A POWDER-MILL EXPLOSION. 233 



has a residence, except by their consent, within the possibility of harm 

 from an explosion in their works. 



Thus, while such explosions are more or less frequent, the detona- 

 tion of one of them, if it be not of special violence, excites only the 

 passing remark of a dweller in the neighboring city of Wilmington, 

 and never injures any one outside the works. 



Not only is the general location selected, but the various buildings 

 of these powder-manufactories are placed, in reference to the ever- 

 present danger of an explosion. The works are not connected with 

 one another in one great building, or in a connected series of build- 

 ings. They are built along the river-banks for over half a mile on 

 either side, and with so much of distance between them that an 

 explosion in one does not ordinarily communicate itself to another, 

 and its destructive 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 accidents. They — at least those where the process of manu- 

 facture reaches the stage of danger — are built of stone, with three 

 massive walls of solid masonry some ten or twelve feet thick. The 

 fourth side, that which looks toward the river, is made of light frame- 

 work. The roof is constructed as simply as possible, and is laid upon 

 the walls, and not built into them. 



The design of this method of construction may be readily seen. 

 If an explosion occurs, the boarded roof and side of the building 

 readily yield, and are blown into the river, while the massive walls of 

 the other three sides withstand the shock. The building is like a 

 huge mortar. By this additional precaution, the lateral effects of 

 the explosion are prevented, and the buildings on either side are 

 measurably protected. 



These precautionary measures, however, are not always effectual. 

 As a general thing — for explosions of greater or less 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 may 

 readily be taken for the noise of a blast in the quarries near by. As, 

 in certain stages of the manufacture, the machinery is set in motion, 

 and the workman leaves the room when the danger is most imminent, 

 life is not necessarily lost by the accident. The only harm that has 

 occurred is the loss of the simple machinery, the materials, and the 

 lighter portion of the building. 



Sometimes the case is very different. I have a very vivid remem- 

 brance of one. It was the first and the most severe of which I had 

 any experience. 



I was sitting with some friends in the parlor of my house, at about 

 eleven o'clock in the morning, when there came a sudden jar and a 

 fearful shock of some very heavy body falling, as I thought, upon the 

 piazza, which ran along the rear of the house. I started from my 



