On 2008-11-22, Bill Noble wrote:

[ ... ]

speaking of gunpowder - I am told that one old farmer explained that he had
learned that the secret to a long life was to sprinkle a bit of gunpowder on
top of his eggs each morning - that it kept him energetic throughout the
day. It must have worked, when he died of old age, he was 104. He is
rememberd to this day for blasting a 10 foot hole in the side of the
crematorium.

Neglecting the unliklyhood of it accumulating in the body enough
for such an effect ...

Was that supposed to be black powder, or smokeless? Smokeless
would not blast unless it was enclosed in something more rigid than a
stiff, and black -- well the carbon and sulfur would be harmless (and
perhaps the carbon even beneficial for the digestion, but the third
ingredient is saltpeter -- maybe he lived so long because he was not
climbing into other's wives' bedrooms? :-)

Of course -- with the smokeless -- he would be taking nitrates,
which are supposed to be bad with Viagra -- but did he live long enough
for Viagra to have been available anyway? :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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