The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1877-04-18
MODERN ExPL0srYEs.

about 1915. Il il made, Of nitric acid one
part and sulphulic acid, Two parts, we'll mix
cd, to which IL added the ordinary glycerine.
and the mixture is afterward well-washed
with pure water. 81
Being liquid. nitro glycerine canpot be
used for many purposes.to which gunpowder
1 Is applied, especially In warfare.
~ 1883, NobeQ Of Sweden. found that Ii
required . conclusion, Or suddenly applied
force, TO explode II, ard nom this liz proceed
ed to place the nitro giyceriuo ia d vessel Or
bore-hole for blasting, and exploded IL 81
near il q large percussion cap ora chasge Of
gnnpowder, or other explosive Substance.
Some ten years ago--in 1866 Colonel Shat.
iler discovered that for general purposes of
blasting nitro-glycerine was too much concen-
trated in the borehole Of the rock, and, Ia
order to spread it throughout the drill-hole,
he mixed with it fine sand the finer the sand
the greater would be the absorption.
1 After this, Nobel found that when nitro
glycerine was thus mixed 1t could be safely
transported, and Mat the finest silicious mat
ter that could be found would DO the most adj
vantageous. With this view lie selected the
earth known as infusoria, found in large
quantities in Holland. This infusoria is com
posed of small microscopic silicious shells,
which have lost their living creatures in tile
unknown ages OF the past. The cellular parts
receive the nitro-glycerine aud hold it by ca
pilary attraction, both inside and outsde.-
The earth is very light. The water is ex-
PEELED from it with furnace, and then, in
the form of powder, it is mixed with nitro.
glycerine, twenty five parts of the former and
seventy.five parts Of the latter, by weight
This compound is known in Europe as dyna-
mite and in America it is called giant pow.
der.
| Since the success, as to safety, in the trans
portaton and use of the above compound
rivals in that class of explosives. Among
them may be mentioned rend rock powder,
being mixture Of nitro-glycerine aud gun
power pulverzed dualin, a mixture Of nrated
fiber, or sgun.cotton, with nitro-glyeerine !;
/ Hercules powder, a mixture of chalk with
ntroglycerine. Besides these are many.
others that have been introduced for blasting
4 purposes, but they all follow the formula of
the giant powder mixture.
The explosive power of giant powder is
about the same as gun-cotton, weight for
weight, but cube for cube the former far ex-
GELS the latter, and is more generally used for
blasting Of rock. 1t has done wonders. in adj
vancing the excavation of tunnels and heavy
rock cuts on railways, and has economical
that class Of work at least one hundred per
cent. over the old styles of bursting with gun
powder
The success of dynamite, or giant powder,
has caused many adventurers to make up ex-
plosive compounds and, to some extent these
supposed improvements have been more or
property. Giant powder cannot be exploded
by ordinary handling, and If a carload was
preeipitated down hill thousand feet it
would not explode. If you set fire to the
carload it would burn freely, but would not
explode. If you explode u large percussion
cap in the midst of the giant powder, there
will be an explosion of powder These Ia
fusoria Sc rvcs as a cushion to whatever force
may be applied to it, and thus sharp or close
impingement of great power must be made,
or an explosion cannot be elected. The nitro
glycernc does not leak or evaporate from
this silicious earth, and this circumstance
further adds to the safety Of the compound.
Gunpowder and gun-cotton viii explode by
spark but giant will not in that manner
There must be a powerful explosive force APP
piled to it, and hence it is far less dangerous
as an article to handle or transport than any
other explosive. Thomassen, the author of
the Bremerhaven calamity, knew tue safety
of dynamite, and hence he had arranged his
clock work to let fall hammer with the force
of thirty pounds upon percussion cap in the
midst of the powder to effect its explosion
/ The jar or fall of the cask let go the ham
mer, and hence the premature result.