Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

WHERE GUNPOWDER IS MADE. 283 building, and the ground all round the danger buildings is kept moist. The danger buildings themselves are so constructed that not a nail-head or iron in any shape is exposed, and the roofs are made slight so as to give easy vent to explosions. The garments of the workers are pocketless, so that they cannot carry knives or matches, or indeed anything, and are made of non-inflammable material. Even the buttons must not be of metal. No one is allowed to go about with trousers turned up at bottom, because grit is collected in that way, and the merest hard speck of foreign matter in a charge of gunpowder is fraught with danger. The en- trances to danger buildings are pro- tected by boards placed edgeways, so that when the door is open nothing in the shape of dirt can work in. This also serves as a check THE CARTRIDGE FACTORY. to anyone who might thoughtlessly proceed to enter without having first removed his boots and put on the overalls that are kept just inside the door. Doors are made to open outwards, so as to enable the men to escape the more readily ; and on the approach of a thunderstorm the works are stopped and the operatives repair to the different watch-houses scattered over the 300 acres covered by these extensive works. Every week the machinery is inspected, and the reports as to its condition are printed and filed. In the case of a danger building needing to be repaired, it must first be washed out before a hammer or other iron tool is admitted to it. When artificial light is required, as in working at night or in dull weather, the lights are kept outside, being placed on the window ledges. In the case of the works magazine, which is surrounded with water, no light of any kind is ever permitted near it. These are only a few of the precautions against accidents at the works ; they are sufficient, however, to show how lively must be the sense of danger. Men in powder houses usually have an arranged plan of escape in their minds, and at the least unexpected noise have not hesitated to plunge into the canal. The component parts of gunpowder have already been mentioned—saltpetre, charcoal, and sulphur. They are mixed in different proportions, but at Messrs. Hall’s works the Government standard is followed, viz. 75 per cent, of saltpetre, 15 of charcoal, and 10 of sulphur. The saltpetre comes chiefly from Bengal in jute bags, the sulphur from Sicily, and the charcoal is made on the works and mainly from the wood grown in the grounds. The saltpetre and sulphur go through various processes, such as boiling steaming, distil- ling, with a view to remove all impurities, not only for the sake of improving the quality of the powder, but also to keep out any foreign substances that might cause friction in subsequent operations and lead to accidents. After this, the sulphur and charcoal being ground, the three ingredients meet for the first time in the mixing house. They are put into a gun-metal or copper drum which revolves in one direction, while arms or fliers, fixed on a spindle inside, revolve at a different rate in the other direction. Five minutes of this agitation is enough for 60 lb. of the mixture, the maximum quantity allowed by Act of Parliament to be milled in one charge. After mixing, the product is known as “ green charge.” At the mixing-house we come into the presence of danger, and learn that there are two kinds of floors in powder factories —“ clean ” and “ dirty.” The office floor may have just been scrubbed and be perfectly clean in the ordinary sense ; still