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