Post by davidhanners on Oct 25, 2006 12:22:07 GMT -5
So here's the latest one. It's a true story, based on a series of explosions at a powder mill in the town of Fontanet (pronounced "Fountain-ette) in Indiana on one morning in 1907. I was back home in Illinois last month and came across some old postcards of the aftermath of the explosions in a book. I did some research online and found a couple of stories about it. Five days after the explosions, the citizens held a town meeting and decided that they'd rebuilt the town, but that they didn't want DuPont to rebuild the powder mill.
I've performed it a couple of times and I'm still working the bugs out of the meter, but here it is:
FONTANET
I lived in Fontanet in the state of Indiana
Had me a job at the DuPont Powder Mill
Said a prayer each morning as I walked through the gate
'Cause whatever's gonna happen is gonna be God's will
Vigo County's blessed with coal; they mine it night and day
Veins of black flow through ev'ry dale and ev'ry hill
But the Earth don't give it up, you gotta blast it out with powder
The powder that we make at the DuPont Powder Mill
The fall of nineteen-seven had been a dry one
Mr. Monahan, who runs this mill, fears that it ain't safe
He said, "Boys, this mill knows a thousand ways to kill you
So do your jobs right and don't make no mistakes"
They think that it all started with an overheated shaft
Turning some machine down in the glazing room
The air was filled with dust, it was even in our clothes
So one spark is all it took to bring about our doom
Four explosions ripped Fontanet, they tore this town apart
Shattered windows in Terre Haute 10 miles away
Twenty-seven souls were left dead or dying
And many more were maimed on that god-awful day
Now, sir, I ain't no coward, seen my share of gore
Was wounded at San Juan in the War of '98
But I never seen no carnage like I seen there on that morning
When 3,000 tons of powder blew Fontanet away
DuPont can fill the craters, he can rebuild the houses
He can plant new trees to replace that ones that fell
But if he wants to rebuild that cursed powder mill
DuPont can take his money and he can go to hell
Yeah, DuPont can take his money and he can go to hell
I've performed it a couple of times and I'm still working the bugs out of the meter, but here it is:
FONTANET
I lived in Fontanet in the state of Indiana
Had me a job at the DuPont Powder Mill
Said a prayer each morning as I walked through the gate
'Cause whatever's gonna happen is gonna be God's will
Vigo County's blessed with coal; they mine it night and day
Veins of black flow through ev'ry dale and ev'ry hill
But the Earth don't give it up, you gotta blast it out with powder
The powder that we make at the DuPont Powder Mill
The fall of nineteen-seven had been a dry one
Mr. Monahan, who runs this mill, fears that it ain't safe
He said, "Boys, this mill knows a thousand ways to kill you
So do your jobs right and don't make no mistakes"
They think that it all started with an overheated shaft
Turning some machine down in the glazing room
The air was filled with dust, it was even in our clothes
So one spark is all it took to bring about our doom
Four explosions ripped Fontanet, they tore this town apart
Shattered windows in Terre Haute 10 miles away
Twenty-seven souls were left dead or dying
And many more were maimed on that god-awful day
Now, sir, I ain't no coward, seen my share of gore
Was wounded at San Juan in the War of '98
But I never seen no carnage like I seen there on that morning
When 3,000 tons of powder blew Fontanet away
DuPont can fill the craters, he can rebuild the houses
He can plant new trees to replace that ones that fell
But if he wants to rebuild that cursed powder mill
DuPont can take his money and he can go to hell
Yeah, DuPont can take his money and he can go to hell