by the
Standard Oil Company in its local stor-
age yards. The acids are forced from
one tank into another and are mixed
by the application Of the air pressure
and then this mixed acid, which throws
off a cloud of dark, angry-lookihs
smoke through safety vents, is forced
through 4 long pipe line to small
towerlike building. This is the miro
Rlycerin house itself.
In this building are the great mixing
watts, which are kept at uniform tenn
perature of so degrees by circulation OF
brine forced from a refrigerating plant,
which passes in lead pipes around ana
through the tanks. The acid ana
Rlycerin are fed in with precision ana
mixed by gently moving automatic
naddles. II is needless to say that care
is exercised by the two men superln-
tpnOlIlK IIllS pTOCCso, oAe N''N -
not 50 painstaking as the ordinary per-
son ,vould exDect to find. When
mixed the liquid, which then looks like
moderately thick molasses of a whit
ish-brown color, is drained off into
storage tanks, ard from the tanks is
drained into ten-Quart tin cans.
The LIQUID hits the bottom of these
cans with that sort of a thud that
until l..
ICES that it is not such a fall as this,
but a peculiar jar or friction that
causes trouble. AS the can fills the
liquid makes gurgling sound that to
the -tenderfoot is not reassuring. Not
a drop Of the explosive is permitted 10
land outside the cans, and these cans
before being used are carefully inspect
ed and tested with water for leaks.
A leaky can, especially after it is load
ed into a wagon for transportation,
means loud report that awakes an en-
tire county, makes a great hole in the
scenery, and wipes everything around
It out Of existence. A drop of nitro
glycerin on the floor probably would
mean the same thing when the friction
Of a foot would be applied to 1t.
The capacity of the Hartford City
plant Is about 5000 quarts of the explo-
siye A day. Nine thousand quarts of
nitroglycerin is moving power Tor
sure-perhaps an estimate OF what II
Will do may be gained by the statement
that the safe-crackers who use 1T carry
their supply around in small Walls and
Use only IL few drops in blasting their
way into big safe. The nitroglycerin
clinging to the sides of an emty can. II
touched off. Is sufficient to jar n whole
community. Therefore. as much care
has to be used with the empty cans as
with the filled ones.
Though the railroads deliver the
acids and glycerin to the factories IN
carboys and tanks they do not handle
the dangerous commodity that their
mixture produces. The distributing
process. by which the factorys produc-
ton Ia got to the consumer. is more in
teresting than the process Of mixing
the acids and the glycerin. Every
morning n dozen or so unusual wagons
are backed up to the canning and stock
department of the factory and the
horses are securely tied. These wagons
have long, shallow beds. and over these
beds is heavy top that is bound down
securely by heavy iron bars that are
fastened and held in place by bolts and
screws. Along the sides of the beds
runs the warning: "Nitroglycerine-
Dangerous made all the more con-
spicuous by use OF red paint.
These are nitroglycerin freight trains.
They are driven in a fast walk across
the country by nervy drivers. who have
good, heavy horses. Each wagon is
loaded with 900 quarts-ninety Of the
two-and-a half gallon cans-which are
securely packed in padded compart-
ments. The padding is of felt and the
cans push down into the compartments
snugly. When once there, the cans
have no play and there is no vibration
OF them. Even the bottoms and tops
are padded to hold the cans firmly.
The extra high and sensitive springs
under the wagon bed reduce the jar Of
the road
. The liquid in the cans. which becomes
thin In hot WOO thar nd ,nproo1, ,a ,,;d