Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-03-10
A New Shell.

The English Army and Navy Gazette
has enumerated on several occasions the
various results of experiments under
taken by the committee on explosives,
with a view Of ascertaining the practical
effect of Prof. AbePs proposed plan for
the bursting of the common shell filed
with water, by means of detonator,
consisting of dry compressed gun-cot-
ton enveloping a small cap of fulmi-
nate of mercury. Some months ago
the practicability of exploding sixteen
FOUNDER common shells in this manner
was satisfactorily established, and the
result Of such'an arrangement was the
bursting of shell into three hun
dred fragments, whereas only about
thirty pieces were produced by the ex
plosion of an ordinary bursting charge
of gunpowder. The effect of such an
explosion among troops in the field
could not be otherwise than disastrous
in the extreme. Lately, however, says
the Gazettee, experiments have been
made with nine-inch common shells,
which far exceed in effect that of any
mon shell. On this occasion the burst
ing element employed was wet gun
cotton in lieu of water. It will be re-
nembered that the danger hitherto
experienced in the employment
of this explosive has been OLIVIA
ated by wetting it, discovery hay
ing been made to the effect that it de-
tonated equally we'll wet or dry. Nine
inch shells were placed upright upon
the sands at Shoeburyness, a boarding
being erected around them at con-
venient distance, to confne the frag
ments. The projectiles being then filled
with some eight or nine pounds Of wet
compressed gun-cotton, and "detona-
tor, as described above, having been
fitted into the fuse-hole socket, they
were fired by an ordinary electric fuse.
The result was extraordinary, the shells
bursting literally into thousands of
pieces.
A Railway Train Capsized by the Wind
Three Times.
Colorado Springs Letter to the Medina o., Journal.
[ undertook to go down to Pueblo.
When about five miles out the whole
train was capsized, except the engine,
including the coaches, the baggage and
mail cars, and the tender. No one was
hurt. The conductor got the passen-
gers in the rear coach, and as many as
possible on the side next the wind
When we got down the valley, where
the wind had fair, broadside sweep at
us, we again tipped over. The conduc-
tor was standing beside me-, white as a
sheet, and wanted to know what was
best to do. I advised him to stop before
crossing bridge which was just ahead,
the longest one on the road; if we
didn't blow over we would probably
jump the track, for the wheels
were grinning on the side of
the rail as if we we're turning a
sharp curve. He pulled the bellrope,
the engineer put on the steam brakes,
and just as we stopped, over we went,
piling men, women, children, baggage,
cushions and everything together. For
a moment there was quite scrambling
and rattling of glass. About all the
damage done was the breaking of the
windows on the under side of the cars.
The conductor and [ walked back to
meet the freight train which was follow
ing. 1t took us back to the Springs,
where we waited until the wind moder-
ated; then took a coach down and
brought the passengers back; some OF
them were among those who had been
showed in ten days on the Kansas Pa
cific road. They thought being blown
OFT the track was not SO monotonous as
living in snOw-1rift