Do Not Attempt This At Home

We all know that our society has grown so namby pamby about safety issues that they've pretty much sucked the fun out of everything.  But there is something to be said for caution, too.  Consider this idea given in a vintage book on games and activities for children:

Make your own artificial volcano (!)
Dangerous and should be attempted only with great caution (!!!!)

 Mix well together 28 lbs of sulphur and 28 lbs of iron filings and add as much water as will make the whole into a paste. Choose an open common or field for the situation and bury the mass of ingredients about two feet below the surface of the earth. The day must be warm and not damp or rainy and if all things have been properly managed, after twelve or fourteen hours the buried mass will generate so much heat as to swell the earth and burst out with a volcanic eruption throwing up whatever presses upon it and scattering ashes of a yellowish dusky colour.

And I love this warning:

 After the ingredients have been buried ten hours great care must be taken not to approach too near to the spot as it is quite uncertain when the eruption will occur and to what distance the earth may be thrown.

Landmines for fun and play?