Huck's stories - the well

From time to time, I'll record some of Huck's stories. My father is one of the best story-tellers around. His stories are good and he tells them well.

The camp sits on top of a small hill that's mostly ledge. In order to dig a well, my father and his friends had to use dynamite, much more easily obtained in the 1940s. There were several guys hanging around helping with the construction of the camp after WW II, members of the 52-20 club. The government was paying returning veterans $20 for 52 weeks. They dug as far as they could by hand and then drilled holes in the side of the well wall. They packed the holes with dynamite and attached blasting caps and wires. They put old cotton mattresses on top of the hole and laid heavy chains on top of the mattresses to hold the broken rock in after the explosion. Using a car battery, they set off the charge. Seconds later, the trees were filled with cotton stuffing.

My father went into the well with a sledgehammer to continue breaking up the rubble. After hammering for a while, he discovered (insert sound of blood draining from face) that one of the sticks of dynamite hadn't exploded. It was still in the well wall, blasting cap intact.

Thereafter, when they had to blast, they would only put one stick of dynamite in at a time so that they knew if it had exploded or not.