The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1876-01-15
MODERN EXPLOSIVES.
SOMETHING ABOUT NTTRO-GLYCERINE
GUN COTTON AND GIANT POWDER.

GUN COTTON AND GIANT POWDER.
The fearful explosion of dynamite
and consequent loss of life at Bremen
haven, will remind many of simila
disaster which took place at Aspinwal
some nine years since. The dynamite
on the pier at Bremerhaven, it is said
was in the personal baggage of pas
senger. The nitro-glycerine which ex
ploded on board the steamship Euro
'pean, at Aspinwall, in 1866, was in
voiced as coil" Its powerful prop.
critics were quite unknown at that time
in this country. There were about
seventy cases of the stuff in the hold
of the ship, which had been trans
ported from Hamburg to Hull, Eng
land, and thence to Liverpool by rail.
1t will never be known whether the
explosive quality of the compound had
been heightened by partial decompo-
sition in the tropical heat of that lati-
tude, or whether the careless handling
by the laborers in the vessels hold
brought about the disaster. The steamer
was blown up, many people were killed,
and much shipping and wharf property
and buildings were wrecked. Great
Indignation was expressed against the
shippers who had disguised their con-
signment in order to insure its trans
portation. In the shape in which it
was carried it completely deceived the
very people who should have been
made aware of the dangerous proper
ties of the cargo which they were OBJ
liged to handle. This shipment was
designed for San Francisco, and, by a
curious coincidence, similar disaster
occurred in that city at about the same
time. Tidings of the two explosions
reached New York almost simulta-
neously. An express company in San
Francisco had received, in the course
of business, case containing several
packages of nitro-giycerine, the outer
wooden covering of which was satu-
rated with the perilous stuff leaking
from the inside cases. Nobody called
for it, and some man was instructed to
open it in order to see what the con-
tents might be. The first blow of his
mallet caused an explosion which killed
eight or ten people, wrecked the ware
house, wounded many persons, and de-
stroyed property TO the value of two
hundred thousand dollars. Both these
disasters occurred when the manufac-
ture of nitro-glycerine was yet new,
and while the art of packing it safely
for transportation was comparatively
unknown. OF the various serious ac-
cidents which have happened from a
careless use of this explosive, that by
which eight men were killed and
several were wounded, at Bergen,
n. j., in 1867, was most notable. In
his instance laborer attempted to
Try can of nitro-glycerine by thrust
ng a red-hot poker into it. We now
know enough of most powerful ex-
)losives to. handle them, at least, with
great care, and to transport them from
,lace to place without incuring any
UGH awful penalties of ignorance as
hose which followed its ignorant dis
position less than ten years ago. In
Iced, the article of commerce known
Is dynamite, which caused the explo-
ion at Bremerhaven, was the result of
Alfred Nobers experiments to discover
form in which nitro-glycerine might
,e safely handled. Nobel, a Swedish
hemist of Hamburg, after studying
he composition and properties OF such
explosives as the "wood-gunpowder"
f Schultze, and the compressed gum
otton of. Abel, introduced nitroleum,
r trinitine, to the world on large
Gale. 1t was not until 1865 that it
,ecame well-known in the arts, and
he series of shocking disasters which
ollowed its introduction brought it at
nee into great disiavor; those who
aw its immense value as an explosive
readed its hidden forces. 1t was then
to difuse the explosive fluid
4 sand, or chemical substances, by
lhich means the explosive force would
e divided, and any latent heat would
e conducted off. Another plan was
0 mix the oil with wood naptha, which
Tould form non-explosive compound,
he naptha being easily Drawn off when
be nitroleum is required for use.
zone of these expedients were found
and the latest result of all
experiments was dynamite, or giant
owder. This is simply pulverized
lex, saturated with nitro-glycerine.
| cheap substitute for the slick is a
eposit of inftIsorial earth, found in
ome parts of Germany, and which
nswers every purpose of the artificially
repaired material. The saturated
lass looks like damp grayish sugar.
f carelessly prepared, the nitro-gly-
crime settles or collects in drops, and
!, of course, dangerously explosive.
If each of these compounds it may be
lid, as of fire; that lit is q good SER
ant but bad master" Railroad
lilding, and all enterprises requiring
lasting, t,rnneIing or excavation, have
cen vastly cheapened by the intro
uction of this tremendous explosive.
was estimated at one time that the
[oosac Tunnel would require less than
the time and money to finish
by using nitro-g lycerine than any
Urinary process would involve. In ,
lasting, the bore-holes may be smaller
ld further apart with nitro-glycerine
dynamite than with gunpowder. 5
Though an explosion with these
odern compounds is extraordinarily {
ldden, the mass to be detached is not
lrowIf out with the violence of gun
)wder blast, but is shattered and ifs
Ired without much projection. The +;
creased volume of an exploded charge !
nitro-glycerine or dynamite is enor-
Gus as compared with gunpowder,
eing about thirteen times larger than {
lat of powder. There have been {
any so-called perfectly safe" ex- 5
osive preparations, Of which dynamite
nd dualine are the newest. 1t is evil
ent that, ike the non-explosive burn
g fluids peddled about the country, ;
lese are not to be trusted implicitly. ,
everal mysterious and disastrous ex-
losions have occurred from them, that :