Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-02-10
PLAY WITH DEATH HIS GIRL FRIENDS.
Men Who Are Reckless In Han.
ding High Explosives.
STORIES By HUDSON MAxlha.

The Accident by Which the INVENTOR
Left Hand Was Blown of-John Ben
der's Contempt For oynamite--Mix'
ing Fire and NitrooIyeerin.
1T is practically impossible" writes
Hudson Maxim in Adventure, 'tt
make the ordinary iaboring man ap
preciate the necessity Of care in thu
safe handling of explosives, and thu
life of the careful mon 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 needed
! a place in which to make the material
and hired branch Of the works there
for that purpose. 1t was winter. My
wife had accompanied me as a pre-.
'cautionary measure. She was sitting
IN the laboratory to keep warm, near
a big barrel stove charged with btu.
minous coal.
Ou cAtCl1uS luC AOA
something my wife asked me what
was in those two tin pals sitting near
the stove. She said that she had a
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 few out in all d.
rections, some of them lighting In the
buckets to be quenched on top of the
oily liquid.
"'Horrorsr l said. 1t is nitroglyc.
erinr
II called the man who had placed it
there and told him to take 1t away. As
it was necessary to keep the material
from freezing he took it into the boil.
er house near by. A little later on, 60.
ing into the boiler house, l 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
a little observation-disclosures, a very
slight lack of exact caution, a seem
ingly insigni6cant inadvertence for
moment, may cost one limb or his
life. The accident that cost me my
left hand is case in point.
ION the day preceding that accident
l had had gold cap put on a tooth.
In consequence the tooth ached
throughout the night and kept me
awake greater part Of the time. In
the morning l rose early and went
down to my factory at Maxim, N. J.
In order to test the dryness Of some
illuminate compound I took a little
piece Of 1t, about the size of an Eng
lish penny. broke of a small particle.
placed it on a stand outside the labo-
ratory and. lighting a match. touched
1t of.
lowing to my loss Of sleep the night
before my mind was not 80 alert as
usual, and forgot to lay aside the
remaining piece Of illuminate CON-
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 of 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, I
saw John Bender, one Of my employ
ees, calmly but emphatically opening
a case Of dynamite with a hammer
and chisel. promptly discharged
him.
mot long afterward the innkeeper
at Farmingdale called on me to buy
some dynamite and said he had engag-
cd 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.
"'Wei!.' said I, the dynamite you
want is 16 cents a pound, but II John
Bender does not succeed in blowing
himself up and killing himself with
the dynamite you can have 1t for moth
ing. On the other hand, II he does
blow himself mp you must pay for the
dynamite
"A few days later there was some
hitch in Benders 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 1t reflected upon his skill
a. a stump plaster.
"'Next time.' said he, something Il
going to happen He placed about
twenty pounds Of dynamite under the
deep rooted veteran, touched It of, and
several things happened in very quick
succession. The huge stump let 60 its
hold on earth and proceeded to hunt
Bender.
1T was a level race, but the stump
won. Striking Bender on the north
quarter, It stove in four ribs, dislocat-
"a several Joints and damaged him in
several other respects and particulars.
Boniface came to settle for the dyna.
mite.
sixteen cents q pound I said.