It Was A Dynamite Cartridge

New York, 1895

Some Boys Threw Stones at It to See if It Would Explode, and It Did.

A number of school children in Orient narrowly escaped being blown to atoms Tuesday by the explosion of a dynamite cartridge which they had set up in the street and were pelting with stones. The cartridge was one of several found last week by some school boys near the residence of Mrs. Mary M. Stephenson. A gang of workmen had been employed there recently doing some blasting, and, through oversight or carelessness, they went away leaving the cartridges lying on the ground.

Eddie White and other urchins carried the cartridges about in their pockets for several days, displaying them as curiosities. They had a great time in school passing them around among the other boys. By the time school was dismissed there was scarcely an urchin in the class who wasn't curious to know what the things contained and what they were intended for. Finally one bright lad suggested that the cartridges "looked as it they might go off." Then the boys concluded to put one of them to the test.

By this time the girls also became interested, and they all went to a quiet place in the road some distance from the school, where one of the cartridges was set up as a target. Then about twenty of the boys got a few yards back and at a signal began to throw stones at the curious looking object.

One of the missiles finally struck the cartridge, and there was a terrific explosion. A cloud of dust arose in the air, and the group of children were thrown in all directions by the shock. Villagers rushed to their doors in alarm. The children who could darted off, some covered with dirt and others with their clothes torn. Those nearest the explosion were dazed and regained their feet with difficulty.

When the frightened villagers got to the scene they found a big hole in the ground and several badly scared children standing around looking into it amazedly. Eddie White had a piece of his right ear blown off. Susie Swinton got a bad flesh wound in the left leg, and Flora Wilcox had three deep gashes in her cheek. The wounded were taken to their parents, and gradually the other experimenters found their way to their different homes, where some of them were given a taste of the rod and sent supperless to bed, while others were received with joy.

The villagers began an investigation and secured three other cartridges which three urchins were carrying around for future use. It was estimated that the three cartridges contained explosive force enough to blow up half the village. They were gingerly inspected by the villagers and then one of the men took them in charge and rowing out into the bay dropped them overboard.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 24, 1895, p. 8.

Hens Ate Deadly Dynamite

1910

Owner Won't Go Near Them, Afraid of Their Eggs

Winsted, Connecticut — A man who has a small farm a few miles from this town does not dare to trample on a small portion of it, and is afraid to eat his own hens' eggs. Heavy fowls he had been fattening for Thanksgiving are immune from death for the present, so far as his killing them is concerned.

Dynamite is the cause of his trouble. He opened two one-pound sticks of the explosive, into which a little frost had found its way, and after breaking the cylinders into pieces spread them on a flat stone in the sun to dry. He meant to use the dynamite in a lot he is clearing.

When he went to get the explosive after he had drilled holes in a big boulder, he saw a flock of his hens scratching in the dynamite, and eating it as they would eat small gravel. That's why the farmer does not dare to eat his own hens' eggs, for he fears particles of dynamite may lurk in the shells.

"Who knows where that dynamite they ate is now?" he said, sadly. "Suppose it's got into the shells? Think I'd run the risk of cracking one of those egg-shells? Yet how are you going to eat eggs without breaking the shells?"

And that's the story in an egg shell. The puzzled farmer cannot tell by the looks of his hens which ate the dynamite, therefore he doesn't dare eat any of them at Thanksgiving. As for swinging heavily on their heads with an axe he shudders at the thought.


Not Responsible

Nurse — What's that dirty mark on your leg, Master Frank?
Frank — Harold kicked me.
Nurse — Well, go at once and wash it off.
Frank — Why? It wasn't me that did it! — Punch.

Boy Hurt By Dynamite Cap Recovering

Debruce, New York, 1913

HARRY LOWE, AGED 5, IS IN GOOD HANDS

Harry Lowe, a five year old child from Debruce, Sullivan county, who was brought to Thrall Hospital about two months ago, after a part of his left hand had been blown off by dynamite cap, has so nearly recovered that he is able to be up and about the hospital and outside, and has firmly established himself as a prime favorite with the hospital staff and nurses, and with all with whom he comes in contact.

The case was a particularly sad one, and one which has enlisted the aid of various charitable persons and organizations in this city. The lad was playing in the yard at his home in Debruce, when he was handed a dynamite cap by a man who is said to have been intoxicated at the time. Not knowing or realizing what he held, the little fellow touched off the cap with a match, with the result that the third and fourth fingers and a part of the left hand were blown off. He was brought to this city the next day, and has since been at Thrall Hospital under the care of Dr. T. D. Mills.

Since his injury, his parents have separated, his father, Cyrus Lowe, residing at Debruce, while his mother is believed to reside at Cooley, Sullivan county.

—Orange County Times-Press, Middletown, New York, November 14, 1913, page 1.

Commits Suicide By Exploding Dynamite Between His Teeth

1917

Fargo, June 30. — Adolph Peterson, 35 years of age, unmarried, a farm hand employed by E. O. Studlein, near Moorhead, Minn., killed himself early this morning by exploding a stick of dynamite between his teeth. NO cause for his action is known. Peterson was injured in an accident several years ago, and at times has been irrational.


Runaway Team Grind 18-Months Babe Into Dust of Barn Yard

Ryder, N. D., June 30 — The 18-months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Johnson of Rice Lake was instantly killed while playing in the barnyard of his home by a runaway team, which took fright on the prairies, and in their mad dash for the stable ran over the little one, grinding him to pieces under their hoofs.


Cromwell's Last Words

Of the great Oliver, who brought Charles I to the scaffold, Thomas Carlyle has written a notable book, and in the fine description of the death scene Cromwell's last words are recorded. When, being restless, he was offered something to drink, he said: "It is not my design to drink or sleep, but my design is to make what haste I can to be gone."

—The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, June 30, 1917, page 3.

Small Boy Thought It Was a Giant Fire Cracker

A small boy, whose name was not disclosed, found a dynamite bomb weighing two pounds on the bank of Indian Creek, near Frank Street, Council Bluffs. The stick of dynamite was encased in a steel tube, and at the fuse end there was nearly half a pint of blasting powder.

The boy, under the impression that it was a giant firecracker which he had found, took it to the news stand of C. Kringle, on East Broadway, for the purpose of selling it. Kringle, recognizing the dangerous character of the thing, notified the police and the bomb was taken in charge by Deputy City Marshal Leuch.

Who manufactured the bomb or how it came to be lying on the bank of Indian Creek are matters which the police department is now investigating.

--The Sioux County Bee, Rock Valley, Iowa, July 10, 1903, page 1.



Harry T. Spotts Suicides

Harry T. Spotts committed suicide by hanging at Battle Creek. He attempted suicide several weeks ago by poison, but failed, owing to prompt action on the part of his relatives in summoning a doctor in time to save his life. He has been suffering from sunstroke for the past two years and to this cause is attributed the determination to end his life.

--The Sioux County Bee, Rock Valley, Iowa, July 10, 1903, page 1.
(Battle Creek is a town in Iowa, near Ida Grove and Correctionville.)