i889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



899 



Every boy or girl, under 16 years of age, who writes a let- 

 ter for this department, containing some valuable fact, not 



GENERALLY KNOWN, ON BEES OR OTHER MATTERS, will receive 



one of David Cook's excellent rive-cent Sunday-school books. 

 Many of these books contain the same matter that you find in 

 Sunday-school hooks costing from 81-00 to 81.50. If you have 

 had one or more books, give us the names that we may not 

 send the same twice. We have now in stock six different 

 books, as follows; viz.: Sheer Off , Silver Keys, The Giant-Kill- 

 er; or. The Roby Family, Rescued from Egypt, Pilgrim's 

 Progress, and Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. We have also Our 

 Homes, Part I., and Our Homes, Part II. Besides the above 

 books, you may have a photograph of our old house apiary, 

 and a' photograph of our own apiary, both taken a great many 

 years ago. In the former is a picture of Novice, Blue Eyes, 

 and Caddy, and a glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pret 

 ty little colored pictures of birds, fruits, flowers, etc., suitable 

 for framing. You can have your choice of any one of the 

 above pictures or books for every letter that gives us some 

 valuable piece of information. 



UNCLE AMOS TELLS ABOUT A VISIT TO A 

 POWDER-MILL. 



fERHAPS the little friends will be 

 somewhat surprised to know that Un- 

 cle Amos should take pains to visit a 

 powder-mill, and to tell how powder 

 is made ; and, to tell the truth, I do 

 not believe very much in gunpowder. There 

 are, however, places where gunpowder is 

 needed. Last evening at our teachers' 

 meeting, one of our German teachers said 

 that, in the old country, they used to have 

 great high walls around .their towns and 

 villages, as a means of protection. These 

 walls were built a great many years ago, 

 but many of them are still standing. He 

 said that, after the invention of gunpowder, 

 they did not need walls, and so they were 

 allowed to run down. Well, dear little 

 friends, in our United States of America it 

 begins to look as if we did not need stone 

 walls nor gunpowder either. In our own 

 town the fences are disappearing, and the 

 pistols and bowie-knives are disappearing 

 also ; but for all that, our strawberries and 

 Bartlett pears are safer than they have ever 

 been before. How does it come about ? 

 Why, I think it comes as the result of the 

 work of our Sunday-schools, Christian En- 

 deavor societies, and young people's prayer- 

 meetings. It is a good deal cheaper to buy 

 these things at the fruit-stands than to steal 

 them nights and then carry a guilty con- 

 science around with you all the next day. I 

 suppose, however, our policemen and offi- 

 cers of the law will need gunpowder for 

 quite a spell yet. It is also used to a con- 

 siderable extent to blast rocks, blow up 

 stumps, etc. Gunpowder is many times a 

 very good servant ; but people who get mad 

 very easily ought never to be trusted with it. 

 Among other pleasant recollections of my 

 visit to friend France is that of a visit to 

 one of the largest establishments, probably, 

 in the country, for the manufacture of pow- 

 der. The plant occupies perhaps 100 acres 

 in a lonely valley at the foot of a great hill. 

 I say " lonely," for nobody wants to live 

 within at least half a mile of the powder- 



works. Before we came to the factories we 

 saw the magazines, or storehouses, scatter- 

 ed here and there out in the fields. They 

 endeavor to have them far enough away so 

 that, if one blows up, it will not ignite the 

 others. Since powder has been stored in 

 tin cans instead of in wooden kegs, how- 

 ever, I believe the danger of blowing up the 

 magazine is much less. Now, instead of 

 one great factory there are only solitary 

 buildings scattered through this hundred 

 acres. As a rule, each workman has his 

 own building. This is thus arranged, in 

 order that no workman may lose his life 

 through the carelessness of others. If he is 

 " boss and all the hands," he can have eve- 

 ry thing just as he wants it ; and if he blows 

 himself up he alone is to blame. White 

 poplar or willow is used for making char- 

 coal for powder. The material would make 

 very nice sections for honey. I believe it is 

 grown purposely in the vicinity for the 

 powder-men. It is burned into charcoal a 

 good deal as they make charcoal for other 

 purposes, only they have nicer kilns, and 

 they take more pains. The other ingredi- 

 ent, saltpeter, is brought from South Ameri- 

 ca, in bags. It is dried and pulverized on 

 the grounds. The third ingredient, sul- 

 phur, is, I believe, nearly ready for the 

 powder as it is purchased. No railroad 

 runs nearer than several miles, so the mate- 

 rials have to be brought in, and the powder 

 carried away on wagons. Very likely they 

 would not want a locomotive much nearer 

 than half a mile, any way. A great part of 

 the works is moved by water-wheels, al- 

 though they have one very nice steam-en- 

 gine. The power is, however, carried by 

 long tumbling-rods or wire rope, to the 

 mills. Steam for drying the ingredients 

 and the powder is also carried a long dis- 

 tance. After the materials are pulverized 

 separately they are mixed together and still 

 further pulverized in large revolving cylin- 

 ders containing copper balls. When J ask- 

 ed some questions about the balls, the lone- 

 ly operator stopped one of the barrels, 

 reached his hand in, and gave me a couple 

 of the balls to carry home. They are about 

 as large as hickory -nuts. Theyiave to be 

 made of copper, so they will not strike fire. 

 There are a series of mills used for making 

 powder into grains. After it is ground to 

 an impalpable powder it is pressed into 

 cakes by a powerful hydraulic press. This 

 press is moved by a water-wheel. This 

 wheel starts and stops itself. When the 

 buckets get all full of water, it starts up 

 and turns an enormous screw until it makes 

 every thing squeak. Then it rests a while, 

 apparently, and starts up again, and gives 

 the powder cake another awful squeeze, and 

 so on. Each time it seems to squeeze it 

 down a little more solid. In the caking- 

 mill fine powder is kicking around the floor, 

 perhaps half an inch deep. The dust has 

 settled on the beams and rafters until they 

 are as black as ink ; and if you touch any 

 thing anywhere, you are sooty black. The 

 operator looks like a veritable black man. 

 When they get through work they slip off 

 all their clothing, and take a bath. Most of 

 the hands, I believe, work by the piece, so 



