COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN?

From: Murder Incorporated - In a Keg

by Harold J. Treherne

ne Spring day in the mid-Forties a trivial incident took place on the farm but which to me amply justifies the title above.

I was entering the small workshop carrying a round bar five feet long to remove a threaded nut from one end, and, in my efforts to maneuver the bar into the vice something went "Plop." I wasn't aware of hitting anything being intent on getting the bar in position. The rusted nut came off eventually with the aid of a hefty pipe wrench.

Loosening the vice I prepared to leave but first, casually, I bent down to pick up a ten-pound lard pail, upended on the floor. To my surprise I couldn't lift it with one hand. Now my curiosity was aroused and, laying the bar aside, I took hold of the can with both hands and gave a sudden heave. Instantly, with a gurgle and a whoosh the light dawned as a gallon of used engine oil, vacuum released, gushed darkly over the board floor.

This can had been sitting on the bench almost full but, accidentally sideswiped by the bar, had headed into space, executed a half complete flip and landed upside down squarely on the floor. There it was, vacuum-sealed and nary a drop leaked out until I interfered.

Surveying the mess, I pondered in genuine amazement - could this ever happen again?