New-York tribune., 1912-04-30

stitutes more than half OF the explosives
made and that, next TO nitroglycerine anc
illuminate OF mercury, IT Is the most pow
erfu OF all explosives In use, II is worthy
OF note that the transportation companies
are able to do their work so we'll and with
so few accidents.
The largest dynamite plant in the world
is located in New Jersey opposite Chester
Penn. During the last eight years approx
mately 200 10000 pounds of dynamite have
| been manufactured az this point and not
single life has been lost by accidental ex-
piosion. The du Pont company has during
the last six years meintained Throughout
tho several states 100 storage magazines.
In connection with them during this perion
there have been only,two explosions. This
showing has been compared with the pup
! lished statistics OF boiler insurance conf
punies, and the percentage Of explosions of
boilers is found to be higher than for any
powder magazine.
The largest black powder plant In the
world IL located at Mooar, Iowa IL mas a
daily output of 400 kegs, or 1,aO,cO Kegs
year. This plant, With its manufacturing
! units, has been In continual operation for
twenty years, turning out In that time
! "a 900 600 kegs Of powder During this period
, there has been only one serious explosion
at this point. Many plants OF less capacity
| have been in operation for a quarter OF
! century without any explosions
There are maintained throughout the
! United States BY dealers in explosives
| storage magazines OF various kinds running
! into thousands I'm which are kept quantities
] Of explosives ranging from few hundred
| hounds TO many tons. Who can recall an
! explosion in any one Of them? AND YET
! there Is one OF them in every neighborhood.
Tho exnlnsives thus stored are in original
packages, az are explosives In transit anu
IL !s said that there is not on record u
single accidental explosion by reason Oh
| spontaneous combustion.
During the last year two explosions nave
! occurred that have been Of more than usual
! magnitude one resulted in the destruction
of the du pont plant at Pleasant Prairie'
Wis. and the other was the letting loose
! of :, vast quantity OF dynamite at Com
munIpaw. y. j.. within a stones throw OF
the high buildings of New York CITY. In
| the largest quantity Of powder probably
set of I'm the history OF the world. Inc
shock was apparent In Indianapolis ana yet
the loss Of life was small. and under tue
circumstances the destruction OF property
was slight.
At Communipaw the alarm that followed
was largely accentuated By reason OF the
locality I'm which the explosion occurred anu
the features attending II. II IS worthy Vi
note that the same morning this dyhaiiil'e
.'Iet loose" there was an accident IN one ol
the tunnels in the same neighborhood that
resulted in the death of twelve men oy SUI
location. The daily papers contained col
umns concerning the dynamite explosion
hut scarcely mentioned the awful Tragedy
NJ death nv suffocation. The dynamite cx-
r,os,op n,onopolized attention because OF
the noise and shock attending It, the ter
rifle detonaton and the dull roar and rum
bic caused thereby. The trembling OF the
earth and the imaginary swaylng OF the ,dii
buildings all conspired to make this the star
performance OF this exceedingly potenuai
and high tempered substance, but Wheh the
actual fatalities were reckoned and other
damage computed Il was ascertalned tuat
the disturbance was entirely out OF pro-
portion To the actual results.
After explosions Of this character II is
easily understood why more extreme ana
eycttabla persons should demand mat
heuceforth explosives he outlawed bOth 1T
their manufacture and transportation. But
with fuu information the public would hard
,, agrce with this extreme view, realizing
that unwarranted and unreasonable regula-
tIons thrown around the manufacture, the
storace or the shipment OF explosives would
no felt I'm almost every avenue of industrial
effort The Geological Survey In "aehins-
ton Is authority for the statement that OF
the tonnage transported by railroads % per
cent is made UP OF coal. iron ana otner
kinds of ore mined by the aid OF explosives
Tho du Pont Powder Company last year
did an explosives business OF approximate!
$40 600. 900. and only a mere fraction OF this
went into smokeless power for war pur-
poses Explosives are now manufacturer
for constructive, not destructive. Work. Inc
railroads that cross yawnlng chasms, pore
through mountains and wind around pre-
cipitous cliffs have been made possible by
the giant builder-dynamite.
The tunnels under rivers and bays. under
ground railways and mammoth skyscrap-
ers could not be built without dynamite
Such vastly important projects as the Saiit
Ste Marie Canal. that links the Great
Lakes or the Panama Canal, that cleaves
the continents, are the product OF dynamite
The iron that makes the steel that Is the
framework OF mammoth buildings ana
bridges. the roadway OF steam and electric
TRANSFORMATION and the main structure OF
ba attlcships and ocean greyhounds must be
mined with dynamite. Nearly all our goid'
silver, lead, tin, copper and other metais
are mined with dynamite. The stone that
makes nux for the furnace, or Is ground
I'm for cement, our building stone and paw
ing blocks are all quarrted with dynamite.
Tho coal that warns and lights our
,.r,os that drives tho locomotives, the
steamships and the engines that run all our
factories is mined with dynamite or blast
ing powdcr. In short, our whole CONNER
cIaI and industrial fabric rests on an ex-
| posive basis
Evsn a temporary cessation OF the manu-
facture Of explosives would precipltate fam
| inc and industrial chaos.
A city ofncisl called at the Chicago Of
| Hcc Of the du Pont company after the ex-
p,oslou at Pleasant Prairie. Wis, to de-
! mand the cessation Of all shipments or ex-
/ nlosiyes through Chicago. But he changed
his mind when confronted with the facts
| that such shipments had been made almost
| d,uv for many years without damage, aud
! 49, IN stop them would mean TO stop.
staryc and freeze Chicago.
All these things and many others were
talked over by tho bright young men re-
/ f,rr.d TO I'm the first paragraph. The man
! ,f.c,u,o Of the product is fraught with