The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-01-16
How Gun Cotton is Made.


1t is not generally known that there Is
but one place in the United States where
gun cotton is manufactured, but such is
the case. This is at the torpedo station
in Newport Or. IL harbor. In the man
ufacture of gun cotton the best cotton
waste and the strongest and purest nitric
and sulphuric acids are used for the ex
plosive. The cotton waste, after it has
been handpicked for the purpose of re-
covering the dirt and grit, is placed in
boiling tanks, where it is allowed to re-
main for four hours. 1t is afterward
subjected to thorough washing and is
rcboiled. This operation removes all
oily matter and leaves the cotton harsh
and stiff. 1t is then dried in the rooms
heated with the waste air from drying
box. After undergoing this treatment
the cotton rolls up into snarls and
punches, and in order that the acid may
have frecr access to it it is passed
through a shredder and converted into a
fluffy state. 1t is afterward exposed in an
alright box for several hours to TEN.
perature Of 200 degrees, which practically
deprives it of all moisture. From the
alright box it is removed to the
dipping room, where there are iron
troughs filled with one part nitric
acid and two parts of sulphuric acid.
Into those troughs the cotton is placed,
one bundle at time, and allowed to re-
main about ten minutes, long enough fol
it to be thoroughly soaked. The acid is
hand pressed from the cotton, which is
then placed in covered earthern jars,
where it remains twenty fou hours I'M
dergoing chemical transformation. In
view of the fact that much heat is evolved
during the chemical reaction, it is found
necessary to place the jars in pots and
surround them with flowing water, which
serves to keep them cool. The cotton is
now nitrated and is practically gun cot
ton, but the acid, still mechanically held,
must be wholly removed Or it would be
apt to quickly deteriorate and become
extremely dangerous. The charges,
therefore, arc taken one by one and
placed in an acid wringer and plunged
into large tub which is kept filled with
running water, in which large wheel is
rapidly turned in order to subject the
cotton to thorough washing. This lat
ter process is continued till no acid is
perceptibc to the taste 1t is then sub.
jected to a still further washing and boil.
ing in an alkaline mixture, this being
necessary to remove every trace of
acid. The cotton is now in long
shrcds and balls, which can be
used or stored without danger, the pro
cess of conversion and cleansing
being completed, but for military
use it must be put into a more
compact form. For this purpose the
gun-cotton in charges of 300 pounds is
thrown into pulping tub. where, mixed
with water, it is ground by steel cutters
into fine pulp. The grinding and break
ing up of the cellular tissue of the cotton
has made it more or less dirty, and it is
necessary, therefore, to expose it to fire.
quent washings in the poaching tubs,
from which, after treating it with lime
water to make the moisture slightly aka
line, it is drawn up into a large iron tank,
where it is fed to the molds, which I'M
der a moderate pressure, press the water
from the pulp and trim out cylinders of
cotton about eight inches high and three
and hall inches in diameter. These
cylinders arc then placed under hydrau
lie press and exposed to a pressure of
about LOO pounds to the square inch
or about eight tons on each. The cylin-
ders are pressed into hard dakcs or disks,
some two inches high and three and a
half inches in diameter, with a specific
gravity little greater than water. They
are then packed in boxes of fifty pounds
each and kept in magazines for general
use. Gun cotton is, from It's great ex-
p!osivc power and the conditions Of
safety attached to its storage, superior to
any other known explosive for naval
warfare. -NeW York Times.