Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-05-02

LWashiseton stsr.l


Mr.. \. II. Snyder, the een.rai ma,
zRer Of the GATED States Dvuamits
ffO1cctale Company, Of New York
spsakifiR 10 Q Star reporter during the
exhibition of firing dynamite frnr. :
osnnous made last week on the Potomac
near Eds Mills, said bis first exoeri.
meat z1s made BY using bteech load.
ing dunk Ran, from which a shell vas
nred Containing from one to one ana 4
nalf onncss Of dynamite. He found
that be could fire the gun from his
shoulder. With this charge the size Of
the shell vas gradually increased until
six-tHoh shell vas fired. The size OF
the shell 10 only limited BY the caiiber
OF the gun. Guns Of eight inch oaliber
would be 80 large a. would ever be
needed 70 batter down the stfonQes,
fortress or sink the he@viest Of iron
clads.
BY what means does the she'll az
plode Z" asked the Star reporter.
Good dynamite or explosive Qela-
tine said Mr.. Snyder. 'sexplOdes by
eoncusaion only"
viii 6re cause 10 20 explode Yr
IL will not" said the dynamite max,
and he demonstrated this By lighting a
piece of paper and plscinQ il on a ball
OF dynamite Weighing about an ounce.
The dynamite rapidly iRnited and
burned with sisainR ncise like that of
dsmo gunpovder.
.when nitFo-glyeerine, or any explo-
sive c0inpoand using nitro -eIycerine az
the base, axplodss," continued Mr.. Sny-
der, "the explosion takes the direction
OF the least resistance, like Runpo1dar.
bot unlike gunpowder selid offers less
resistance than the air surrounding il.
10 be palmer. Q tgeBty-inoh thick mess
OF armoF on q vessel offers less resist
anee TO dynamite than fifty miles Of at
.ui0sphefe--for this reason, that dyua-
Auts 10 50 quick In It's action that the
MFnpr will give way under the great
I<l<6e quicker than fifty miles of atmos.
f4e<H This has been shown by a re-
o'lEt lI11k cation. BY placing 100 pounds
pf Aun5pp4aers on a hard surface, then
&QpLlinR n HEbt 10 IL, an explosion would
4k eou<se <ealew, and the explosion
4c1l1 1It4l~ - npvard ooufse; but
e1eaz@ rQ Id,s ~ nR2unds of dyna-
s1see ~ : Ia pQ6l5i1u QRd cause IL to
b - 4<1<on II 10 qniek shst after
y ltfod 4 woaId aeir up ~ earth
for nail5 31rls asoonz.
'Can 151aen61s psEsf<.ts ! ksrd snb-
stance befofs oxric z1nQ2
rs wosid b nffeEi4 impossibis -
penetrate hard sut5sIaEcs IIke iran a
stone with dynamite befeee exptodinn
This 10 clear 70 any one havinN so&k
cil,n OF inteliigencs regarding dynamffs.
The velocity of tho shell thrown from 4
cannon would necessarily have to be
greater than the velocity of the explo-
sion of the materials contained In the
shell. The velocity OF SHELLS fred from
cannons are easily measured. and 1000
feet per second Ia the limit OF velocity
yet attained at q considerable distance
from the muzzle OF the gun. Yet IL Ii
known that train OF dynamite zoo feet
long exploded at ons end DESTROYED the
entire train in less than 1-l00 Of q sec
0nd. This gives avelocity Of 2O,000 a
second, 1900 feet q second faster than
q projectiie can bs driven by ganpow-
DER
Mr.. Snyder stated that his object In
giving the exhibition OF the power Of
this explosive is 20 make war between
nations so hazardous and inexpensive
that the strongest power In Europe
would be compelled to arbltrate q differ
ence with the weakest.
II shells loaded with dynamite or simi-
lar hard explosives oaa be safely fred
from cannon without exploding until
they strike the object aimed al, the cost Of
destroying million dollar ironclad can
be easily estimated by the cost Of the
slsell and tbs cannon 10 ire II from.