St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-07-02
THEY COURT DEATH
Those Who Take Liberties With
illuminate of Mercury.
PERILS OF BLASTING CAPS.

toys" Often Picked Up Around Quar-
! RES, Are Responsible For Hundreds
OF Crippled Youngsters.
over tUU children have been hurt or
perhaps crippled tor life in the last five
years from paying with blasting caps.
1t rms mad happened at one time what
howl wound have gone up all over the
world: But because the accidents are
spread ali over the country and happen
at the rate of only about ten a month
nothing is done by the authorities. In
deed nothing can be done except to ed
ucate the whole population 10 realize
how dangerous these exceedingly use
ful things are when they are out of
their proper place. And what dread
tuI thing it is going through life Grip
pied or blinded for want OF little care
and KnOwledge.
Boys often play in and around quar-
r1es on Sundays and sometimes pick
up stray caps and start to investigate
them. 1t is the rarest thing that they
ever do this without getting hurt.
They perhaps know they are danger
Gus and that spark OF blow will ex-
plode them. but they do not realize
how sensitive they are. how violent
the explosion or how the pieces of cop
Il per fly. Even the name is misleading
in this respect. The word 'caps" sug
gests the paper caps used with toy pis-
tors. and because the blasting caps are
/ called Oy this name ii is natural to
think that the TWO articles belong to
| the same family. They may, but they
bear about the same resemblance to
each other that a hungry man eating
tiger does to the gentle pussy cat.
There are lots of ways of getting
crippled by exploding blasting caps be-
sides hitting them with a hammer and
] putting them in the fire. Extracting
the contents with a pin distributes un-
told fingers; holding a lighted match
under them or thrusting the flaming
| END into the cap gets Immediate ac-
ton. In the mines and quarries even.
where the men who nave to use blast
ing caps every day ought to know bet
ter. there are plenty OF mangled hands
and punctured hides as the result of
crimptng caps ON fuse with a jack
knife. pointed nail OF any tool that's
handy.
Many a miner has blown a hole
through his face in biting the cap on
the fuse. and others have filed them
selves with copper or have been killed
outright by the sparks from their hat
lamps or pipes dropping in an open
box OF caps. Lots of blaSterS continue |
to bite the caps on the fuse and think
that because they have never exploded !
them they never will. but some day !
they will bite the business end and |
lose something besides teeth. 1t is
much easier and lots safer to use the |
crimper. a tool made for the purpose. |
Accidentally stepping on a cap will /
often spoil perfectly good foot |
Sparks, fame. heat, blows. friction |
it's all the same to the cap to which /
they are applied.
A blasting cap is copper shell about |
a quarter of an inch in diameter and |
an inch or two long. half full of fulmi-
nate of mercury. This illuminate is
the most sensitive and about the most
impulsive explosive in common use.
Blasting caps contain anywhere from
fifteen to twenty grains of it. Primers
for firearms cartridges usually contain
not more than one grain That's what
the hammer or firing pin of gun or
pistol hits to ignite the powder in the
shell. blasting cap is meant to
work the other way. The powder from
the fuse ignites the illuminate in the
blasting cap. and it explodes with ter
rife force and detonates the dynamite.
The explosion of the illuminate is so
exceedingly quick that the flying par
dcles of copper will imbed themselves
In iron a foot away. They will blow a
hole clean through a steel plate one
sixteenth of an inch thick. A box Of
raps will blow a beautiful square hole
right through a two inch oak plank
One cap will blow a child's hand of
With the utmost certainty and dis
patch. Lingg. one of the Chicago an
Hrchists committed suicide by biting
q blasting cap between his teeth.
The point to he remembered is that
when blasting cap goes of 1t does
great damage locally. There is no es-
Gaping Its effects. Among all the 600
Dr. more accidents reported from playing
with blasting caps there are only two
Or three in which somebody was not
hurt
Electric blasting caps are just as
strong as ordinary blasting caps. but as
the capsule or she'll IL sealed up with a
sulphur plug through which the wires
are carried down 10 the illuminate. not
20 many accidents occur In playing
with them They are generally dipped
In dark cOInred wax and are not such
attractive playrhingS as the bright cop
per blasting caps. but they get there
just the same" Amateur electricians
are earnestly advised to bury the cleo
tr1c cap q foot or two iD the earth be-
fore trying 10 pass electric currents
through the wires. and they had better
not do II then. Don't open II up to see
what's In II: Explosive manufacturers
are not given TO impa ring trade secrets
promiscuously. but they will gladly tell
what's In the cans and now they are