New-York tribune., 1884-11-02
Ey0PMOrs EXHIBITS OF POWER
TESTING DYNAMITE SHELLS.


five persons might frequently have been seen taking
the boat to Governors Island Sandy Hook
Their movements were mysterious aud their con-
Vcrsation was carried on in guarded tones Al
times they were accompanied by persons known 10
he members of the United States Ordnance hoaIu'
IL is we'll known that various trials OF dynamite
proectiles have taken place at the Ordnance Prov-
ing Grounds at Sandy Hook Compressed air guns
and other inventions have been tested but nave
failed to give full satisfaction. IL s admitted py
all military authorities that if dynamite shells can
he safely discharged from ordinary cannon with
powder charges il will create revolution in naval
and land sic-e operations. The difficulty has been
tha. the conclusion from the explosion OF the gun
powder explodes the dynamite before it leaves the
gun. Since Nobel discovered dynamite the vatious
European nations, especially Russia and Prussia,
have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars IN M
succt sslu attempts to overcome this dllhcnliy' ~
seems 10 have been left for n Yankee To sncceru III
il in tho birthplace OF the torpedo, which has n'e"
the bugbcar of England over since Fulton blew np
the Danish brig Dorothca in Deal llarbor IN isll'
The uarty alluded to composed OF /. II. sny-
der and assistants. who have perfected system Oh
sabos and rubber buffers in connection with pro
iectjlc by which dynamite shells can be safely dis,
charged from cannon by the use of gunpowder, ana
with a terrific effect upon the object struck
The recent operations at Sandy Hook nave !n Geen
allowed upon the grounds or have Heretofore bceh
able 10 obtain any definite information. lIB-
nose of ascertanng the results oi his experiments
MIR. snyder has been tor number of years ehgaEen
in torpedo aud ordnance experiments. not oi'y IN
this comntry bat abroad and was associated win
Coionel John h. Lay, VI. A. Hardy and Martin
Hubble in developing the famous Lay torpedo wnlch
is ontrolled III its movements by eiectricltN' I've
also took an active part IN the late war between
CuIli and icrn, holding commission uhder tue
Peruvian Government; He said ,..... .ho
l l,.,.~. rft.llln nl nee
public know what / have accomplished, bur you
know that If open myself to interviews on tho SUD
ect Of dynamite it will be hard tor me 10 Keep out
of the range OF yonr tying artillery reporters. In
this respect have already been the attacking point
of an army of scrbts, but VIII give you "hai IN
formation can, consistently.
"Nv preliminary experiments began about three
years ago with thrce-quaTteI inch bore shotgun,
from which / fired shells charged with rom one TO
one and a half ounces oil dynamite. perfected the
system so that | safely fired from the shoulder. ]
then began increasing the size OF my guns until my
present experiments are made with cannon oi six
nches calibre consider that the Nsteni Is SO wei
devcloped now that dynamite shells can be fired
from guns OF the largest ca,lhre. and that as long
range be secured as with Ordinary proectlles
From tie sX-nch guns of the Old pattern, whirh
are considered obsolete for modern warfare. have
fred proiectiles cbarged with from elght to ten
pounds OF the strOnget grade OF dynamite.
I" The system applicable 10 al kinds OF guns, ana
the shells be fire from bFeech or muIlle-
loading. smOOth-bOrc or rlfed ordnance"
e How large charges OF dynamite could you hre
from cannon = g..
hat would depend upon Tue size OF tic gun, ilb
caibre and length Of bore. think she'll loaded
with-at the lowcst-lO0 pounds OF dynamite can
be safely fired from Il ffteen-inch gun"
"IIow great a charge of dynamite would you
think sufficient to sink modem ronclad say OF
the size of the Devastation or Intrepid of the Eng
lish navyN
ing the vessel broadsIde on, would completely dis
able her though it might not sink her at once. The
chances are howcvcr, that il would The effect of
a dynamite shell exploding against an ironclai
would be similar to a blow given by ram or
shock from the heaviest artillery at short range
while neither might pierce her armor, the crushing
effect would so 10 d sarraLge her interior that her
engines would bc useless
Are You familiar with the experiments recently
made at Annapolis by the Naval bureau of ord
nance Ia test the efficiency OF dynamite against iron
targets u ,,..
Newspapers. | have seen it stated that dynamite
exploded against an IRON target won!d not do much
damage, and that to be elective 1t would have to
enter the target before exploding. ihls do not
believe. II may have been lett for the Naval bureau
OF Ordnance to discover that dynamite ~ harmless
and that il can he exploded against rOncllds with
impunIty yet doubt If the result o: the Annapolis
experiments will deter tine European Powers from
continuing to cxpend the millions Of dollars they
are constantly appropratng Tor the manufacture oi
tOrpcdUes. | do not believe II is possible 10 pene-
traie "A hard substance Ike iron or stone with dJ
Mantle shcll, rs the explosion oi we dynamite ny
the shells striking the target would be AZ quick as
the velocity OF tho shell itself and even II II could
pen traic before explosion do not think that The
effect would be moro destructive to heavily
arinOrcd vessel
Yon speak Of torpcdocs'; what do you mean by
torpcdocsT1 ,. u.,..o.; ,oc.,;u..,
ern war-toTpedo and say that the torpedo OF the
present day ~ an expert way oi exploding dyha-
mite, or similar high explosives, without beng
there youraclf, whether in the heavens above, tie
earth beneath the waters under the earth. There
have been Some experiments at Fort Lafayette by
Mr. Windsor and others with an AIR gun in firing
dynamite and also by Mr.. kecv, of motor fame at
Sandy Hook.
:" have no doubt that it is practicable TO fire dy
liz hI.t ffny I'M
possible to compress air sufficiently To secure any
velocity range that would bear any comparison
with gunpowder. Light projectles at short range
can bc thrown by compressed air. This is no pew
thing, however. for wind guns have been used Tor
years and bear about the same comparison to can
non that bow and arrow IN the hands OF
Comancle Indian would TO Snaps rifle in the
hands of an expert slarlrbOOteE Compressed air
is considered by those unacquantcd with it to he
safer motor than gunpowdcr but at high pressure
IL IL quite danVeIous. ] would rather stand within
100 yards Of gun exploited by ennpowder than az
pressed air az would throw the rag gmcnts farther
Tho same IN true of steam boiler 10 ~ npractlc-
able with any ~ lchlncry now devised 10 compress
and hold air at above 1000 pounds pressure to tho
square inch. Yet IL ~ ell-knOwn by ordnance men
that with gunpowder, for high vcocitie-, pressure
of 80 600 pounds per square inch is often attained,
and il s seldom used below II 900 pounds This
will give some idea Of tho relative merits of com
pressed air ana gunpowder."
I" What was the nature OF your experiments at
Sandy Hook before the United States Ordnance
BoardW
"Thc experiments were made to put beyond
doubt the fact that dynamite can safely be tired
from any kind of ordnance, and in the various trials
have fired both land and water proectIles.p
ado you consider dynamite dangerous TO handle
in ordinary warfare 7"
sfrom my own experience il is no more dangerous
to handle tnan gnnpowder, and IN some respects
not much so. For instance, spark of fire. which
woud explode powder If dropped into dynamite
would be harmless. All that is necessary Is TO
guard against sudden. shock o., blow. With this
prccautOn it can bo safely handled. Since the m
ventIon of dynamite believe that if a record could
he obtained OIL the accidents from it's and from
the use of gunpowdor, IT would be shown that gun
powder has the larger percentage of Victims"