The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-01-10
NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY JANUARY TO- 1875


space in one day Assuming the disc to be marked into
ten portions and the machine to be required explode
in eight the lever would be set at the eighth mark
from the notch The cockwork would then be started
and the disc would revolye until az the end Of the
eighth day the notch would arrive at the lever head,
which would be forced into the notch by its springs
The needle bolt would thus be released and being i'm
PEELED sharply forward by the powerful spiral spring at
its would the explosion Of the cartridge and
Of the whole mass Of the explosive compound Thus
would be cOnsummated catastrophe from which II Is
probable no living soul would escape 70 record IT,
II is by no means certain that the miscreant
Thomas connected with the conspiracy IN which
this internal machine TO have been used, although
circumstances favored the supposton that ne was II
he was the publicity given the matter the time
and the fact Of the mechanism OF the machine having
become known would probably cause him TO suosH-
tute
HAMMER FALLING on AN EXPLOSIVE
for needle penetrating cartridge. And the matter
would be by no means difacult for after all what We
have described Is little more than neede.gnn lock
released by clockwork instead OF by hand and Thomas
would only have to apply the principle ofthe percus-
sion lock 10 his apparatus THIS IS what he probably
Of the blow Of the hammer when the machine was
tried.
ROW THE FATAL EXPLOSION CAME ABOUT
is not quite clear, possibly 1t never will be made
any clearer than 1t is the present time II is to be
accounted for either one Of two hypotheses- may
have arisen from the premature reease OF the hammer
striker, by reason Of arrangement OF the
machinery, caused by violent conclusion such as
a fall would produce 1t may have been due to
the explosion OF the destructive agent Itself from the
same cause The latter hypothesis, however, opens
up the question of the nature OF exposvewhether
1t was pure nitro gycerne or one of its compounds,
hthofracteur dynamite. II 1t was nitro glycerine
and had become crystalized, which will happen at
temperature of about 43 deg. Fahrenheit very mod
crate conclusion would be sufficient TO explode IT. II 1t
lithofracteur dynamite, the same temperature
would only harden 1t and render It inert than
when in its plastic condition This point was exempli-
fed during experiments carried out with Itho-
fracteur in Wales before the War once committee on
Explosives In February, 1872, and which
ported In the Times Of the 22d OF that month There
upon ignitng sausage of lithofracteur with capped
fuse, the sausage being placed against mill
tary stockade only portion oil IL exploded.
A second attempt met with similar result, while a
third only caused the lthofracteur take fire and
burn The cause OF the inertness OF the compound was
the cold to which it had been exposed for some hours
on bleak hill top This points to the conclusion that
nitro gycerne the agent used for II can hardly be
supposed that proper care had not been taken to mako
the mechanism OF the apparatus strong enough 10 re-
sist the shocks to which transport would expose IT.
Moreover the enormous and widespread mischief done
appears TO be greater than would have been
effected by the quantity of dynamite which the boxf
than would be produced by that bulk of pure nitro
glycerine Besides either lthofraceur or dynamite
could have been procured on the Continent without
exciting suspiclon whereas nitro-glycerine could not
The latter article however is freely used in some parts
of the United States and can be readily procured Cir
cumstances seem to point to nitro glycerine as the
agent which caused such widespread desoaton at Bre
merhaven-
OTHER YoRMs OF 1PERSAL MACHINES
have been imported into the discussions which have
arisen upon the Mosel catastrophe Among these is
the coal she'll and the rat of the latter OF which there
have recently had the opportunity OF examining
one of these coal shells which into his possession
some two years and half since We are informed by
him that at the time, two were sent as samples
TO large coery proprietor and coal shipper at Cardiff
who was offered any number. II IS TO be borne in
warmly a-itated at that time and 1t is assumed by
some that these coal shells emanated from some
scrupuous uphoder OF the good cause Mr. Pmsoll has
in hand, with view OF Strengthening his case The
coal shell IS a hollow brass casting, representing
small lump of coal about five inches long by three
ipch XUida and twO
At each end is hole for clearing out the
core OF the casting and afterward for filling it
with the explosive compound. The object OF these
shells would appear 10 be not SO much the destruction
of the ship by their direct by their indirect
They were probably intended TO be thrown among the
coal in the bunkers and with it shoveled into the fur
mace of steam vessel There they would explode UNI
der tho boiler and would probably by such means
cause the loss Of the vessel 1t possible that the in
tenton might have been to Ill them with some ma
teria which would explode either after certain time
or at the high temperature sometimes present in coal
cargoes. But the somewhat open offer OF them to
coal shipper in the circumstances would appear TO
point TO SO very vague and amless an end that the
soil movement appears by means unreasonable.
The coal shells evidently carefully moulded from
lump OF coal and when BACKED readily deceive the
eye
Of which there are two species, are OF more vicious
nature One speces is intended to operate upon iron
ships; the other upon wooden ones
''IRoS RAT''
consists OF block OF iron known as "Keutedge.n
which has hole bored into 1t, In which Is placed
tubular boring tool containing an acid. on the top
of the boring tool is lever, with weight at its outer
end and this lever work to and FRO horizontally In
space out of the top Of the Keutledge The lever
is of course carefully boxed in, and the surface Of the
restored confederate is required who will place
the machine In the right position-that with the
bottom Of the boring tool downward and the iron
skin of the vessel Beng placed the rolling OF the
ship causes the lever TO move backward and forward
and the end of the tool to cut into the ships plates,
the action being promoted by the acid and by slight
pressure gwen to the boring tool by spring The
terrible process may be somewhat slow, but is Tery
sure.
THE
is moro complex machine, and possibly more ingeni-
IL consists Of a box, in which placed PAIR OF
vertical cylinders, at each end OF the box, and
spaced about five feet apart In the centre between
two is horizontal cylinder, having piston work
ing in it, the rod passing through stuihng box The
outer end of the piston rod works ratchet drill
CUR the augur being weighted The two vertical cyl
nders each half filled with water and communicate
with the horizontal cylinder by pipes each having
its pipe leading to the end Of the horizontal
cylinder nearest to It, The consequence is that
the ship rolls the wator alternately quits and returns
the vertical cylinders, and, acting first
side of the piston and then the other,
communicates a reciprocating motion 10 the piston rod
This motion is converted into rotary motion at the
weighted auger, and In time hole is bored through
the plan king OF the ship which gradually Ellis and may
be lost before the seat Of the leak Is discovered Pro-
is made for the release Of the anger directly the
hole has been bored and the resistance II removed
when 1t silently drops through into the Thus the
hole plugged by the and the ends of vlany
are defeated Should the hole be discovered and the
box be examined there is nothing In IT, except TO pro-
fessional eve TO show how the hole was produced
to place it well for its deadly work Such are OF
the devices for giving effect TO one Of the foulest
offences against society