Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-05-09
Bath. up May ).
SCHOONERS.
What Is Dynamite?

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In dynamite. we have a pastv black
mass, almost perfectly safe to handle, of
which enough can be carried in a side
pocket to destroy the lives of a hundred
men if favOrably situated, or SCATTERING a
building nearly as effective as could be
done with half a barrel of gunpOwder
placed under it.
The advantage of dynamite to the Nj
hllist and the political assassin is, that it
does not need confinement; window can
be broken in any building, a cartridge
thrown in, and the explosive effects are
as widespread and disastrous as they
would he if the substance were confined
in narrow space with walls which
would afford resistance to the expanding
gases. \ dynamite cartridge may be
placed against a building upon the out.
side, on sidewalk, and the explosion will
canse extensive injury.
Dynamite is simply nitro-glycerine,
mixed with an adulterant to render it safe
to transport. The added ingredient is
usually fine earth of great absorbent ca
pacity. 1t has been f6und that the best
kind is the earth which good housewives
use TO polish their silver with, properly
called iRtHSOridl earth, because it is made
up of the fossil remains of minute organ
isms. Dynamite, then, is a mixture of
innocent polishing powder and sweet
bland glycerine after it has been acted
upon by nitric acid. There is nothing an
parently very frightful in this mixture.
We can eat glycerine on our buildings
and griddle cakes, and grow fat upon il;
and box of silver polish in the house is
as harmless as a cake of soap.
In what has been stated strange law
of chemical combination comes into view.
a law by which a vast change is pro-
duced in innocent bodies by a slight dis
turbance of their molecular constitution.
We disturb the molecular constitution of
glycerine by subjecting it to the action of
= nitric acid, by which nitrogen becomes a
constituent of the body, and its whole
chemical nature and relationships are
changed.
This dull, stupid nitrogen, which exists
so abundantly in the air, and which we
breathe into our lungs every moment, day
and night, becomes the agent which con-
fers upon glycerine the most terrific
powers possessed by any agent, save two,
known to man. Does not this fact teach
an impressive lesson as to the mystery of
the forces of nature, and Of mans capa-
bility of bringing them into action, and,
we may say, into subjectiOn? If such
facts do not cause a feeling of respect for
chemical science, it is difficult to conceive
of any that Will.
In the manufacture Of nitro-glycerine,
we simply mix with pure glycerine a GER
tain proportion of sulphuric and nitric
acids, and stir the mixture until the reac-
tiOns occur, which is in about twenty
minutes. The vessels must be placed in
freezing mixtures, for if at any time the
temperature rises above 81 degrees f. de-
composition occurs, and if there is no eX-
plosiOn the whole mass goes off in "A vast
cloud of nitrous acid vapors, which are
troublesome and dangerous.
We never Ventured to act upon more
than one hundred grains of glycerine at IA
time, and with this small amount the dan
ger was great and accidents were not
few.
Our method was to arrange upon a shelf,
in refrigerating mixture, twelve beaker
glasses, each containing one hundred
grains of glycerine, and into each of these
the mixed acids were slowly allowed to
enter, the thermometer being anXiOusly
watched all the time. If the heat from
the reactions rose above % degrees in any
glass, away would go the contents, filling
the laboratory so densely with red fumes
that no object could be seen six feet dis
tant.
1t was regarded as a successful expert
ment if we saved four glasses out of the
dozen. Whilst at present the methods of
procedure are not different, the apparatus
and appliances are greatly improved. The
United States Government chemists make
the best nitro-glycerine at the laboratory
at Newport, Rhode Island. 1t is used
largely for filling tOrpedoes.
1t does not explode at the touch Of fire,
as does gunpOwder, but it must have
brought to bear upon it, or in contact with
it, another explosive agent, a Illuminate.
\ illuminate Of mercury is better than
illuminate of silver, for the rhythm of its
detOnatiOn is more in accord with that of
the dynamite. Dynamite detOpdtes, and
does not explode as does gunpOwder. Its
action is so much quicker than the move
ments of air, that it strikes against a
column of air with the same force as
hammer falling upon blacksmith's an