The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1855-05-11
MISCELLANY.
How they Make Gunpowder.

A correspondent of the New York Tribune
IN a letter from Wilmington, Delaware, gives
ohe following interesting sketch of the pro-
cess by which powder is made at the cele-
brated Mills of Du Pont, in that city:
"Of course, of the details of the business
OF the Messrs. Du Pont, even if known to
me, could not make mention, unless by
their consent, but the process of manufac-
ture is in reality no secret; every book of
chemistry treating of it to some extent. All
know that gunpowdcr is composed of salt
petre, birthstone and charcoal, though but
few have any idea of tile trouble and labor
gone through to have these materials of a
proper quality. The saltpctre, at the Yards.
has the appearance Of dirty coarse salt, filed
with a short-,fbrous .matters.:Ssy q process
Of refining, two or three, thiss 4epeated, it
assumes the appearance somewhat of fine
.able salt, in which state it is fit fo- the pow
der mill. Great care is also taken to have
the sulphur pure. But the most labor and
forethought seem to be necessary in procur-
ing the charcoal, which is all made of the
willow and poplar, the former being used
for the best kind of powder. To procure
supplies of these woods the proprietors set
out yearly, in every nook and corner, trees,
which are hewn down every three years, and
the branches are converted into charcoal.
This method of procuring the wood gives
singular appearance to the country for in
many places alongside the roads or by the
streams may be seen old tree trunks, stand
ing but little higher than a mans head, and
topped only with bunch of small branches.
saw some trunks that appeared to be forty
or hfty. years old without limb bigger than
my wrist.
The mill buildings, in which the materi-
ais are ground or mixed, are scattered along
the banks OF the stream, each one contain
ing mill. They are built of stone on
three sides, with heavy walls, strengthened
with piers; the other side, facing the stream.
Is OF wood, and the roof also slopes towards
the stream. The plan of construction is to
lessen the damage from explosions, for
should an explosion take place, the force
would be diverted towards the stream. The
mills consist of two heavy iron rollers on
wheels moving in trough. II saw one na;r
each of which weighed $4,000 pounds
about seven tons. The material. BEING we'll
mixed up and pulverized in these mills, is
:shghtly moistcned, when it is pressed into
cakes till it becomes almost as hard as plas-
ter of Paris. These cakes are then broken
up into small pieces, and taken to the gran.
uIatlon mill, an operation which, on account
OF It's danger, was not permitted to see.
Alter granulation the powder is taken tn
the glazing mill. Here 600 or 700 pounds
are put into q cask revolving nfoderatslv fast
for twenty-four hours, there being six 20 or
eight Of these cakes, and close by each were
seven shgndred pounds more, ready for ano-
ther charge From the glazing mill the
powder is taken to the drying house. Here,
at the time of my visit we're nearly four
tons Of powdsr, spread out on trays, while
sclose.by were two furnaces, roaring away
at the rate of . ton Of coal each In twenty
four hours: Danger there was not, yet l
couid not but think Of Sevastopol and the
story .s q: its mines. From the drying house
where it is pnt in barrels or acanisters and
thence taken to aenagASlfe, Of which there1
are several, built With tbsssaiaass regard al