Route 1, Box 52, Statesville, North Carolina 28677.
I would like to mention an article on page 32 of Sept-Oct. 1971
Gas Engine Magazine. Mr. Lewis Cline’s father was probably
using a device known as a powder wedge. We used to use one. It was
about 3′ in diameter by about 12′ long, cylindrical and
solid iron, except on one end, it had extending a small tube. The
hollow extended beyond the tube into the solid cylinder a couple of
inches. Leading into this was a small hole for inserting a fuse.
You simply filled the small tube with gun powder, used a wood mall
to pound the tube portion of the wedge into the end of a block or
log, insert a fuse, light and get back. We used it on logs about 12
to 18 inches in diameter by 4 to 5 feet long. They split into 5–10
pieces.
