The Dickinson press., 1883-05-26
ROSSA'S GREAT AGENT.
A Practical Chemist Talks About
Dynamite and its Powerful Prop
critics

Dynamite and its Powerful Prop
critics.
From the Philadelphia Times.
"You want to know something about
dynamite?" said S. G. Rosengarten, who
has been christened, like Baron Liebig,
''one of the Fathers of Modern Chemis-
try" looking at the reporter c%uriously.
"Well, dynamite is pasty, dark mass,
almost perfectly safe to handle with
proper care, of which enough can be
carried in a side pocket to destroy the
lives Of hundred men if favorably stu
ated, or to shatter a building as COM
pletely as half q barrel of gunpowder
placed beneath it would. 1t does not
explode On contact with fire, like gun
powder, but requires to be subjected to
or brought i'll contact with another ex-
plosive agent, such as illuminate"
GLOW is dynamite made?!' asked the
reporter.
"By saturating pulverized or infusori-
al earth of great absorbent qualities with
about three times its weight of nitro
glycerine, the earth being added mere
ly to make its transportation easy and
comparatively safe"
pul lllCSO lllSlCUlCIlIS appear lidFlll.
less enough" interjected the reporter.
"Oh, yes" rejoincd MIR. R~osengarten;
harmless enough separately. We can
eat glycerine on our buildings and fat
ten OH it; we can use the earth to polish
our tableware or clean our glasses. But
when equal parts Of strong nitric and
sulphuric acids are gradually added. in
small portions at a time and at & tenn
perature below the freezing point, TO q
certain quantity of glycerine we have a
bright yellow liquid which possesses ex-
t%raordinary explosive energy and is
called nitro-glycerine. 1t is this destruc-
tive compound which is used to saturate
the absorbent earth | have mentioned"
"Where was it discovered and how?"
"Well, that is a disputed point. Some
say that a young man in Wilmington,
Del, discovered the explosive properties
of dynamite accidentally ", while working
with glycerine and nitric acid, the re-
sulting explosion seriously injuring his
eyes. Others maintain that it was first
discovered in Germany bv Il somewhat
similar chance. | am inclined to wholly
reject the accident theory, however.
In 1864 Alfred Nobel. a Swede, of Ham
burg, made its character known, his
brother being killed in the experiments
they conducted. DO not misunderstood
WnaJ Salu at 1iSft about
it's being comparatively safe to handle.
with proper-that is, the greatest-care,
there is no very great danger of its ex-
ploding unexpectedly, but familiarity
leads to carelessness, and its potential
energy is too terrible for absolute safety
under amy circumstances. Excepting
chloride OF nitrogen and hypochloric
acid in gas or liquid known to chemistry,
yielding lO.Gs4 measures of gas, while
gunpowder yields but 500 measures. 1t
is highly dangerous under almost any
conceivable conditions, and ! hope Eng
land will be successful in her efforts to
suppress its manufacture. She is about
the only power that can do it, as her ter
ritory is exceptionally compact and the
laws enacted under recent panic give
her officials extraordinary powers"
Other chemists in the city disagreed
with MIR. Rosengarten's views as to the
excessive danger of dynamite. One
gentleman thought the English fright
ridiculously puerile. He said he would
not be afraid to carry half a pound of
dynamite in his trousers pocket; "but,"
he added, 81 should be very careful that
no one knocked me down or gave me a
kick ON that pocket"