The New Hampshire Gazette

Powder Mill Explosion.—Poulson's Philadelphia Advertiser states, that on Saturday morning last the pounding mill in the powder manufactory of Mr. Wm. Rogers, known as the Nitre Hall Mills, was blown up at 10 1-2 o'clock, and four lives lost, viz: Danl. M'Aleer, Patrick M'Devitt, Andrew White and Patrick Nulty, all Irishmen, steady, industrious, and in the prime of life. The first has left a wife and six children. Nulty a wife and child: the others were single.

The pounding mill, contains 24 pestles and mortars; in each mortar the ingredients for one keg are placed and pounded about 14 hours. There are four workmen, and a superintendant visits the mill every hour: they remain there about ten minutes, the mill is stopped as soon as they enter, the pounders hoisted and are not put in motion until they are ready to retire. Their business is to mix the composition by hand. and a certain portion of water, and see that all the machinery is in perfect order. The mill had been started about five hours, and was in perfect order, the men had come down to their usual hourly turn, the last man was brushing up the dust, preparatory to setting the wheel in motion when one of the men was seen by Nulty, who worked alongside of him, to take up a copper hammer and strike a small piece of powder, adhered to the brass bottom of the pounder, and on repeating the blow, instantly a spark was elicited and the explosion took place. Two of the men, McAleer and M'Devitt, were killed instantly. White was dreadfully burned, he lived about 6 hours.—Nulty was also very badly burned, he lived 27 hours. Both were perfectly sensible until the last McAleer had the upper part of his head carried off, both arms and both legs broken. M'Devitt's skull was injured and one arm broken. White and Nulty had no bones broken. The Superintendent had gone outside to the water wheel and was turning the corner of the building on his way to the inside, to start the mill, when the explosion took place, he was thrown off his feet by the shock but being protected by a thick wall was otherwise uninjured.

Owing to their being six large windows and three doors all open at the time, the walls of the building were not much injured, the roof was thrown off and broken to pieces, the machinery inside of the mill is broken and destroyed, the valuable water wheel, 32 feet in diameter, being protected by a very thick wall is uninjured. There was about six Hundred weight of powder lost. The entire loss estimated at about $900. The nearest building was the fire proof magazine about 200 yards off, this contains about 3000 kegs, but from its location could not be injured by any explosion. The use of the hammer was strictly forbidden in the mills, and at the time it was used, there was not the slightest necessity for it.