Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-10-15
NITRoGLYCERN CAN LEAKED.
So Bowers Shot His Wagon as Well
rs the Oil Well.

So Bowers Shot His Wagon as wen
rs the Oil Well.
An explosion near Oleopolis the 9TH
er day caused the residents to turn out
to look for the remains of the oil-well
shooter they supposed had been blown
ND by the nitroglycerin he was han
ding, SAYS a Franklin (Pa.) dispatch
to the New York Sun. Investigation
showed that William Bowers, shooter
from Housewife, had gone to shoot
| we'll on the Trax lease with fifty quarts
of nitroglycerin and had discovered that
one of the cans had sprung g leak and
| part Of the contents had seeped into the
bottom Of his wagon.
After shooting the well Bowers re-
moved his horses to safety and then
attached a fuse to the remaining can
and blew a 5000 wagon to atoms. 1t
was the only thing to do under the cir
| cumstances.
Examined under d microscope, nitro
glycerin has the appearance of a mass
Of round globules, and these globules
may be safely shaken in the can 50
! long as one of them does not burst.
When one does burst the entire load
| is sure to go off, taking shooter, wagon
and ALL
Leaking cans have probably been the
cause of more nitroglycerin explosions
than any other thing, and the shooters
use every precaution to prevent leaking
and Earring. The wagons are specially
built for the trade. They are lined
with cushions, in which each man sits
snugly, and the springs are made espe-
cially to take up the jar and concus-
sions that must be met.
Bowers must have driven for miles
with death threatening him at every
| turn of the wheels, unconscious of his
| danger, and his life was only saved
by one of those FRANKS of nitroglycerin
so familiar to the oil-country shooter.
Through the presence Of mind Of an
other shooter, Joseph Schultz, the lives
! of five men were saved recently when
quarts Of nitro -glycerin. On the der
| rick floor as spectators were Andrew
| M0ynihan, owner of the well Lee imp
stead, NJ Mcdonald and James Har-
kins.
Schultz had lowered three shells into
the well, intending to explode all three
at once. A shell is about eight feet
! long and four inches III circumference,
| g Il op
copper wire is soldered. A sand line
passing over a pulley at the top Of the
derrick is fastened to the shell with
a hook and in this way the glycerin is
| lowered into the hole.
Several extra yards of the sand line
were run into the hole with the eX-
peCtation that the hook would be
shaken loose from the torpedo Then
the engine was reversed and the line
started upward.
Schultz was guiding the line as it
emerged from the we'll with one hand
and holding the engine lever with the
| other when he made the discovery that
the hook had not been detached and
the torpedo or shell was being dragged
to the surface. There was only one
thing to do.
| Schultz shut off the engine, and as
| the torpedo emerged from the hole he
grabbed it and hung on for dear life.
The engine came to a stop before the
torpedo was drawn entirely through
his arms, and death just missed the
| five men.
| Schultz calmly readjusted the cap,
| lowered the torpedo into the well and
successfully exploded ali three shells.
and later in the afternoon shot a well
at Sage Run for McCollum & Co.