I found something explosive at Fourmilab.

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(From https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/dupont/FarmingWithDynamite/)

Here is a link for those who like to read off a Kindle.

For those who like to read over at Fourmilab.

I wonder if there is a sequel to this book. SeaWriter was telling us about C4 cooking in Vietnam. I was thinking of something from Good Housekeeping.  Who needs a Dyson or even a leaf blower when all you need is blasting caps and a fuse.

No one tell Mike LaRoche about page 10.

For those who want to order from a catalog. Make sure to get the DuPont Red Cross Extra. I recommend the 40% strength.

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(From http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l800/pict/)

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16 Responses to I found something explosive at Fourmilab.

  1. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    A quote from the book.
    On August 11, 1910, at the demonstration at Ivor, Va., above referred to, a ditch 85 feet in length, 3 feet deep and 4-½ feet wide at the top, was blasted with dynamite, at a cost not exceeding 10 cents per yard, or about $2.75 for the entire work. [Emphasis should have been in the original.]

  2. John Walker says:

    There’s an interesting story behind this book. I first heard of it when I was on jury duty in the 1970s and, passing my lunch break in the Marin County Library, which is in the Martian Embassy where the courts are also located, I saw an advertisement for it in a 1910s issue of Popular Science I was reading.

    Many years later, I decided to search for a copy of it and found one on ABEBooks for a few bucks. I ordered it and, when it arrived, scanned it made this Web edition.

    A few weeks later, I received a DMCA takedown notice from a lawyer at Du Pont. Here is how I responded.

    * * *

    September 7, 2009

    Mr. Van H. Leichliter
    IP Leader, Trademarks & Copyright
    E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Barley Mill Plaza
    P.O. Box 80025
    Wilmington, DE 19880-0025
    USA

    Greetings:

    I am in receipt of your letter dated September 3, 2009.

    You state that my Web reproduction of du Pont’s 1910 pamphlet entitled “Farming with Dynamite” infringes your rights under Title 17 of the U.S. Code (Copyrights) and that I “could be liable for statutory damages”.

    The document in question was published by E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company in 1910, and bears a copyright statement on Page 3 to that effect:

    http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/dupont/FarmingWithDynamite/Mimage03.html

    This document was distributed to the public by that company and hence was published in the United States in 1910. Per 17 USC, any document published anywhere in the world prior to 1923 is in the public domain. Consequently, this document, having been published in the United States in 1910 is now in the public domain and may be republished on my Web site or anywhere else without any copyright restrictions whatsoever.

    Therefore, I shall not remove this public domain historical document from my Web site.

    * * *

    I never heard from them again. I would like to bring back the pillory for barratry.

  3. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    John, I love how you showed restraint. You didn’t once invite Mr. Leichliter over to talk about laser ichthyology and the law. Your firm of Hammerhead, Mako, Sandtiger and Assoc would have digested the Dupont’s lawyers briefs. They really know how to vivisect an argument.

    • BrentB67BrentB67 says:

      Ball, MLH: Somebody left the dryer door open and it appears the sock’s account was hacked because we all know the real 1/10th Dollar doesn’t use words like ‘vivisect’ and ‘ichthyology’.

      Please temporarily lock out his account for a few years. For security reasons.

      Sorry for the lapse. I will try to do better.

      • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

        Brent, I am sending you a Red Cross package. It is so you can buy the farm.

  4. EJHill says:

    Better living through chemistry.

  5. DevereauxDevereaux says:

    Dime, as a platoon commander I carried, among other things, a C4 package, which consisted of two long sticks of 12 lbs each of C4. It was the platoon supply of cooking medium. There were Sterno tabs one could use, but no one had that much time to wait for a C-rat meal to heat up with sterno. But C4!

    We also used det cord to cut 55 gal drums in half for the outhouses. And to clear zones for helos. And concussion grenades to fish in the river.

    The world just isn’t complete without demolitions.