In A Powder Mill

I propose to talk about an explosión of a powdor mili. It has nover been my hap to see one described, and it has seemed to me that an account of an occurrence of this sort, which does not come under comraon observation, might not be uninteresting. Whilo explosions aro not the final cause of powder works - that is, while they are not built expressly for the purpose of exploding - yet they are located with reference to it. It was tho fortune of this writer to reside for a nuinber of years within a few miles of the powder manufactories of the Messrs. Dupont, of Dolaware, and so had opportunitius of obsorving the thing of which he speaks. Thcse woiks will probably be a fair sample of others. These powder milis, perhaps the most extensiva in the country, aro about three miles above the city of Wilmington, on the banks of the Brandywine rive. The position was selected, some fifty or moro years ago, by the father of the present proprietors. It is one of the most boautiful in the whole land. The river flows through an exquisito valley, where at every step some new beauty of wood and hül enchants the eyes. Not only is the general location selected, but the various buildings of these powder manufactories aro placed, in referenoe to the ever present danger of an explosión. The works are not connected with one auother in one great building, or in a connected series of buildings. - They are built along the river bauks for over a half a mile on either side, and with so much of distance botween them that an explosión in oue does not ordinarily communicate itself to another, and its destructivo effects do not extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the building in which it occurred. The buildings themselves are constructed carefully, with reference to these aceidents. They - at least those where the process of manufacturo reaches the stago ot aanger- are built oí stone, with three massive walls of solid masonry some ten or twelve feet thick. The fourth side, that which looks toward the river. is inade of light frame work. The roof is constructed as simply as possible, and is laid upon the walls, and not built into thom. The design of this method of constructioii may be readily seen. If any explosión ocours, the boarded roof and side of the building readilyjyield, and are blown nto the river, while the massive walls of ;he other three sides withstand the shock. The building is like a huge mortar. By ;his additional precaution the lateral ef'ects of the explosión are provented, and ;he buildings are measurably protected. Theso procautionary nieasures, however, are not always effeotual. Aa a general thing - for explosions of greater or ess violence are not infrequent - a single dull, heavy detonation is heard, and it' is almost unnoticed by those residing in the neighborhood. If slight, it inay readily )e taken for the noiss of a blast in the quarries near by. As, in certam stages of the manufaturo, the niachinery is set n motion, and tho workmen leave the room when the danger is most imminent, ife is not necessarily lost by the accident. Che only harm that has occurred is the oss of the simple machinery, the materials and tho lighter portion of the buildg- Sometimos the case is very different.- [ have a very vivid remembranco of one. '.t was the first and most severe of which [ had any experience. I was sitting with soine of niy friends n the parlor of tny house, at about 11 o'clock in the morning, when there cawe a sudden jar and a fearful shock, as of some very heavy body falling, as I thought, upon the piazza, which ran along the rear of the house; I started from my seat and ;oward tbe door, to see what had happened thore, but had scarcely risen when another concussion and a mighty detona;ion carne. I supposed that a very heavy pieco of artillery had been discharged in ;he stroet, just in tho rear of the house. - Before I could reach the door, but a few reet away, thore caine anothor detonation and anothor terrific jar, which shook the ïouse to its foundations. The three rejorts were in such rapid succession as to 3e almost simultaneous, but thought was quicker than they, and leapod from supposition to supposition in an instant. - The last concussion dissolved my doubts as to the origin of thoso that had preceded it, and I at once looked in the directïon in which I knew the powder milis were. A spectacle of oxquisite beauty and sublimity met my eyes, which will abide in my memory forever. I can hardly expect to convey to the reader the impression which it mado upon me. Towering in the heavons, sharply defined ugainst the deop-blue sky, was a column of dazzling white, perhaps a milo in height and a thousand feet in diameter. lts sidos were evenly cut and in perfect symmetry thro' the wholo length of the marvelous column, till they spread out on either side at the top in a broad, palm-like canopy. The mid-day sun was shining upon it and lighting it up with an unearthly splendor, while it seemed to stand almost over us. We gazed awe struck and entranced i upon it, and onuld easily think of that pillar of cloud that, in the olden time, stood in its awful majesty in front of the camp of Israel. It was 30 vast that it seetned close at hand, although it was three miles away. We watched it silently till it slowly changed its form, and gradually drifted in great cuinulous clouds away. It was a visión of singular and glorious beauty, such as I never expecl to see again. In this instanco three buildings had been destroyed, The shock of the explosión was exceedingly niarked and peculiar, different from anything that I had previously known. It had a sort of pervasive character that suggested the cause as being noar at hand. My first impression was not of something at a distanc but rather of the jar of a hoavy body f al ing within four or five fout of whore w wero sitting, anS, when it wasropeated, o: a cannon discharged close by the house It seemed to be underneath and a around - to fill the very earth and air. This porvasivo character of the shock 1 vory remarkable. It is the same in a that I have heard. It soems to be fe! scarcely moro violent in the itnmediat vicinity of the place wbore it oceurret than miles away. In this case we wer betweon three and four miles off, and yo the explosión could havo scarcely been more startling and severely feit, or havo soemed nearer, to those within a few rods of the place. Indeed, on certain occasions, the violence of a shock is feit much greater at a distance than close at hand. In one iustance that I remember, tho detonation and concussion were feit and heard distinctly and severely in Philadelphia and Chester oounty, Pa., some 30 miles away, while thoy woro scarcely noticed in Wilmington. It was curious to witness the effects of an explosión where it occurrod, so I set out at once for it. A great concourse was thronging the avenue leading toward the powder milis, and dotting the fields which lay between them and the oity. There was no time to bo lost inhiring avehicle; so giving some specimens of tall pedestrianism, learned of yore in ths streets of New York, I was soon in advance of the crowd, and in company with a young and wiry Scotchman, whoni I could not 1 outwalk, was over the beautiful Lilis and through the woods which skirt Brandywine, at the place. It was difficult, indeed, aa I think of it now after soine years, quite impossible, to realize what had taken place not an hour beforo. The day was at its noon, and the lovely valley was sleeping in quiet beauty. All was perfectly still, with nothing to suggest the terrible occurrence, exeepl it might be those two or three rounded heaps yonder, over which a white canvass sheet was thrown. Under them lay the poor mutilated remasns of what a little while ago were stal wart men. It was not good for loved one or stranger to look upon them now ! What struck me more than anything eke was the peculiar air of cleanliness and order that was over the place. Everything, trees, stones, road-bed, wcre blackoned, but all were smoothly swept. It seemed as if some time before there had been a fire, which had blackened everything, and that some one had gone around afterward, and, carefully gathering up and conveying away all debris, had scrupulously swept the whole with brooms, leaving only the soot stains behind. Nothing of the sort had been done.- Here was siuaply the result of the storm which had, a little while before, swept the spot. Usually, the force of tho explosión is so great that no debris can be left behind. It is simply hurled out of existence. There are no broken boards or pieces of shingle, or bits of wood to be found. They vanish in an instant. The ground itself has a singularly smoothed appearance as if bcaten down and rounded off. There wero few questions to be asked. On these occasions tho proprietors and workmen are reticent, and information is not readily accessible. Indeed, inquiries as to the cause of the explosión are generally useless. If it had been through the agency of a careless workman, he is not there to teil the tale. The man nearest and most acquainted with the fact is probably the mau who in an instant passes out of life, of ten totally vanishesfrom human sight, not even a fragment of his body remaining behind. That niany of these accidents aro caused by the carelessness of workmen there can be no doirbt. It is neodless to say that tho utmost precaution is taken to guard the safety of the men and tho works, such as floors flooded with wator, shoos in which copper nails are used, etc. The reader will perhaps smilo when we say that smoking is absolutely prohibited. - Yet, incredible as it may appear, the authority of the proprietors is absolutely necessary to enforce this prohibition. A proprietor of a powder mili once said to me that in the face of the ever-nresent danger, and of the most positivo orders, it was irtipossiblo to prevent the men, at times, from taking their lighted pipes into the works ; that he had detected the men thrusting their lighted pipes into their jacket pockets to escape observation, as he had unexpectedly come upon them ! A tnumpb of art - to smoke one's pipe in a powder mili, and " the boss not find it out I" Once in a while, on some special occasion, the pipe of some euch cunning fellow goes suddenly out, and he with it. - He does not linger to teil how it happened. It might be supposed that it would be extremely difficult to find men in sufficient numbors to carry on a business so hazardous, in which the workman's life is in such constant danger. But no such difficulty is experienced. There are always more applicants than plaoes for them to fill. As in every business, however unpleasant or unwholesome, there will always bo found men who are more than ready for the work.