The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-06-21
THEY COURT DEATH
Those Who Take Liberties With
illuminate of Mercury.
PERILS OF BLASTING CAPS.

These Dangerous and Sensitive "Play-
toys" often Picked Up Around Quar-
ries, Are Responsible For Hundreds
of Crippled Youngsters.
Over GOO children have been hurt or l
perhaps crippled for life in the last five
years from playing with blasting caps
Ii this had happened at one time what
a howl would have gone up all over the |
world. But because the accidents are
spread all 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 /
ncate the whole population TO realize /
how dangerous these exceedingly use
ful things are when they are out of |
their proper place And what dread
full thing it is going through life Grip
pied or blinded for want of little care
and knowledge.
Boys often play in and around quar-
ries 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
Uus and that spark or a blow will ex-
plode them, but they do not realize
how sensitive they are. how violent
the explosion or how the pieces OF cop
per fly. Even the name is misleading
in this respect. The word caps" sug-
gests the paper caps used with toy pis-
/ tolls, and because the blasting caps are
called by 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 I'M
told fingers; holding a lighted match
under them or thrusting the flaming
end into the cap gets immediate &C
ton. In the mines and quarries even.
where the men who have 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
crimping caps on fuse with a jack
knife, pointed nail or any tool that's
handy.
Many n 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 a perfectly good foot.
e 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
qnarter 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
4 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 a gun or
n pistol hits to ignite the powder in the
Is she'll. A blasting cap is meant TO
4 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
e ticles of copper will imbed themselves
Is In iron a foot away. They will blow a
hole clean through a steel plate one
sixteenth OF an inch thick. 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. IinGg. one of the Chicago an
= archists. committed suicide by biting
:. blasting cap between his teeth.
The point TO be remembered is tina
when a blasting cap goes of it doe
. great damage locally. There is no es
Gaping its effects. Among all the Coz
OF more accidents reported from playin!
with blasting caps there are only twt
or three in which somebody was no
hurt
Electric blasting caps are just a
strong as ordinary blasting caps. but a
the capsule or shell is sealed up with
sulphur plug through which the wire
nre carried down TO the illuminate. no
80 many accidents occur In playin
with them. They are generally dippe
in dark colored wax and are not sue
attractive playthings as the bright col
per blasting caps. but they get ther
Just the same" Amateur electrician
& are earnestly advised to bury the ele'
q trio cap a foot or two IN the earth b'
4 fore trying to pass electric current