Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-22
THE POWER OF DYNAMITE.
1t fs Greatly Overestimated and Soon
to be Superseded as an Explosive.

to be Superseded as an Explosive.
Dynamite, in its simplest form, says the
CornhtI Magazine, closely resembles
moist brown sugar and is nitro-gly cerine
absorbed in any inert base. 1t is not yet
twenty years old, having been 1rst offered
for sale in June, 1867. In the form in
which 1t is licensed, dynamite must con-
slst of 10 per cent. of nitro-glycerine and
y er cent. of an infusoriaI earth known
as kIeselguhr.
VI dynamite properly so-called there
are only two kinds, distinguished as dy-
Mantle No. 1 and No. 2 No. is COM
posed OF 10 per cent. of nItrO-glycerine and
and % per cent. of the infusorlal earth
kleselgunr; No. Of IS per cent. of nitro
glycerlne and 81 per cent. of a pulVerized
preparation composed of nitrate OF pot
ash, charcoal and parafine; a mixture IN
troduced to replace gunpOwder in coal
working where dynamite No. / was too
powerful.
NltrO-glycerine is a very pale-yellow
oily liquid, about half as heavy again as
water. 1t is simply q cold mixture of one
part OF nitric acid and three parts of sui
phuric acid. 1t has no smell. but a sweet
aromatic taste, and, though it is not in a
stiIct sense poisonous, yet q single drop
placed on the tongue will almost immedI-
ately produce a violent headache; even
the handling it, before the dynamite car
tridges were in 1870 wrapped in parch-
ment, would do the same. The "dyna-
mite headache" is a disorder very well
known in the trade.
Tne discovery OF dynamite was nOtdue,
as has been generally supposed, to acci-
dent, but to direct experiment. The first
made cons sted of charcoal and nitro
glycerine, and, before the porous silica
L a q
numerous trials were made of various
other a0s0rbents, such as porous terra
Gotta, sawdust and ordinary and nitrated
paper soaked in the liquid explosive and
rolled into cartridges. During the siege
OF Paris, when the kieselguhr ran short,
the French engineers found the best sub
stitute to lie in the ashes of Boghead coal.
and next to that In pounded sugar.
The hours of the supremacy ofdynamite
are numbered. The explosive of the tu-
ture is undoubtedly blasting gelatne, the
latest Invention of Mr.. Alfred Nobel, of
Edinburgh. Already on the continent
the manufacture OF this new agent has
assumed important dimensions. Many
Of the latter operations OF the st. Gothard
tunnel were carried out with pure blast
ing gelatine, and in Austria, the richest
OF all the European countries in mines,
except Great Britain, the factories where
dynamite was formerly made are now
given over to its manufacture. 1t is sim |
ply dynamite base dCtif, containing 90 |
per cent. of nitro-gl ycerine, with a base
OF per cent. of collOdiOn wool, that is |
itself an explosive, in place of the |
inert kieselguhr. AS blasting agent |
1t is more homogeneous than dyna- |
mite, ana on account of its elasticity, Is
less sensitive to out : ard impressions, |
While In handling or cutting the cartridges |
there Is no loss of material as sometimes !
occurs with dynam te. Its further al |
Vantages are that the gases after eXpo- |
sion are ligE ter and thinner, and leave no |
dust, developing at the same time more !
considerable power. Taking the power Of |
dynamite at 1000 aud nitrO-glycerine at |
l,4ll, blasting gelatine is represented by /
the figures 800, in addition to which SUI
perlorlty 1t IS capable, unlike dynamite, /
OF retaining its nitro-glycerine when |
brought into contact with water.
The destructive power of dynamite, |
which, contrary to the common opinion, |
does not act downward, but equally in all |
directions, and with the greatest violence |
where there is the greatest resistance, |
has been 81 eatly exaggerated. Although |
1t has from five to seven times the eX- |
pl0siVe power of gunpOwder. it is COM |
paratively trihing in its effects at even /
short distances. The dynamiter, with all |
ms daring and cunning, has, after all, !
succeeded IN DONG us no more damage
than gas has often done before. 1t would |
De better for him, If he desires to con-
true the warfare, to return to his ancient
ally gunpowder, which above ground is a
mucn more noisy and demOraliZing agent. /
Dynamiters cannot by any means at
their disposal lay whole city IN ruins
nor even a street. They may injure spe-
cial buildings, and that is the most they
can do. The dynamite employed for these
purposes is, in the majOli ty of cases, OF
the kind known as ignin-dynamite, a
wholly unlicensed explosive composed of
sawdust and nitro glycerlne, and in its
effects considerably weaker than that in
common use.