The Labor enquirer., 1884-06-21
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Chant Powder Explesien IN Denyer.
Editor LABOR ENou1RER.

~
The Giant Powder Explssten In Denver.
Editor LABOR ESoUIRER.
LEADyILLE, Colo, June 13.-I have
seen in the columns OF the press an ac-
count of the explosion of the powder
magazine in your city, and the question
at once occurred to me, what would the
scientists of the present day say in regard
to it? I have no doubt but they would
ascribe the following description Of it to
the usual wave theory.
The description of the occurrence is
stated as follows @At LIS this morning
the city was shaken by an explosion
which in effect resembled . slight shock
of-an earthquake First came kissing
rumbling noise, sounding to those in
doors, like sky rocket passing through
the air in front of the building. Then
almost instantaneously followeda crash
of glass"
Now let us see how one of the most
learned scientists, Professor Tyndall,
would describe it. In speaking of an
occurrence similar he says:
aThe most striking example of this
infection of a sonorous wave that / have
ever seen was exhibited at Firth after
the tremendous explosion of powder
magazine which occurred there in 1854.
The village of Erith was some miles
distant from the magazine, but in nearly
all cases the windows we're shattered,
and it was noticeable that the windows
turned away from the origin of the
explosion suffered almost as much as
those which faced it. Lead sashes were
employed in Firth church and these
being fixible in some degree, enabled
the windows to yield to the pressure
without much fracture of the glass.
Every window in the church front and
back was bent inward, in fact as the
sound wave reached the church it sepa-
rated right and left, and for moment
the edifice was clasped by girdle of
intensely compressed air."-tLecture on
Sound, page 23.l :',ta.t2F% ..'.l =
This coming from the second highest
authority on the subject would be taken
by the majority of men as conclusive
evidence of the wave theory, a theory
that has never been questioned from the
time of the learned Pythagoras, up to a
recent date. Now in7the description of
thesexplosion, there are two distinct
things recorded as taking place: First,
there was rumbling noise sound, and
second, the breaking of glass.
According to Professor Tyndall's wave
theory these two things must take place
simultaneously, to constitute the sonor-
GUS wave, and the sound and breaking
of glass must take place at the same
instant of time; but it seems from the
description that this was not so. Then
the question comes up,-after the lapse
of $500 years, and as taught by the great
German Professor Helmholty, from
whom Professor Tyndall gets his inspira-
ton on the wave theory, is it error,
does it through the mouths of its ablest
advocates, teach an impossibility in the
true science of sound, just as Mr. Inger-
soil carps and criticises true religion of
the present day, in and through his
ignorance of clearly knowing and his
want of understanding the true relations
which exist between man and his
Creator. So these learned professors
have as yet not learned the true position
of substantial sonorous corpuscles in the
science of sound. .,.
"Now in regard to this explosion or
condensed air wave, or atmospheric con-
cussion which breaks window at dis
tance from an explosion of powder, will
be found when tested to be altogether
different effect from the sound produced
by the same explosion, and that it will
also be found to travel at different
velocity, which velocity will be in pro-
portion to the quantity of gas added and
the distance the condensed wave has
Travelled" d."-(Wilfred Halls Problem of
Life.)
"These great investigators of natural
phenomena have never thought of the
least difference between an effect thus
produced where a mountain of gas is
instantaneouslv added to the air, and
that OF a sound perhaps equally as loud.
caused by the clashing of two trains of
cars together or the falling of building
in which nothing is added to the bulk of
the atmosphere. No, so far from making
this manifest distinction so clearly scien-
tifc, these sound writers speak in the
most unsophisticated manner of windows
being crushed in by sound pulse"
sent off from magazine explosion,
ignoring entirely this distinction" -
Halls Problem of Life,)
:, Now, right here we have the fact thrust
upon us, that for the space of $500 years,
this wave theory has been taught in our
colleges and seats of learning the world
over, and men of undoubted ability have
given their adhesion to it as being true
And in order to meet the objections
raised by Sir Isaac Newton, the great
French mathematician Laplace, actually
formulated the famous heat theory pro-
pelllng these wave sounds at rate of
liza feet per second of time, between the
observed and the calculated velocity of