The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
HOUSE DYNAM|TED
 AT GRAVES MINES Explosive Missile Thrown De-
 meIiShes Front Porch SHOOTING AT PRATT CITY sentines Challenge Man Trying To Get Through Lines and Several
 Shots Are. Fired = Noble Goes Through Camps.
SHOOTING AT PRATT CITY

The house of a negro non-union miner at Graves mines was dynamited late Sat urday night, but no personal injuries were sustained by the occupants. It appears that the dynamite was thrown at the house but fell short falling be- tween the front fence and the porch to the house, both fence and porch being demolished.
 A call was made upon the sheriff s office asking that the bloodhounds be sent to the scene On account of the dogs following a trail at the time in the opposite end of the county it was inn possible to get them to Graves before the trail grew cold.
 Beyond this there were no other in- cidents reported, beyond the regular Sun day meetings of the various locals or the union. From what could be learned it appears that these meetings were quiet, the sober-minded portion Of the union strikers appearing to have gained con- trol of the situation.
 Mai. Ben F. Noble, with a few officers of his staff took another automobile trip yesterday to the various camps, some So miles being traversed. The itinerary in- cluded Pratt City, Republic, Blossburg, Idnn,s Crossing. Banner Flat Top, and a number of other places. Major Noble is in close touch with the situation, nav ing made a personal inspection during the past AS hours of practically every mining camp in the district affected by the strike.
 At a number of places the union men paraded through their respective towns. They were unarmed and their appearance as a rule was very peaceable, though they all seemed to be full of determina- tion.
 Some little excitement was occasioned at the Pratt City camp last night when a man attempted to pass the military lines without answering the sentry's chal- lenge He was challeneged number of times without replying, and the pickets turning their guns on him, fired several times, causing him to disappear imme- diately.
 Most of the troops have finished ar ranging their camps, and their exercise during the past few days has, beyond the regular drills, consisted of only an occasional hike. They are being familiar fzed with the country and are ready to cope with almost any kind of situation.
 All of the troops on duty consist of cavalry and artilerymen. It Is consid- cred very probable that most of the cav airy troops will be mounted this week, which it is believed will increase their efficiency to great extent This strike duty also marks the artillery boys first fantry tactics.
 All of the troops are now armed with the new Springfield rifle, which is much shorter than the KragJorgensen, which superseded the old Springfield several years ago. The exterior of the rifle is entirely of wood with the exception of the triggers. wind-guage and a few other parts of its mechanism. The barrel is covered with wood, which enables the person handling 1t to keep shooting con- tinuously without the rifle getting too hot to handle. With the rifles having a metal barrel exposed it very often happens that the gun must be laid down to cool after half dozen shots are fired, the firing of the heavy cartridges creating an intense heat.
 All of the troops in the field are equipped with the regulation steel jacket bullets. these being the bullets intended for war service. Quite number of the soldiers were furnished with guard bull lets-a steel jacket bullet less powerful than the regular steel jacket-but these were called in, it being discovered that many of them were jamming In the rifles.
 Capt T. s. Price, who has recently been elected captain of Company K, and who has also been one of the rifle range instructors for a long time, made pro- test against the guard bullets. On one of Governor Comer's visits to the Bloss- burg camp, where Major Noble and Cap tain Price were established prior to Ma jor Noble assuming command of all the forces, an illustration was made for the governor showing how these guard bull lets worked When the chief executive saw how the cartridges damned he is- sued instructions to cease using these cartridges.
 The regulation steel cartridge is nearly three inches long, the steel bullet coming to a small point. The inside of the bullet is lead, the steel simply being a casing. Its diameter at the thickest part is scarcely a quarter of an inch. The powder has pinkish color and isf abso- lutely smokeless making it almost inn possible for an enemy to discover the exact place from which the bullet was fired, should the soldier shooting it be dressed in khaki and lying in the grass. InMV YN MHNmIlIN