Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-03-09
PLAY WITH Death
Men Who Are Reckless In Han
ding High Explosives.
STORIES BY HUDSON MAXIM.

Left Hand Was Blown OH-John Ben
der's Contempt For Dynamite-Mix-
ing Fire and Nitroelycerin.
1T is practically impossible" writes
Hudson Maxim in Adventure, Ito
make the ordinary laboring man ap-
preciate the necessity of care in the
safe handling of explosives, and the
life of the careful man is always en-
dangered by the actions of the care
less one.
after l had sold the works at Max
i'm and had invented mOtorite l needed
q place In which to make the material
and hired Il branch Of the works there
for that purpose. 1t was winter. My
wife had accompanied me as Il pre-
cautionary measure. She was sitting
in the laboratory to keep warm, near
a big barrel stove charged with btu
minouS coal.
"On entering the laboratory for
something my wife asked me what
"a in those two tin pals sitting near
the stove. She said that she had q
suspicion it might be nitrogylycerin,
and she informed me that one Of my
men had just been in stirring the fire
and that the sparks flew out in all di-
%rectiOns, some of them lighting in the
buckets to be %quenched on top of the
oily liquid.
"'Horrors!' l said. 1t is ~nitroglyc-
erinr
81 called the man who had placed it
there and told him to take it away. AS
1t was necessary to keep the material
from freezing he took it into the boil
or house near by. A little later on. go
ing into the boiler house, | saw one of
the men stirring the fire While the 9th
er was standing with his coattails out
stretched in either hand. forming a
shield to keep the sparks from flying
into the ~nitroglycerin.
"In the manufacture of high explo-
Sives and in experimenting with them
q little observation-disclosures, a very
slight lack of exact caution, Il seem
1ngly insignificant inadvertence for a
moment, may cost one a limb or his
IN" II no Notob liz hl
left hand is Il case in point.
"On the day preceding that accident
l had had a gold cap put on q tooth.
In consequence the tooth ached
throughout the night and kept me
awake q greater part Of the time. In
the morning | rose early and went
down to my factory mt Maxim, n. j.
Tn order. fn tnGt tho gIrynncc of como
illuminate compound | took a little
piece of it, about the size of an Eng
fish penny. broke off Il small particle,
placed it III a stand outside the labO-
ratOry and. lighting a match. touched
it off.
lowing to my loss Of sleep the night
before my mind was not so alert as
usual. and | forgot to lay aside the
remaining piece of illuminate com
pound. but instead held it in my left
hand. A spark from the ignited piece
of illuminate compound entered my
left hand between my fingers, igniting
the piece there. with the result that
my hand was blown off to the wrist.
"Once when entering my storage
magazine at Maxim. in which were
several carloads of dynamite along
with $1,000 pounds Of nitrogelatin. |
saw John Bender, one Of my employ
ees, calmly but emphatically opening
q case of dynamite with a hammer
and q chiseI. | promptly discharged
him.
"Not long afterward the innkeeper
at Farmingdale called or me to buy
some dynamite and said he had engag-
ed Bender to blow the stumps out of
his meadow lot. ] told him Bender
was counting death for himself and
everybody around when handling dy-
Mantle, but Boniface still wanted
Bender to do the work.
"'Well,' said /, the dynamite you
want is 16 cents a pound, but If John
Bender does not succeed in blowing
himself up and killing himself with
the dynamite you can have it for moth
ing On the other hand. II he does
blow himself up you must pay for the
dynamite
"a few days later there was some
hitch in Bender's exceptional luck. A
particularly refractory old stump had
resisted a couple of Bender's dynamic
attacks. The failure to dislodge the
stump Bender took as a personal af-
front because it reflected upOn his skill
as a stump blaster.
"'Next time said he, something Is
going TO happen He placed about
twenty pounds Of dynamite under the
deep rooted veteran, touched 1t off, and
several things happened in very quick
succession. The huge stump let go It's
hold or earth and proceeded to hunt
Bender.
"It was a level race, but the stump
won. Striking Bender on the north
quarter, 1t stove in four ribs. dislocat-
ed several joints and damaged him In
several other respects and particulars.
B~oniface came to settle for the dyna-
mite.
"'Sixteen cents a pound l SAID.
Bender hasn't a chance in a hundred.
~ 80 $40 1919 Nth