The Pluto Powder Mill blew up on several occasions during the years of its operation. In 1911, an explosion there killed 10 workers. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

ISHPEMING — Statistically, the Pluto Powder Plant in Ishpeming was a much safer workplace when compared to the iron mines. But when things went wrong, they really went wrong, and multiple people died. Such was the case on Feb. 6, 1911.

“The lives of ten men were snuffed out yesterday afternoon at 4:10 o’clock in one of the most deadly explosions in the history of powder making in the upper peninsula at the plant of the Pluto Powder company, about a mile south of Winthrop, when the gelatin powder house let go. Every man in the house was wiped out of existence, and the bodies of most of them were blown to small bits.” (Mining Journal, February 7, 1911)

“One employee who had been working in the house during the day escaped. He was Henry Nault, who had been sent out to get some tickets used in connection with the work. Two others who ordinarily would have been working in the house had providential escapes from the fate of their fellow workmen. George Green was transferred from the house to work at the icehouse, where a supply is being stored, and Edward Barber went home sick shortly after reporting for work in the morning. “(Mining Journal, February 7, 1911)

“Gelatin powder is a comparatively new product at the works of the Pluto company, near the Winthrop. Its manufacture was started only last fall. Its constituent parts are nitro glycerine, gun cotton, flour, nitrate of soda and sulphur. It carries from 30 to 50 percent of nitro glycerine, according to the purpose for which it is to be used and according to the order of the customer. The daily capacity of the house was from 25,000 to 30,000 pounds, and at the time the explosion occurred it is believed there were about 1,000 pounds of the stuff on hand. The stock is removed frequently during the day, to avoid its piling up, and about twenty minutes before the explosion some 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of it was hauled away. If this quantity of the explosive had gone up Ishpeming would have been considerably shaken and much glass would have been broken.” (Mining Journal, February 6, 1911)

“Immediately on the heels of the explosion, the men employed in the other buildings poured out into the open are to learn what part of the plant had been blown up. They hastened to the scene of the explosion and where the gelatin building had stood found a stretch of bare ground. The timbers had been splintered into bits and scattered over a wide area. Most of the bodies were blown to atoms. Dusk came on quickly after the men had recovered from the shock of the dreadful happening, and it was not possible to make much of a search for the remains of the victims before night fell. It is feared that it will not be possible to identify the remains of many of the men.” (Mining Journal. February 6, 1911)

“Most of the victims were sons of well-known families who have made their residence there for many years and were young men of wide acquaintance. Mr. O’Conner, the foreman, is survived by a wife and four children, living at the Winthrop. Robert Askew, the only other married man of the ten, is mourned by a bride of but three weeks, who was formerly Miss Bessie Keskeys. The Woodward boys, Edward and George, were sons of Joseph Woodward, and their family is heartbroken at its double loss. Thomas and Joseph Ripper were cousins, the former the son of Joseph Ripper and the latter the son of Thomas Ripper. Charles Kemp was also another well-known Winthrop young man. George Wallberg was a son of Joseph Wallberg, a former resident at the Winthrop who recently moved into Ishpeming. Justin Jordan was an Italian, said to have been a barber before he took employment at the powder works. Andrew Mattson was a former resident at the Winthrop who returned to the location about three months ago after an absence in other parts and found employment at the powder plant.” (Mining Journal, February 6, 1911)

Because everyone in the building was killed, it was impossible to determine the cause. “Robert W. Gunnell, the superintendent of the plant, would not attempt to advance any theory that would explain the cause of the explosion. There are a thousand and one different ways in which the powder might have been set off although every appliance known for the prevention of such accidents is employed at the plant of the Pluto Company. These catastrophes are always unexplainable as the treacherous stuff always does its work so thoroughly that no one is left to give testimony to the occurrence. The human equation may have had something to do with this horrible affair, something may have gone wrong with the machinery which drives the packer, the temperature of the mixture may have been responsible for the stuff ‘letting go,’ but the real cause will never be known as there is no one left to tell the story.” (Iron Ore, February 11, 1911)

“The management of the Pluto Powder company has notified the relatives of the explosion victims that the corporation will bear all funeral expenses and that it makes no difference to them whether the funerals are held separately or jointly. Nothing definite had been decided upon up to last evening regarding the funerals, but it is though that none of them will be held until tomorrow or possibly Friday. “(Mining Journal, February 8. 1911) The Sons of George, a fraternal organization would organize a single funeral for many of the victims.

A little more than 10 years after this explosion, part of the powder plant, then owned by the Hercules Powder Company, would again blow up, with a loss of four lives.