This is something that actually happened the my grandfather that my dad tells all the time.

So in Fifield, WI back in the 50's my grandfather, a city guy, moved out to a farm to try his luck. One of the things they had to get used to was using an outhouse.

Well after awhile the outhouse hole filled up. So when he went into town he asked what he should do to empty it and a shop owner told him buy some Slack Lime and pour 1 cup into the hole and the lime would disolve the waste. So he buys a 50lb bad of lime and heads home.

Well he figures if 1 cup works why not just pour the whole 50lbs in there and get the job done real quick. So he pours this whole bag in and then him and his family leaves for a few hours.

As their driving back up their road they see smoke curls up around their house and race up the road. When they pulled up the entire outhouse is gone and their is about a 5 foot crater left and all around is bits of wood and "waste" covering the yard and side of the house.

So what exactly was the reaction that took place here?

Yep, it happened to about 2000 people if you ask around. Happened to someone my grandfather knew too.

Myth was already done on the show. I can't remember the episode but I can tell you something exploded, but I'm not sure when it did exploded that it was with the same amount of explosive, since there was not enough explosive power.

Hm-m-m-m, An exploding outhouse story in which Grampa is NOT thrown 50 feet in the air.

Lime was used in outhouses to minimize the odor,(never did eliminate it) We used more than a cup of lime for the task, outhouses normally had an opening in the back for cleaning.

this was a wooden outhouse set over a dug out hole, so no back access for cleaning.

quote:

this was a wooden outhouse set over a dug out hole, so no back access for cleaning.

Ours was wooden also, however it had so many gaps between the boards no way could enough gas build up inside to explode it. ( and I & my brother & sisters went to the outhouse many times to sneak a cigarette, that didn't cause an explosion either)

If no cleaning access, sometimes new holes were dug & the outhouse was moved a few feet forward.

i did think it was a build up of gases in side the outhouse it self that would have done anything. i was wondering about a reaction in the pit itself. while lime and ash was used to control the odor, the lime also speeds of the decompostion of the waste. Decompostion creates heat could some sort of reaction taken place?

My dad was 10 when this happened and he saw the results with his family when he came home. Also i recently visited up there and talked to two different old friends of their's that also confirmed that the outhouse was destroyed.

sorry i meant "I did not think it was a build up of gas"

Well maybe your science teacher could tell you if any reaction were possible with lime & manure. Also an ignition source would be needed to detonate.

Sorry, but I think the 5 foot crater is a bit of a 'stretch' in this tale. & "bits of wood" remaining is another, maybe boards laying around, or sides & shingles/tin, since outhouses were not normally that well built.

The wooden outhouse wasn't airtight, especially back then. I can see the various combinations combusting (is that a word?) but not blowing it up.

I admit certain aspects like crater size and size of the wood left are most likely exagerated over the years. but the main details were the same with all the stories of the incident. There was a good size hole left, the outhouse was no longer standing and smoke could be seen from the road.

Also in doing some googleing it does seem and lime can be explosive when large quanities of UNslacked lime are exposed to water. And while i didn't think it was important to mention when i first told the story my dad always says that it was a raining day (he says he remembers because when they saw the smoke and talked about how lucky it was that it was raining). So perhaps the explosion had nothing to do with a reaction between the lime and waste but instead maybe the hole filled with rain water instead.