Sweating
The Globe and Phoenix was a rich mine, South African managed, under the ageas of a London based company with English shareholders unlike the 293 smallholdings in the surrounding area. These mines ran on the smell of an oil rag most of the time, in search of the big lode.
The Globe and Phoenix was a rich mine, South African managed, under the aegis of a London based company with English shareholders unlike the 293 smallholdings in the surrounding area. These mines ran on the smell of an oil rag most of the time, in search of the big lode.
Sweating
Exceptions to this rule were the Leopard, Leopardess and Turtle Mines owned by the West Brothers, Syd and Bill, who ran very tight ships and were wealthy.
Dynamite sweats as it ages, and becomes highly sensitive to shocks and dangerous as I explained in the previous story, Blasts from the Past.
One day there were no fresh sticks of dynamite left and the keeper of the explosives store, Johannes, at the Leopardess wouldn’t release the old sticks on the grounds that they shouldn’t be moved.
A fearful row ensued. Finally, the boss prevailed.
Dynamite was made by mixing nitroglycerine with kieselguhr (a type of clay to form a putty-like substance that was wrapped in brown waxed paper). These sticks were packed tightly into boxes. When the nitroglycerine sweats it is reverting to its natural liquid form and it is extremely sensitive. It will detonate at the slightest knock or vibration.
Bill called, “Hey! Jeremy” to get Jeremy West's attention because he was an absentminded boy. Instructed to settle in the passenger seat of the Datsun, Bill handed Jeremy the box of sweating dynamite and instructed him to hold the box above his knees to minimize any shock or vibrations. They were on their way to the Turtle Mine, many miles away on a rough dirt road with many pot holes and dongas.
Needless to say absentminded Jeremy was very focused on the job. He began to sweat too.
Bill and Olga didn't have children of their own and one can only speculate how fond Bill was of Jeremy.
Both Whitewashed Jacarandas and Full of Possibilities are available on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
My historical novels, Whitewashed Jacarandas and the sequel Full of Possibilities depict the heady pulse of Rhodesia when Rhodes’ ambitions promised to come into being after a fifty-year slumber, with an infusion of young and ambitious blood anxious to make a new life after WWII.
The books are about racial arrogance, paternalistic idealism, Zionist fervor and anti-Semitism, the proper place of a wife, modernization versus hard-won ways of doing things, and treatment of endemic disease versus investment in public health.
Credits:
- Jeremy West for the story.
- Bobby Atkinson for the technical details.
- Photo Bobby Atkinson.
I look forward to your feedback.