Cannonball found in Emporia
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 04:15 p.m., July 16, 2010
Updated 06:10 p.m., July 16, 2010
An 130-year old cannonball was detonated outside Emporia today after a homeowner who had just purchased a home in the 700 block of State Street discovered a cannonball being used as a yard decoration on the property.
Emporia Police Chief Gary Smith said an ATF crew from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita was called in to examine the device, which was x-rayed and taken outside Emporia and detonated using C-4.
"It's been rendered harmless," Smith said.
Smith said the metal ball at first glance appeared to be yard art but the homeowner called police after examining it and realized that it could be something more that simply yard art.
The Lyon County Sheriff's Office also helped with the detonation, Smith said.
create (anonymous) says...
No telling what you can find in these old houses. They packed all kinds of things inside the walls way back when. Wow.
July 16, 2010 at 5:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MrCmonkeeDo (anonymous) says...
There has to be more to this story.
Cannonballs were solid and contained no explosives.
What up?
July 16, 2010 at 8:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
history_nerd (anonymous) says...
@MrCmonkeeDo My thoughts exactly.
July 16, 2010 at 10:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justaflushaway (anonymous) says...
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
July 16, 2010 at 11:02 p.m. ( permalink )
elbejay (anonymous) says...
Cannonballs were not empty and did contain gunpowder. That is why they exploded and killed soldiers with shrapnel. The fuse was a small piece of cork with a thread of blackpowder that was ignited by the blast that propelled it through the gun barrel. Different fuses were used for different effects. Some were set for air burst and some for after they had hit and rolled or lodged into fortifications. I assumed if they xrayed it they found it to be something other than a solid steel ball.
July 16, 2010 at 11:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Besides, on Pirates of the Caribbean, the pirates were stuffing cannonballs with stolen silverware for shrapnel against the bad guys.
July 17, 2010 at 6:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
USNretired (anonymous) says...
Pirates are bad guys.
July 17, 2010 at 12:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
If the cannonball was 130 years old like the story says, it would be a civil war era cannonball. These relics can be valuable but they also can be deadly. It is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to explosives. Kudos to our law enforcement officers!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3...
July 17, 2010 at 12:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MrCmonkeeDo (anonymous) says...
Well all be durned. Thanks for that REWBA.
July 17, 2010 at 2:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dalelinn (Dale Linn) says...
I guess I had assumed that cannonballs were solid, too.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24441427/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/14280
July 17, 2010 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TjISq...
July 17, 2010 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MrCmonkeeDo (anonymous) says...
And here's one more from the world's smartest human:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/r...
July 17, 2010 at 6:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
They had quite a variety of cannonballs.I read up on them once,and was surprised at the history of rifling,and the use of many types of timed fuses to detonate them.If they said it made them nervous,blow it up!
July 17, 2010 at 9:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
With regard to Cmonkee's post about Pirates of the Caribbean..."Do you think the guys who made this movie got together at any point and asked each other: How can we make this thing more realistic?"
Hello? "Pirates of the Caribbean" was not meant to be realistic. It was a fantasy. FANTASY. You know, as in suspend disbelief? At least for the length of the movie and the current political season.
Just in case no one recognizes tongue in cheek commentary anymore, what I said about the cannonball in "Pirates..." was designed as such. That's why I said the pirates were the good guys. I suppose I should have attached the currently obligatory LOL which people seem to be so damned fond of these days. People just don't recognize tongue in cheek anymore.
July 18, 2010 at 7:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Well stick a fork in my eye and call me done.
Some tongue in cheek is so subtle it can't be recognized without the .
lol
July 18, 2010 at 8:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MrCmonkeeDo (anonymous) says...
create,
MrC wasn't attacking your comment. To the contrary, he thought you might get a kick out of the article because of this particular paragraph:
"Simple cannonballs weren't all the artillerymen of three centuries ago had to work with, of course. Other potential loads included grapeshot, a bundle of iron balls clustered around a wooden spindle and wrapped in a canvas bag, which worked like an oversize shotgun shell; canister shot, basically a tin can full of pellets; and chain or bar shot, which was a chain or bar (duh) with weights at both ends--think of a giant flying nunchaku. Chain was particularly useful in naval engagements since it could be used to bring down rigging; if it hit (erk) a man--well, no doubt a moviemaker of a certain sensibility could make an unforgettable moment out of it, but not without saying good-bye to his PG-13."
Can you imagine? Yikes!
Nonetheless it does illustrate there was probably more realism in your comment than you or several of us other posters believed.
Anyway...LOL Yo.
July 18, 2010 at 3:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )