Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/07/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Excellent. Such a shame those days are gone, but probably not for parents of the current era. Ken On 7/2/2011 11:02 PM, Herbert Kanner wrote: > My first couple of years of high school were in a private high school > in New York City. I became good friends with a chap who in later life > became the head of the Electrical Engineering Department at MIT. > > Peter and I decided we wanted to make some home-made gunpowder and set > it off underground, that is dig a hole, put the powder in the bottom, > refill the hole, retreat a safe distance and set it off. This in > Central Park. We decided that an ancient radio transmitter (spark > transmitter) that the school had would provide ignition for the > powder. We went to the science teacher and explained why we wanted to > borrow it. He was very permissive, just said that if we were > questioned, we should say that we were from the ...school (a different > school from ours) and to say that we were "measuring earth currents". > > So after raiding a couple of drug stores for the components, we mixed > up some black powder, dug a hole, inserted the powder and this heavy > cable with the leads at the end set in a spark gap, and refilled the > hole with dirt and rocks. We retreated behind a tree and pushed the > button on the transmitter. There was a satisfying eruption a few feet > in height of dirt and rocks, and then smoke slowly rose out of the > site. Just at that moment, up rode a mounted policeman who asked what > we were doing. "Oh," we said, "we're from the ...school and we're > measuring earth current." "I see," he said, and rode off. > > Herb > > >> From the time I was 11 I used to make explosives at home. I don't >> _think_ my parents knew about it, but we lived way up in northern >> Alberta in a town of 800, so I'd be surprised if my dad, the doctor >> in the town, didn't hear from the drugstore owner about my >> purchases. In any case after some satisfying explosions I graduated >> to rockets and mixing rocket fuel. When we visited with my >> grandparents in Germany when I was 13 and I made some friends, I >> showed them how it was done. We made this great rocket, launched it >> from his backyard and after it flew out of sight at about 1000ft, >> realized that we'd better not go from house to house asking people >> if they'd seen a rocket land in their back yard. No more firing >> rockets in downtown Hamburg. Peace River country was a lot safer; >> all you could hit was a moose or a bear. >> >> >> >> At 8:15 PM -0500 7/1/11, Ken Carney wrote: >>> You can make your own. I have a friend who bought a 10-gauge >>> shotgun shell reloading press to assemble really big M-100's from a >>> kit. He says dead fish float to the surface when they throw them >>> overboard. I'll probably see him on the Darwin list sometime. >>> When I was 12 or so we would make our own black powder (ingredients >>> bought from the local drugstore...Ahmm, son may I ask what you want >>> this for?), and fill two hemispheres of a plunger taped together. >>> The blast effect actually broke a window or two. Somehow we lived >>> through it. >>> >>> Ken >>> >>> On 7/1/2011 7:54 PM, Jim Nichols wrote: >>>> They must still be available, Ken. Today's local paper had a >>>> report that the police were investigating someone exploding two >>>> toilets in a local park with fireworks. >>>> >>>> Jim Nichols >>>> Tullahoma, TN USA >>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Carney" <kcarney1 at cox.net> >>>> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org> >>>> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 7:49 PM >>>> Subject: [Leica] Friday flowers of the season >>>> >>>> >>>>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/kcarney/seasons.jpg.html >>>>> >>>>> Have a good 4th, all. I really miss the fireworks we could buy >>>>> years ago - cherry bombs that you could flush at high school >>>>> during break, girls running home to change clothes and such. >>>>> They were like a quarter stick of dynamite. >>>>> >>>>> Best, >>>>> >>>>> Ken >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Leica Users Group. >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> -- >> >> Henning J. Wulff >> Wulff Photography & Design >> mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com >> http://www.archiphoto.com >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >