, 1865-11-10
TIE GREENWICH STREET EAO-
SION,
What was the Fatal Compound tho
nyAteFtouS Box7-Nitro-G G1yceFb OF
the New HlxatInr OIL. &c,

What wss Che Fatal Compound tho
Mysterious Rox1-Nitro-G Glycerh or
the Nesv HlaAtIn. OIL. DC.
From the n. i. Herald, Nor. T.
The alarming and disastrous resu]pro-
duced by the explosion of the componcon-
tanned IN small box, In front Of the Wnin9
Hotel, In Greenwich street, in this last
sunday forenoon, have induced much i1ous
inquiry as to the nature OF the destrucs ma
tcrial with which the boz was dIle The
explosion of course was 30 complete thone
| OF the material was left for cxam1natl but
from the fact that this box rccentEame
from Hamburg, and was sent as q simen
tor sale, ne are led 10 believe that It coined
jars OF the recently discovered epsfvc
| compound Of Mr. Nobel, the HamburAenn-
Isl; This material has lntely been It to
different parts Of Europe from HaInb, for
use In mining operations. It has hagreat
SUCCESS, and doubtless the Hamburg le1s,
as good business men, desired to pnstheir
blasting material Is d light yellow of1ydd-
compound Of glyccri1e and nitric Il, Its
chemical toImnln giving IL parts of oSen
anu Nr. Nobel claims that rs, by comttion,
tile carbon takes IL atoms Of oxygen Il the
hydrogen 5. Its complete combustion lFes
surplus y, only. He states, moreovo that
cach !g0 parts Of exploded blasting oflaTes
residue of-carbonic acid, s.; wal, 20;
!o1ygcn, W. and nitrogen, 1e7{-1V and
one volume produces nearly 100 volies or
gass-that il TO say, steam, 554 carbohacld,
4t9; oxygen, 10, and Nitrogen, 2c.;;8-1 s vol
umes. Weight for weight, tho blast oil
bears very favorable comparison Wit gun
powder, which Is calculated to produce dina
1ily about ESQ volumes Of cold gus onl; the
nttro.glycerine would consequently apsar to
oc, other things being equal, about tlvtimes
goes further than this, for be remarks lat II
Is aincult to determine the degree q heat
produced by an exploding sIbstaut. and
that, according to theory, the blastf, oil,
on account ofits complete combustioF ought
10 develop more Intense hent than gnpoW-
der, and this appears to be borne onfy ex-
pertinent whence he assumes that + heat
Ia twire thas generated by gunpowdei and
from this calculates that ulfro-elycsine.
compared with gunpowdcr, possesses tbout
thirteen times its power, when yolu1nesa1e
considered, and eight times It's powaifor
equal weight and TINT, owing to its rnpllty
Of explosion, is advantages are still gruer.
Hnppears that the new blasting or was
the Tyskbagar Hills,'f and Captain Won
Francken, who Aas had fire months npert-
cuee with the oil, reports that the chrging
is simpler, and requires less time, than shnrg-
ing With gunpoWdcr, while the workmn are
exposed to no danger, as no tampins Is re-
4uired; the storing requires less preca1tIon
Than gunpowder; 1t Is Of enormous power,
admitting ofs1nall bore holes, and COCOON
charged With blasting oil doing the same ser.
vice as live Of the same size filed with gun
powder The workmen, however, must be
cautioned against its poisonous qualities,
which, however, may be easily guarded
against, since the oil does not evnpor7te at
the ordinary temperature. Similarly hrora-
BILE opinions are expressed by Mr. c: Ph.
Caficson. Of the Fahlum copper mines, stora
ihSopRa1nerge6; by Mr.: ~ spla,aans,
Norte]}e, and by several others who have thoF-
oughly tested the oil.
IN Swedep the Invention seems to hare re-
celved especial favor, for Mr.. Nobel states
That the Nltrp-glyccrine Aktfebolagc, has
bee1f established at Stockholm for working
the invention in Sweden, where the "dl has
been used for more than six months, while
the consumption OF gunpowde is moc and
more declining" md, In Recommendation Of
1t, he claims that it is insoluhle In waer, It
cannot be tgnited By simple contact with fire.
thus removing all risk OF accidental explosion
In store. ] he discharge can only be effected
under certain circumstances indicated In the
directions for using the article. On applying
lucifer match, 1or instance, to the olt the
latter dacomposes without explosion and on
removing the former the fire Immediately
cxtinguishea.. The article may be stored for
any length Of time without deterioration or
loss In weight; nor will phosphorus, o. even
the metal potassium decompo5e It nt the or
binary temperature. . It detonatcs when
struck With q hammer. but only on the spot
where the blow Is received, so that few
drops distributed over IN anvil produce, by
various blows with the hammer, CORES
ponding number OF detonadons. It can bear
without danger. 2l2 degrees Of heat, {Fahren-
heh, y but e1plodes at about $50 degrees. The
chief advantages Of the patent blasting oil
Justification, and the Immense expansion re-
eultfng therefrom, increased, moreover, by u
h!gh specific weight {1.G,) admits Of tenfo1d
greater explosive power being introduced Into
4 bore than could be lodged in bore OF
the same dimensions with gunpowder,
hence considerable and important saw.
Ing of labor In boring. Blasting oil
Is certainly dearer than gunpowdcr
per pound, but t Is cheaper II power instead
Df weight bu taken . standard, since
much smaller quantity will Suffice In prac-
lice u LAS been found that consumers Of blast-
ng oil hare spent nearly the sane on this ar
fcle as they did formerly In gunpowder, but
lad for themselves TINT Important saving Of
abor, the amount Of which varies, Of course,
TO the hardness OF the rock. The
thickness Of explosion OF the oil Is so great
hat fht effect ia not dlfnlnta1a.l hY rents In
he rock The consequence Is that tho effect
N solid rock, assuming bores to be equal, Is
linz. to ten times greater than that
Produced by gunpowder, while the
acct on assured rocks Is twenty to thirty
lines greater. Tatnplng il never required,
hail Of loose sand being sufficient In all
ases: Hence accidents IN changing are i'm
'ossib1e, besides The saving In time. The
'lasting oil being insoluble, discharges under
Eater, Or In understanding rocks, are effected
Eithont cartridges and, rs the blasting oil
an only be exploded under certain condl-
urcd specially for this purpose, It's storing
nd transport Involve no danger. ~