| Folks said Uncle Athanatious didn't have enough | | | | green, lamp black for red, and ordinary sand for |
| sense to come in out of the rain. However, neither | | | | "golden shower."Uncle Athan didn't mess around with |
| would you if you were in his business.Uncle Athan - | | | | garden variety fireworks. The construction of little |
| no one dared call him by his full handle - operated a | | | | paper tubes, and stuffing them with tiny amounts of |
| gunpowder mill.Dynamite was safer, but three times | | | | powder, was too tedious. Such things as penny |
| more expensive than black powder and harder to set | | | | crackers, sparklers, Roman candles, cherry bombs, |
| off. Farmers of Boot Heel preferred the local "stump | | | | devil spitters, fire snakes and other "kid stuff" were |
| lifter" so ably concocted by Uncle Athan.Back then, | | | | imported from China.* * *My uncle cured his powder |
| explosives were in great demand for clearing land. | | | | in his house because it was clean, dry and handy. |
| Black powder was ideal because it exploded at a | | | | Trays were scattered about on tables, chairs, |
| slower rate than dynamite and thereby exerted | | | | dressers, sideboard and beds. This kept Aunt Dilley in |
| unremitting pressure on tree roots.Black powder also | | | | a nervous snit, but Athan was a stickler for quality |
| made great firecrackers - particularly rockets and | | | | control."There isn't any cause for worry," he assured |
| salutes. The latter were fist- size bombs whose only | | | | her, "so long as you don't open the damper on the |
| purpose was to burst the eardrums of anyone | | | | stove or scuff your feet on the rug." This did not |
| standing close by when it was set off.Traditionally | | | | seem reassuring.Aunt Dilley knew the problem and |
| salutes were the first to be set off on the Fourth of | | | | didn't appreciate safety tips. When trays of powder |
| July and Christmas morning.Ingredients for black | | | | were drying, she served cold pork and beans straight |
| powder consist of common materials that were | | | | from the can and walked dainty.One night, when the |
| easily obtained in country stores. Individually the | | | | living and dining rooms sheltered several trays of |
| ingredients were useful for many household | | | | gunpowder, a thunderstorm came up suddenly. |
| purposes.Two are charcoal and sulfur. I dare not | | | | Apparently it was accompanied by static |
| reveal the third lest a young reader undertake a | | | | accumulation. In any case, the powder ignited.It went |
| dangerous experiment.The best charcoal for | | | | off with a loud POOF -- and sufficient concussion to |
| gunpowder was made from willow and alder trees. | | | | blow out a couple of windows, smash chinaware and |
| Uncle Athan had a piece of bottomland that | | | | singe old Fritz sleeping under the dining table.Aunt |
| supported a stand of the trees and needed clearing. | | | | Dilley moved out the next day and went to live with |
| The powder mill enabled him to turn a profit from | | | | her sister down the road. Uncle Athan stayed on at |
| unwanted trees.His sideline venture was so successful | | | | the mill and visited Aunt Dilley and her sister for |
| he continued manufacturing explosive after his own | | | | Sunday dinners.However, when a storm brewed, and |
| need was met.* * *Uncle Athan's process of making | | | | gunpowder was drying, Uncle Athan hung around |
| black powder was deceptively simple but a mite | | | | outside until the weather cleared. It was right pitiful |
| touchy.First, charcoal and sulfur were crushed to | | | | to see him standing out in the rain in his yellow slicker |
| powder in a "ball mill." It was a rotating barrel | | | | and under a Purina Feed umbrella.* * *The event |
| containing recycled automobile bearings. The mill was | | | | everyone had predicted for years finally occurred. |
| turned by Uncle Athan's faithful hound Fritz trudging | | | | Uncle Athan bought a one-way ticket to that Great |
| inside an over-size hamster exercise wheel. .After a | | | | Powder Mill in the Sky.It was never determined what |
| while, the mixture was dampened and ingredient X | | | | set off the explosion. The day was warm and |
| added. Water aided chemical bonding and reduced | | | | overcast, but these conditions were not deemed |
| the danger of accidental detonation.This black "mud" | | | | adverse enough to cause the blast. Perhaps Uncle |
| was pressed through a "wheel mill" comprised of two | | | | Athan combed his hair too briskly that day.Old Fritz |
| worn gears from a cotton gin. The meshed gears | | | | was not hurt, but he ran off - never to be seen |
| were turned by Jack -- a mule of limited ancestry but | | | | again. Life in a powder mill for mans' best friend was |
| docile temperament -- by pulling around a long sweep | | | | to unsettling - what with the over-size hamster |
| attached to the gear wheels. A similar arrangement | | | | wheel, singed fur, sudden loud noises and a diet |
| was common for grinding sugar cane.On visits, I was | | | | leaning excessively to cold beans.A large crowd came |
| allowed to ride Jack while "it" earned its keep. My | | | | to Uncle Athan's funeral. He was well liked, but a |
| mother kept the visits short. Uncle Athan's casual | | | | goodly number of strangers showed up. Word got |
| attitude toward his product made her nervous.The | | | | around that Aunt Dilley was going to dispose of her |
| wheel mill pressed out excess water and mashed the | | | | late husband's unexploded inventory after the burial |
| half-dry mud into granules. These were spread on | | | | ceremony.As Uncle Athan was lowered into his |
| wood trays to dry.Finally, dry granules were crushed | | | | eternal resting place, the Volunteer Fire Brigade set |
| into "corns" by an ordinary kitchen-type rolling pin and | | | | off 25 salutes, two cannon blasts, 15 stump lifters |
| sifted through various screens for size.This was the | | | | and 30 assorted rockets.It was the end of an era, |
| most dangerous operation -- performed solely by | | | | but Uncle Athan went out in style.Every Decoration |
| Uncle Athan. Though gainful employment was hard to | | | | Day thereafter, Aunt Dilley visited Uncle Athan's |
| come by, no one ever applied for a job with him. A | | | | grave. She would set off a string of penny crackers - |
| stray spark, high heat or static electricity could set | | | | prudently disdaining stump lifters - and proclaim that |
| off the powder.Size of the corns, and any color | | | | Uncle Athan would rest easy for another |
| additives, determined the ultimate use of the | | | | year.Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be |
| gunpowder.Large grains were best for removing | | | | contacted at:Website: with several hundred of Lin's |
| stumps. It also was preferred for charging the Civil | | | | Editorial & At Large articles written over 40 |
| War cannon fired on Decoration Day - the south's | | | | years.Also featured in its entirety is Lin's |
| name for the north's Memorial Day.Fine-grain powder | | | | groundbreaking book "Boldly Onward," that critically |
| went into rockets. A little graphite gave the powder | | | | analyzes and develops theories about the original |
| extra decibels. Rocket color was controlled by secret | | | | Spanish explorers of America. |
| additives -- camphor for white, Sal ammoniac for | | | | |