Step One: The Rolling Mill
The ingredients of Powder were mixed and put into the bed pan of the rolling mill.  Then two rollers of about two tons each rolled over the ingredients a certain number of minutes.  Miniature explosions often happened here but the were only “poofs” – no damage.  Then the ground Powder was put into kegs and taken to the press mill.   The kegs were made in the cooper house (a.k.a., keg house). The cooper was a worker who made barrels and kegs.  The last cooper at the Works was Wellington Hippensteel who later became an undertaker located in Hobbie.

Step Two: Press Mill
Here the Powder was pressed and dropped out in chunks.  Water was possibly added but Doug wasn’t sure what held the chunks together.  (Chauncey Everard told me that water was added in the rolling mill phase to inhibit explosions, but said nothing of adding it when pressed into a cake.).

Step Three: The Grinding or Corning Mill (derivation of “corning” unknown to Doug.  It may have derived from “coining” or from the grain itself.)
Here the chunks were ground into Powder and here most dangerous explosions occurred.  The corning mill which was located on the east side of the creek (going upstream) and just below the iron bridge below the Scanlin site was the site of the last big explosion.  Note that there was also a “Corning Mill” farther upstream near Bryfogle’s Run.   Four horsed were killed and three buildings blown.  Elmer Grover (later postmaster at Wapwallopen) was a teamster of one of the teams and wagons along with another teamster, who were taking Powder to be dried at the Dry House.  As they approached this corning mill Elmer saw fire and yelled to jump over the bank which both did.   Behind the bank they were protected from the explosion and survived.  The four horses were burned to a crisp.   This fire started because Dave Warner, the regular Pressman, was sick and absent from work.  A man was sent to take his place.  This man was new on the job having spent only one previous day before this on the job.  He did something wrong in the operation, the fire began followed by the explosion.  Henry