Year: 1878

he accidents that occur from the use
! u giant powder, writes a Downieyille


miner to the Mountain Messenqer, com


pared with those arising from the use


OF black powder, are in number alto.


gether most favorable to the former.


Men that have used the black powder a


lifetime, and the giant since it first came
INTO use, are most frequently the ones


that are injured or killed. They have


become too familiar, and consequently


more careless in handling. Either it is


question of doubt whether an accident
ever occurs from using powder in mines


at all S; If all the disasters we hear or


read OF could be traced up, nearly all


would be found to be carelessness or


pure absence Of mind of the persons


using them; and those that have used


them longest may be the next victims.


Miners know that the giant cans are


more dangerous thar the powder itself.


| viii mention three eases, ,one my own.


We often read or hear how people lose
their fingers or even their lives by inves-
tlgatlng the illuminate in giant caps
with pin, a nail or knife. Even car
rylng them loose in their pockets, the
mercury getting warm and ex-
ploding with light conclusion, and
portions of the copper entering the vital
part and causing death. The
appearance of q miner on
our streets recently, minus two
fingers and thumb, through the ex-
plosion of a cap he was cleaning the
sawdust from with a wooden splinter,
shows that great careis needed in hand
ling them. Tom Callison & Co., at


Alabama Hill, about four years ago,


were thawing out eight cartridges under
the stove one cold morning before day
light, previous to going to work. The
paper wrappers are well saturated with
glycerine and easily take fire. A Gin
der or spark came in contact with one
OF the wrappers, and instantly each
cartridge was shooting and Kissing out
blaze that seemed of the Internal re-
gions; they did not explode, but Tom
did. He shot out of the window and
took the sash with him; cut his feet
with the glass, and landed-on the cold,
beautiful snow. He was lame for three
weeks. The cabin was in a blaze, but
that they soon extinguished. How
came within an inch of my life within
the last fortnight. / had drilled a 20
inch hole in the bedrock, about $50
feet from the mouth of the tunnel. The
tunnel is very crooked | fixed my
giant cap on the fuse, and about inches
of giant cartridge. With the cap and
fuse in hand, and tamping and tamping-
stick in the other, and, contrary to my
previous cautiousness, | carried the can
dlestick, with lighted candle, in the
same hand with the powder. The
candle had burned low and [
hurried on to light another. Walking
quickly threw back the blaze of the
candle and ignited the powder. heard
a Kissing noise, but we had broken
through into the old ground, and l
fancied it might be the wind / turned
my head to reach for new candle, my
other one that instant had gone out.
saw then, with horror, my giant car
fridge was on fire, and | in total dark
ness, but by great good luck the car
fridge projected one inch further for
ward than the cap beside. l turned it
up, and looked right into it. They, the
cartridges, are about an inch in diam
eter, but tnat one looked at least a foot.
| would not swear, but it seemed like
three feet, with an intense red glowing
heat in the bottom. started to run in
the darkness, and held on for an in
stant to the Internal thing. Quick as
thought | threw it back from me as far
as | could, expecting the shock would
make it explode; but it did not. |
heard it kissing in The dark for some
time, until | suppose it burned out I
from that tunnel in hot haste,
a frightened, but, | hope, a wiser man.
There are numbers of narrow escapes
we never hear of, but the fatal ones
shock the whole community.