Show FOOLING WITH NITROGLYCERINE The Fun Had by Some Bears That Ended Tragically There was an explosion of nitroglycerino in tho oil regions once that has always been looked upon as one of the many mysterious happenings of that country said J C Henry one of the early operators in Venango county coun-ty to a Now York Sun writer recently because be-cause people would never believe what I told them about it and the way it came to occur My explanation of it was the truth though and I am tho only person who actually know that the explosion was not of any mysterious origin It was tho result of ono of the most curious incidents that ever came to pass in that curious country I think it was in 01 I that Roberts the torpedo tor-pedo man first demonstrated tho utility of his nitroglycerino torpedoes for shooting oil wells after they had been drilled Soon after they came into use I had put down a well in one of the wildest parts of the region and any ono who was over in that section of the state at that tune has some idea of what that means Nitroglycerine being a new thing people hadnt got used to handling it yet and but few safeguards had been thrown around the carrying and storing of the deadly stuff We all knew that it was apt to go off on very slight provocation sometimes and it was going off every day here and thero about there the-re oi1 and wiping folks off tho face of the earth as completely as if they had never been on it itWe We struck the sand in my well along toward to-ward the evening of July There was a good showing for oil and all it wanted was a good shot of nitroglycerine I had ordered a supply of the stuff and it was to have boon at the well that day but hadnt come The next day being the Fourth and my men having made arrangements for celebrating somewhere down along the creek we concluded con-cluded to suspend operations until the Cth I had no idea the nitroglycerine would be delivered de-livered on the Fourth I remained at the well that day and to my surprise the teamster team-ster came in with a big can of the explosive I didnt care to have it around and wanted him Intake it back and come with it the next day but ho wouldnt do it and placed it on the derrick floor WILD AXMALS PLESTY I made up my mind to get away from thero as soon as I could Tho woods were full of wild animals still and scarcely a day passed that bear and wild cats were not seen prowling around I stepped into the derrick to get my coat and while I was there I heard a noise in the brush and looking out saw two big bears slouching along right toward the derrick I wasnt posted on bear and without with-out waiting think much about being pretty well frightened I sprang for the ladder lad-der and climbed up into the derrick and got on a beam twenty feet or so above the floor to wait for the unwelcome visitors to go on about their business It seemed though that they had made up their minds that their business busi-ness required them to make an investigation of the premises and they came right on and shambled in on the derrick floor They nosed around among tho machinery dangled the ropes and clattered about generally They didnt appear to be in any hurry at all and I began to get uneasy FOOLTfO WITH THE JttTEOGLTCEBIXE But if I was uneasy over their fooling around among tho machinery what do you suppose my feelings were when tho bright tin can containing the nitroglycerine caught tho eyes of the bears and they began to push aud roll it about on the floor The perspiration perspira-tion rolled oil of me in great beads and I actually believed that I could feel my hair turning white I didnt know what minute the bears would thump tho can against something some-thing hard enough to explode it What the result of such a catastrophe would have been it isut necessary to hint at But all the while tho bears were having great fun with thecae By and by one of the bears lifted it in his paws and rose up on his hind feet holding the can at arms length fully six feet from the floor All he had to do was to drop it and all my men would have found when they came back next day would have been a big hole in the ground As the bear stood there holding that can of death his companion rose up on his hind feet two or three yards away and gazed at him in an expectant sort of way I had often heard that bears amused themselves hi melon patches in playing catch with one another by chucking a melon to and fro between then I made up my mind that these two bears were about to have a lit tlo diversion of that kind with that can of nitroglycerine I shut my eyes and waited for the climax that would surely follow It didnt come and I looked down again and found that the bears had changed their minds about that game of catch and were rolling the can about on the floor again AS IDEA STRUCK THEM By and by a new idea seemed to strike tho jolly pair A hundred yards or so from the derrick there was a rocky ravine One of the bears rolled the can out of the derrick and both of them began to scramble with It on the ground competing with one another in giving it impetus over the rough surface in the direction of the ravine At every shove the can was liable to be sent flying against some ono of the many big stones that lay thick on the ground but by some good fortune it missed them every time and at last the bears had jostled it along almost to the ravine I was so weak and trembling from the fearful suspense I had been subjected subject-ed to that I could hardly keep my hold on my perch I regarded the danger as practically practi-cally over now and was putting myself together to-gether to get down from thero and take to the woods when I saw ono of the bears rear up on his haunches with the nitroglycerine can in his paws Ho stood close to a big rock Ho raised the can above his head and I saw at once that he had made up his mind to find out what there was in that can anyhow any-how I threw my arms and legs around the beam and hung on for dear life The bear hurled the can against the rock There was a sound as of twenty claps of thunder rolled into one The earth shook and my derrick swayed and rattled There was a shower of rock and trees and dirt for acres around When that ceased everything was as still as tho tomb Down where tho bears stood there was a yawning gulf I got down somehow from my perch on the derrick and made my way to the scene of the explosion Among all the debris it had scattered about there wasnt any moro traces of bear than if they had been soap bubbles that had burst Th explosion was heard for miles but people laughed when I attempted to explain it and to this day they persist in calling it a profound pro-found mystery |