CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA—Live Science reports that a pile of 16 Civil War–era cannonballs was discovered on Folly Island by a beach walker the day after the winds and waves of Hurricane Matthew attacked the shoreline. Although the cannonballs were heavily corroded, a cylindrical notch where a timed fuse would have been placed was still visible on one of them. “Initially, the city wished to display them,” said Andrew Gilreath, Folly Beach's director of public safety. “However, they were inspected and a large number of them were [found to be] explosive cannonballs, and thus contained old and very unstable gunpowder.” Local officials and the U.S. Air Force Explosive Team destroyed most of the cannonballs. The remaining examples were taken to the nearby Navy base. For more, go to “A Civil War POW Camp in Watercolor.”
