Durham man finds Civil War cannonball in yard

[struggle4progress]

Published: July 3, 2013
By Kelsey Rupp

DURHAM — When Michael Jacobs tried to sell a Civil War cannonball he unearthed in his backyard to a Hillsborough antiques dealer, the dealer advised him to contact law enforcement officials right away.

“When I set it down he rolled it over and looked at it and saw the fuse and he got really scared and said he couldn’t do anything with it as he backed away from it,” Jacobs said ...

Durham’s bomb squad disarmed the cannonball with the shaped charge method, using a small explosive charge to open the cannonball and break it into multiple pieces. They could not drill or penetrate the cannonball without the risk of creating a spark or heat and detonating the gunpowder inside, said Deputy Paul Sherwin, the Public Information Officer of the Durham Sherriff’s Office ...

Melton’s method involves submerging the cannonball in water while a remote drill exposes the black powder to the water, washing it out. Black powder is less powerful than modern gunpowder and harmless once the cannonball’s fuse is removed. The process does not generate heat because it is underwater and preserves the cannonball’s shell, Melton said ...

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/03/3009066/durham-man-finds-civil-war-cannonball.html

[octoberlib]

1. Interesting. nt