The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1872-04-04
Gunpowder.

l
how to get hold Of q boulder and hppl,
the strength Of y thousand men. or. o
. st. am engine, half a mile of. is q
troublesome problem. Ifenough meu
could get hold of one side of the bouid
er with their fingers. and pull against
M equal number on the opposite side
they could break 1t In two, AS one
would tear an orange. But enough
cannot get hold. Here. however,
comes the foreman. anh sets Que Of the
workmen drilling little hole IN the
top Of the offending rock hours
work for one man. He dries il out.
puts in a pound Of powder worth, say
fifteen cents; drops il, wooden plu..
and over It pourdry sand. 4 touch Of
fire and the boulder Is manageable.
Steam could have done 'tlsiS work;
bur after doing it there would hc fuel
and boiler and apparatus, all of them
kept at great cost as an investment.
But that pound Of powder was very
cheap to begin with. Il did its work
aud was eut of the way. without amy
,nurmuring or after cost.
See. too, how convenient this. our
servant. Is in the matter of easy trans
portation to where we need his servic.
o.. We have portable steam engines,
and steam saw mills of miraculous
lightness and strength. Yes, we have
devices even for saving trees down by
steam power. But the best Of these
devices are troublesome things to han
die and transport through an unbrok
en- wilderness, where there are neither
roads nor bridges. But we may sling
eight or ten kegs VI blasting powder
across = mules back, and 20 with
them wherever luan can go, and for
certain uses have at our command all
its gigantic power Al u moments notice.
GunpOwder Is concentrated, transport
able energy, and Is not oniy thus a
most efficient servant. but an eminent
~ safe and manageable obedient serv-
ant.
Moreover, contrary to the general
impression, gunpowder IL an adjusta-
ble worker. Within certain very
important range, that is, II will do 1T
work rapidly or slowly, as need may
he. The most thoroughly incorporated
and finely ground rifle powder, some
times marked on the cans s'lighthing, =
will drive the little bullet through the
steel barrel safely; but it would b.
worse than useless for the supply OF th.
huge Rodman guns. propelling a ball
weighing Ave hundred or thousand
pounds. The little bullet starts instant
~. and the rife barrel il not burst. Bul
the huge cannon bali cannot start the
moment II Is spoken TO-. II takes a.
sppreciable space of time to get under
headway. Hence the impatient. rife
powder is not suited to that slower ane
more majestic service. But we has,
| only TO enlarge the grain or gunpow
der, or even make it into preparee
C6xcs ncssss - s-.s~-..., ,,... d.
which they are used, and the powder
can be made TO burn more and NOR,
slowly, until lis impulse is graded b,
experiment to suit the weight anc
necessities u the grea. projectiIe.
The same Is tIu in blasting. Some
kinds Of rock are extremely brittle ant
need very slow powder. SD that III,
| motion may he transferred to large
masses. Other kinds Of rock, aud al
metals found pure In their mines. ifaI
attempt be made 10 blast them witt
slow powder, will merely throw ou,
their iamping, making a harmless re
port like SO many gun barrels, but III,
rock or metal will not be rended Of
thrown down. Indeed, in the copper
mines of Lake Superior, gu ipowde
has been found to be nearly useless
and by chiseis aud siedge- hammer.
the ductile masses OF metal are labo
siOusiy cut up. The same has provee
true Of the metallic iron found in Mis-
souri AT Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain
rhere IL neei Of quicker powder TO
these tough customers, while In tn,
mining u cual aud in quartz WORKING
y slow powder il needed.
II is not little 'nteresting 10 notic,
that for this d .lsd for q 9uicke
powder, the resources Of nature expl0r
ed by art hid fair to furnish y supply
The salts Of silver aud mercury hav,
been known for ages as fearful deto
uators; but except for primers ant
percussion caps, these salts are to-
costly for use in the arts. Not man.
years ago ordinary cotton fiber of an.
kind, treated with the powerful nitri
acid, were found to have acquires
many of the properties of gunpowdel
which indeed they are, Less the sulphu
and potash. Gunpowder is ? mechan
ical mixture Of carbon, saltpctey ah
sulphur. Gun cotton, in like manner
is q chemical combination Of carbol
aud nitric acid, whose oxygen il
amazing volume gave worth and enei
gy TO The saltpeter in our ordinar
sunpowder.
But as was 10 have been expected
the chemical union is SO much NOR
intimate than any mechanical unio
can be, the atoms OF carbon being bro
go much nearer to tile atoms OF oxyge
J than any pulverizing operation ca
bring them, the resulting explosive
quick compared with gunrowde'
Thus fieck Of gun cotton can be lai
upon little pile Of gunpo. der an
exploded, leaving the gunpowder SAT-
1t takes the Runpowder little time
get on fire. Before 1t can make up !,
mind TO burn. the gun>cotton hiss e
through asking. This quickncss {
gun cotton units 1t for use ia ordinar
fire arma, just rs the quickness OF riff
powder units 1t for use in the gre,
R0dman gun. e,3.t,4
As Is well known again. all oils an
fats. and that singular substance, gly
cerine, are hs dro- -carbons. Here agaii
~ 10 the case Of gunpowder and Ru,
cotton, we have the old familiar agen
carbon. Iftreated with nitric-acid.w "
shall have the famous nitro-glyc cerii
oil whose feats,im the way of exp osiol
have astonished and hor.ifi-d. Th