What Is Dynamite?

The fearful explosión at Bremer Haven, just as one of the Germán steamers was about departing for New York, caused a most shocking loss of life. Sixty-eight were killed, thirty-five wounded and eight are missing - almost as serious a destruction of iife and limb as in a small battle. Now it may bo interesting to our readers to know what is this fearful substance which has so unsuspectcdly caused such a destruction of human life. Dynamite is composed of one-fourth infusorial earth and three-fourths nitroglycerino by weight. It resembles graham flour in both appearance and feeling, and is written as the safest of all the explosives and the most effective for blasting purposes. Among the quarries of Sweden it was f ormerly common to use gunpowder soaked in nitroglycerine, but this mixture was found to be so Jajigerously sensitive to both fire and motion that what is known among quarry men as " giant powder" was intrcduced. It has these qualitiei. When ignited in the open air it btmts very qnietly auil slowly ; it is not exploded by Iight, electncity or ordinary shock ; it is only absolutely dangerous when uuder pressure in some contined spade. Then its pulverized form is most effeetivo iti rotaining the heat, the gases of whiiïh it is composed - carbon, citro gen and hydrogen - expaud, and the fearful explosión, more powerful it is said than niti'o-glycerine itself, shatters eve.rythiug far and wide. It appears in the disaster to which we refer that all theso conditions were most favorable to eause just the calamity brought abwxt - the case of dynamite was lying on the wharf among a huge pile of tl; paesegcrs' baggage, and, in all probability, oompletely buried, and pressed down by % great weight; the material h&viug been thua prepared, to cap the climax the case of dynamüe was iccidentally Sropped in handling, henee the result.