The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1915-10-14

c1ant the Pennsylvania railroad has
run q track and cars are loaded with
explosives inside the enclosure at o
great shipping depot. Great quantities
of cotton are unloaded at the plant
daily. The utmost secrecy is main
tanned as to the destination of the ex-
plosives shipped out from the plant.
Box shops are kept busy night and day
making boxes to hold the explosives,
the boxes being labeled within the
plant. There are two construction Of
fees and a general office maintained
by the company at the plant. The
whole plant is connected by telephone
wires. II a guard encounters a sus-
picious person In the road near the
plant, he at once notifies other guards
OF the presence OF the person II the
stranger elects to walk along the road
the length OF the plant. The guard
system gives a very warlike appear.
ance to the new plant. A state police
man also patrols ~" Highway along
the plant daily, d does not inter
fere with some OF the high-handed
holdups made by the doputized guards.
In Ideal Location.
Emporium is an ideal situation for
an extensive explosive plant for 1t is
in the heart OF the great chemical dis
trict in which is made acetate of lime
much of which goes into the manufac-
ture of high explosives. Quite near at
hand are some Of the wood products
factories in which acetate is made
Emporium was formerly lumber CEN
ter The timber in its vicinity has
now been almost all cut off and with
the passing of numbering the creation
Of the new explosive plant comes as a
great business boon to the residents
of the town. Since the town has been
overrun with new employees and with
men looking for work, the merchants
have taken on new life, Emporium to-
day being one of the busiest towns of
its size in the United States. It's ho-
tells are crowded to their limit, its
boarding houses are overcrowded, and
many men have been forced to go
out into the country and put up at
farmhouses in order to get the shell
ter necessary for their comfort.
The new plant presents mile-long
scene of great activity, such activity
as Emporium never before knew. The
buildings are not close to each other
as a general rule, for, in case OF ex-
plosions, the company desires to save
as many OF its buildings as possible.
The recent explosion at Sinnemahon-
ing, not far from Emporium, in which
six men were blown to bits, drove ter
ror into the hearts Of the new workers
at the Emporium plant. Some of the
new men left the plant in haste after
the Sinnemahoning explosion. The
company finds no difficulty at present
in filing up it's ranks of laborers, there
being men on hand at Emporium who
do not balk at the most hazardous
Of Jobs. While there are men willing
to take their lives in their hands and
Join the working force at the plant.
here are residents Of Emporium who
fear to drive past the new plant,
thinking they may be caught in an ex-
plosiOn. OF course, the business men
of the town are boosting hard for the
new company which has been the
means of trebling their business dur.
| ing the past few months.
Peaceful Little Valley.
It is a peaceful little valley in which
the giant explosive plant is situated,
| valley, however which may be
! shaken by a tremendous explosion
some day as might any valley which
! harbOrs a gunCotton factory. Pitched
down as it is between mountains, the
force of the possible explosion will be
somewhat broken before 1t reaches the
! town of Emporium Nevertheless, the
| Emporium folk, used to the presence
OF small dynamite factories near their
town, do not feel as secure as they
once did as the magnitude of the new
plant has stirred their imaginations
That Is why they are seeing" air
ships lowering over the plant at night
ana LOOKING lOf spies from Europe
when strangers enter the town. 1t Is
necessary to make high explosives fol-
armies under the present scheme o.
civilization and It may as well be
made at Emporium. Pa, as any Other
place in the United States but the
making of it there is being carried OF
in terror and mystery, which i'll &C
cords with modern civilization.