Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-10-21
Every Precautlon Taken to Pre-.
vent Accidents But They
Do Occur Sometimes.
WORKMfN TAKE pREcAUIlpN
When an Explosion Does Come There
is Never Enough Left to Tell How
IT Happened Cotton Room
No. Open to Visitors and only
One Man is Employed There.

There Is only one word-"hair.
z raising"--to apply to the article In
* Appleton's for November on Life
In a Smokcless Powder Mill" The
author, a. w. Rollicr, says:
Working in smokeless powder
8 mill is like sitting on the iii %!
Vesuvins only more dangerous.
Whereas the volcano grumbles civ.
Ing ample warning to those above
before belchlng forth It's torrents of
fire and lava, the powder mill Is like
"a gigantic bombsliell filed with hil.
man creatures, loaded with tons OF
gun cotton, primed and ready to
explode from Il score of known and
unknown reasons.
Sometimes when danger house
blows up, tearing men within TO
atoms, rending the building into
match sticks. and gouglng gaping
hole thirty feet across into rocks
and gravel, 1t is Impossible to tell
even what caused the accident. Other
times the disaster is traceable to
the carelpssnss or disObedience of an
Z employee. Occasionally, catastrophe
Is due to an unavoidable accident
like the mere stubbing of toe.
Frlghtful Explosions Occur
whatever the cause. when tho
crash comes it is the most incon.
ceivably frightful ordeal to which
the human nervous system can bt
Subjected.
How human creatures cnn be IN
tluced to take the risks OF working
In such IN earthly inferno, ready to
burst OH the instant In all its horror,
may seem past understanding; still.
thousands upon thousands of men
work In these mills scattered through
out the United States.
THE gun cotton drying house.
where the washed nitrated cotton
must be dried absolutely, shares with
the nitroglycerin building the repu.
tation of being the most hazardous
on tho face of the earth.
THE gun-cotton drying house, con.
tanning rs much as iive tons OF the
frightlul explosive, n half tenspoonful
OF which would be enough to blow
you into smlthereens, stands iso.
yards from the next nearest build.
ing. Nothing except the porten-
! tous word Danger painted in biz
blacl, letters over the entrance dis.
tingulshes this house from the other
structures yet us you gaze at Its
very isolation you approach with
deep respect.
Italian Holds Post of Danger.
Only one person is permitted II,
this house, an Italian; medium
sized, chunky man he is, dark and
swarthy, with black eyes and black
er mustache. You are surprised tina,
this position of trust. requiring cool
headedness and the most faithful ut
tentlon to duty, should be held by
a foreigner Still he Is man Of
years of experience, so trained L
caution that it has become habit
exercised like second nature,
THE man in charge will not per
nit you inside this house no matter
how favored a visitor you may be
The most he will do Is to open the
3 lower door OF one Of the drying room:
to give you a peep within.
He Is married and has Ave chill
dren. No, he isn't afraid If he were
he would not work where he Is work
Ing He knows. of course that If hs
+ violates any of certain rules, he and
4 his house are going to leave togeth
er; but he has no intention Of vic
s lating precautions. He never ha.
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