GotGold Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I found this photo on another forum I visit.....the person making the post stated....."Not sure what these are on a shelf inside the cabin, sorta looks like dyanmite"! I replied back and said...."I do believe your suspicions are correct. The outside of these 'cylinders' appears to crystalized, if so a very dangerous situation. I'll run this by some very knowledgable people I know and ask for their comment. In the meantime I'd avoid the cabin"! Would any of you care to jump in here, my experience is limited.....but if this were me I'd be backing out of that cabin on my tip-toes! Also notice the steel bar with a hammer-head and a jar full of a white substance! Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sawmill Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Gary There is something flakey looking about the picture. For some reason it doesn't look real. But if it is, that is some serious looking powder,or some really old egg rolls. If it is real ,I would stay away from there too. About the only safe way to get rid of explosives in that shape is to burn it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Sawmill, the photo is very real IMHO. I can also check to see if any part was "photo-shopped". The person posting this doesn't have the wherewithal to perpetuate a hoax, all things considered I could be wrong. What I'll do is ask via PM. Oh, and the Schillings....yup Flakey indead! In the meantime I'd like to hear more about what you observed in the photo.... Happy New Year.... :whoopie: Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleface Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Gary, That does look like very weathered dynamite, beyond the weeping and crystalline stage. The wood pulp binder is showing, probably been nibbled on by mice. Judging from the amount of rust on things, it looks like a fair amount of moisture has come thru the roof. I would think that it is pretty much stable, however would recommend the proper authorities be notified and let them do the disposal deed. The bottle is a milk glass cold cream jar. http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Milk-Glass-Col...3QQcmdZViewItem The steel bar looking thing is probably either a pump of sorts or a jack. Notice the cylinder extention on the top end and the other end is a base. The thing that interests me is the can looking item with the concave sides, it looks to be thicker than a can. Looks somewhat like a mortar, as in mortar and pestle. Would make a neat rustic picture, Sawmill is a good painter and could put that on canvas. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sawmill Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Gary That picture looks too artsey and staged. Looks like a print or poster. I know some guys that can paint just like that. Paleface the cardboard don't look right,and there ain't any mouse poop on the shelf. No rust stains on the wood either,from the metal stuff. It could be just the light,or the camera,but it does look strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 .....The steel bar looking thing is probably either a pump of sorts or a jack. Notice the cylinder extention on the top end and the other end is a base.I did'nt see that, I'll check it out a bit more, thanks! ....The thing that interests me is the can looking item with the concave sides, it looks to be thicker than a can. Looks somewhat like a mortar, as in mortar and pestle.I'll see if I can enhance the photo a bit and repost it. Would make a neat rustic picture, Sawmill is a good painter and could put that on canvas.Holy Smokes Batman....this is also like old home week for me....I also have been known to draw, sketch and paint as well...I love it! At the very least regarding Sawmills painting a photo garnered from a public forum....make the best of your talents. I'd love to see the outcome an want the "first born"! :innocent0009: Ok, that said....any additional comments on the photo I posted would be appreciated? Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Gary That picture looks too artsey and staged. Looks like a print or poster. I know some guys that can paint just like that. Paleface the cardboard don't look right,and there ain't any mouse poop on the shelf. No rust stains on the wood either,from the metal stuff. It could be just the light,or the camera,but it does look strange.My 'egg' has been totally scrambled....mouse poop on the shelf...huh? :hmmmmmm: After ingesting Nitro, their butts would be so far down the road, I couldn't catch up with them in my Toyota.... I can be reached today at :coffeetime: Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave wiseman Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 The can looks like it's for paint or grease and Paleface's pump appears :confused0013: to be key for a water or some other type of valve. :confused0013: Sawmills eggrolls,a very creative guess and perhaps the cold cream was used as a dipping sauce.Pretty amazing anythjing left in these old cabins with all the treasure/artifact hunters around.Eggrolls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGTFDA Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 There should be some pieces that fell off on the wood. Too clean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotsa luck Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Another vote for a "posed" photo. Round head nails and modern lumber and cardboard thats not decomposed nearly to the extent of the supposed dynamite. No bug or varmit residue, does not look like old dynamite left in such a place for several reasons. All sticks are lined up and tight. Over time they will weep out leaving staining and remnants under them. During this transition time they also roll, bend and distort. Absolutely no wood staining is shown around or under them and that would be pretty pronounced. Also missing is any detonator related material. A mans blasting materials were/are very important and treated thusly. Simply lying them on a shelf where they could roll off when the tool gets picked up would be pretty stupid. And where's all the dust that should be thick enough to grow corn on by now? Not a cob web in sight either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dorado Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Looks staged to me, what are the markings just above the upside down Schilling......... looks like a photographer's watermark to me. Just my :twocents: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29 Prospector Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Gary, We can all find things wrong with the picture giving us the impression that it is staged. There is one thing that caught my eye right off and I have circled it in the attached photo. The name "Schilling" was a small powder company in California in the mid twenties to early thirties. It went belly up because of the depression. I have found many of their boxes in old mines and cabins. Most were wood but my father told me that they went to cardboard to try to save money. Next, Lotsaluck stated "All sticks are lined up and tight. Over time they will weep out leaving staining and remnants under them. During this transition time they also roll, bend and distort." He is absoluately right. Some sticks show these signs to a degree but the kicker is the one on the bar. If the sticks were as old as the picture shows them to be, that stick would have cracked by now and would be on the table. It is to perfect for the age its suppose to be. Gary, these are my guesses and I could be wrong. If in fact this is a true picture, the gentleman who took the photo is very lucky to be alive. Powder that has seeped out that much is very dangerous and unstable. Ol'29er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrex Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 The lighting looks carefully done to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garimpo Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I probably should stay out of this but just can't help myself.....so here goes..... my first father-in-law was a "black powder man" along with a few other names, he plied his trade in the coal mines in Easter Okla...... one day while detecting for a stage coach strongbox....I got a good signal in a almost tunnel.... it was only about two feet high and four feet inside a large natural pile of big rocks....so I went into McAllister, Ok. and bought three sticks of dynamite....caps...and fuse...... when I got back to his house about thirty people were there waiting for me.....soon as I left he had gotten on the telephone and blabbed everything...... I was pissed off to the max....father-in-law proceeded to cut holes in the end of each stick of dynamite....then he put the caps with the fuses into the holes....then tied the fuses to the sides of the sticks and told me to be careful and not let the caps fall out and that he had cut the fuses so I had about three minutes to clear the area...... well I was so put off by the crowd that I never did do anything with the dynamite or go back to the cave....even to this day.....about a year or so later I saw the dynamite sitting on a shelf in his old tool shed and it looked like it was "bleeding" a almost clear substance....asked the "black powder man" about it and he got all excited and beside himself and said the "bleeding" was pure Nitro Glycerin and for me to stay away from it..... if he hadn't said to stay away from it...I probably would have but instead a little later I took one of the sticks....very carefully to the orchard and leaned the stick up against a big pear tree.....then I backed off until I could just barely see the stick of dynamite and proceeded to shoot it with my .22..... believe it when someone says that Mother Nature is a harsh teacher because she gives the test and then teaches the lesson..... one shot and about the first foot of the Pear tree trunk disapeared.....when father-in-law came screaming out of the house I wished I could disappear too...... maybe that's why his Daughter divorced me later...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sawmill Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Someone is going to ask,so it might as well be me. Did you paint the picture? The shelf wood is too gray to be inside. Sun and moisture causes gray stain. The wood will turn darker brown inside not gray. Also there is a pattern in the highlights on the cardboard walls,and it looks like brush strokes. The same type of script is used on the cardboard below the shelf. If it is a photo,someone was sure using some tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miner Matt Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 In no way is that on the level. If that TNT had set on that shelf the wood would have the nitro crystals on it also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Wright Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I noticed the font also. Same type and color. Very peculiar. I'm saying it's probably staged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Someone is going to ask,so it might as well be me. Did you paint the picture? The shelf wood is too gray to be inside. Sun and moisture causes gray stain. The wood will turn darker brown inside not gray. Also there is a pattern in the highlights on the cardboard walls,and it looks like brush strokes. The same type of script is used on the cardboard below the shelf. If it is a photo,someone was sure using some tricks. Sawmill, I'm good at art....but geezzzz I'm not "that good" :icon1: . I'm not trying to purpetuate what may be a hoax. There is a picture of the cabin also, most of the cabins roof is in a state of decay leaving much of the inside exposed to the elements. I did email this person(s) and also made note of the comments made here, all of which are informative and very interesting. Here's the email..... ..... After posing the question "Are these old charges" to another forum.....the answers were interesting, informative and some having doubt. What struck many was if these were 'charges' the nitro would have leaked out onto the wood table and begun to crystalize on the wood itself, both top and bottom. The other comments stated in one degree or an other that the photo was in reality a "painting" or something photo-shopped. The one thing everyone said, ......."if in fact this is a real photo whoever took the picture was way to close to a very unstable and dangerous substance". Any more info would be appreciated. I've emailed this person before and got a response everytime....so now it's wait and see! Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sawmill Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Just had to get that out of the way. Real or not, that picture made for a good thread. :twocents: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuTSaurus Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 The things that I noticed, were, the thing that looks like an old paint can, it's shadow goes back toward the wall, and the shadow of the small glass jar goes to the right, not toward the wall,... about a foot below the hammer head(?), on the wall is the word "tea" upside down, but a lot more faded than the word "schilling",... the word schilling looks "enhanced" and the font looks out of place,... the whole shelf scene looks too clean for the amount of decay, and time elapsed for that amount of decay to have taken place. My 2 cents. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Just had to get that out of the way. Real or not, that picture made for a good thread. :twocents:Sawmill, I tried to post the 'cabin' photo but my firewall and browser are in a dueling match for some reason :innocent0009:....must be those typing 'thumbs' on my part .... AuTSauras, great observations with the shadows! I also started looking at the cardboard 'bending' warpage area where the word "Schilling" appears, the lettering doesn't "bend" with the surface of the cardboard! And I also looked at the upside-down 'Tea' script below the shelf :hmmmmmm: ...shaking my head??? I previously saw what El Dorado made mention to and, my best guess using the tools I currently have is it spells out.....OTOCLES or OROCTLES....which makes no sence!?? Since 'Ole 29' has a bit of a recolection of the writing that appeared on on these boxes....I'd love to hear more! Again, great observations everyone....and thinking back on my youth, I may have made some errors in my own explorations that could have cost me dearly!....Someone was looking after my hiney :tisc-tisc: .... Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Opps,...double post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleface Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary, I am going with my first post, if that is a painting, then it is one of the best that I have ever seen. If it is real, then that dynamite is very stable as it is well washed, the nitro might be a trace element in the floor. (Still something for the proper people to make a decision on) Wood will look like that when it is exposed to the weather. Metal will rust like that when exposed to the weather. Cardboard will look like that when exposed to the weather. Black powder is made from Potassium nitrate (saltpeter), charcoal and Sulfur. It is a low explosive and it has no nitro-glycerin in it and will not weep or crystalize. Dynamite is made using nitro-glycerin and a binding material, such as wood pulp. It is a high explosive and most of the time was detonated with a black powder cap blasting cap. The items in that photo pretty much date after the 1920's. Steel wire nails have been used from about 1890 to the present. The old cut and hand rot nails usually pre-date 1900. Cut nails are still being made today, they are great for flooring. Anyone notice the rusted round tar paper fasteners used to hold the cardboard in place? How about the rusted thru lid on the cold cream jar. There are 2 of the tar paper fastners laying on the bench by the dynamite and one just past the can. That is the old Schilling Spice company logo, they were bought out by McCormick & Co. in 1949. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary, I am going with my first post, if that is a painting, then it is one of the best that I have ever seen. If it is real, then that dynamite is very stable as it is well washed, the nitro might be a trace element in the floor. (Still something for the proper people to make a decision on) Wood will look like that when it is exposed to the weather. Metal will rust like that when exposed to the weather. Cardboard will look like that when exposed to the weather. Black powder is made from Potassium nitrate (saltpeter), charcoal and Sulfur. It is a low explosive and it has no nitro-glycerin in it and will not weep or crystalize. Dynamite is made using nitro-glycerin and a binding material, such as wood pulp. It is a high explosive and most of the time was detonated with a black powder cap blasting cap. The items in that photo pretty much date after the 1920's. Steel wire nails have been used from about 1890 to the present. The old cut and hand rot nails usually pre-date 1900. Cut nails are still being made today, they are great for flooring. Anyone notice the rusted round tar paper fasteners used to hold the cardboard in place? How about the rusted thru lid on the cold cream jar. There are 2 of the tar paper fastners laying on the bench by the dynamite and one just past the can. That is the old Schilling Spice company logo, they were bought out by McCormick & Co. in 1949. JimJim, I'm now thinking....how did this great posting of information and knowledge on your part and that of others herein on the Forum get this far beginning from a request made by me to those more knowledgable....this just blew my doors off!....WOW, talk about a response from everyone. You all Rock :yourock: I do know this, the person that originately posted the 'photo' in question (seen above) on the 'other forum' is an avid explorer of old Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Beyond that, I can't provide additional info because I just don't know anything more at this time....I'm not privey to it! Talk about a 'spark' that has 'ignited' some "backsides" (pun intended) Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotGold Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Another double Post...aahhhh whats happining here? It isn't me....I got a number of 'error messages' trying to POST this! Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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