The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-05-14
DYNAMITE PRoJecTILEs IN WAR.

DYNAMITE PRoJEcTILEs IN WAR.
Experiments with NitrO-GeIatine Shells
Marked and Suggestive Progress.
New York SUM-
The experiments just made at Wash
ington in firing shells charged with high
explosives are Of much interest and i'm
portance. The popularity of these
trials is that the projectiles containing
the nitro gclatinc have been thrown
from service cannon with ordinary gun
powder.
The substitution Of high explosives f0r
gunpowdcr iil shells has been attempted
in Russia and some other countries for
several years; but the disastrous acci-
dents attending even experiments made
with great care have hitherto seemed To
preclude the possibility of employing
such explosives in the stress Of actual
battle, where dcliberation and extra
caution cannot be expected. In this
country similar experiments have gen
orally pointed to the same conclusions.
Dynamite pre-. .ectilcs have been success
fllly used in ordnance Of small bore,
with light propelling charges Of per-
hals q pound or two Of gunpOwdcr; but
attempts to increase the powder charge,
in order to secure a range suitable for
actual combat. have sometimes been
disastrous. In one such experiment a
howit er which had been enlarged to a
six-inch calibre was used, and dyna-
mite shell fired successfully; but the
second shell exploded in the gun and
blew it to pieces.
These results have turned attention to
the practicability Of employing some
less suddenly expanding agent than gun
powder for propelling dynamite shells.
Such an agent has been found in COM
pressed air, and the protracted expert
ments with the pneumatic gun at Fort
Hamilton have oonclusively shown that
it can project with entire safety shells
charged with any of the high explosives.
Yet its range is necessarily very limited,
while the extreme length of tho gun or
tube required to get the full effect Of
the compressed air, together with the
apparatus needed for rcOmpressing, must
restrict its field of usefulness4n military
operations.
Efforts, accordingly, have been re-
newed of late to use gunpowder for
dynamite shell firing, and ingenious de-
vices have been employed to lessen the
shock Of firing by interposing rubber or
wooden cushions between the powder
charge and the dynamite projectile. In
last autumn's experiments by the navy
ordnance bureau twelve rounds Of shells
loaded with gun cotton were success
fully fired from the twelve-pounder
howitzer, and thirteen from the eighty
FOUNDER breech-loading gun, all with
service gunpowder charges. In the cur
rent series Of trials, six-inch shells,
charged each with eleven pounds Of
nitro-gelatine, have been propelled a
distance Of LOO yards across the Poto-
mae, and there exploded with great yio-
lence against the ledge of rocks used as
a target. The next trials will be made
with eight inch shells, containing thirty
five pounds Of explosive gelatine.
1t should be pointed out, however,
that the amount Of the explosive in the
shell is probably Of less importance just
now than tho amount of powder in the
propelling charge. The pneumatic gun
can doubtless throw 1OO pounds of dyna-
mite as safely as ten, and Ericsson pro-
poses to use 800 pounds of gun cotton in
the projectilc Of his submarine gun,
which is practically torpedo. But tho
Destroyers weapon is to be employed at
extremely short range, and tho range
of the pneumatic gun is thus far
too limited. With ordinary powder
guns the practicability of safely using
dynamite shells under the conditions Of
actual combat cannot ieA 10 said to
have pfel demonstrated. Nevertheless,
the gain achieved in less than year
has been marked and suggestive. From
the first timid experiments with few
ounces Of dynamite prnpv,led BY q few
ounces OF powder, an advance has al
ready been made to eleven pounds of
the shattcring explosive, projected by
the regular service charges Of guns of
ordinary calibers The dynamite, also,
st first employed was of low grade;
but now tho shells are filled with nitro
gelatine, the most powerful of all ex.
plosiyes. At such a rate of progress it
is highly probable that not many years
hence dynamite shells will be habitually
used in war. and perhaps especially in
siege operations,
Elegance Without knives and Forks.
iF4ehange.l
It is true that the nobility Of old ate
with their fingers and in large halls
filled with mixed company, but There
was an elegance of manners then as
now, regulated quite as much by fashion
and by established rules Of polite breed
ing. Frequent washings before, after
and also during meal preserved a
scrupulous cleanliness, and if tho fingers
were sometimes stained saffron hue,
pNiag 70 the nature of tho popular con-
diment, they We're at least free from
dirt, for tho etiquette Of the higher
classes demanded the most delicate
management in the handling of food
and the greatest possible avoidance OF
soiling the fingers with it. Even the
custom of washing We. surrounded by
that elegance which belonged to all their
habits Of life.
Pestine0t CsitielssA.
tchi,ago gribunel
A Paris critic complained that Sarah
Bernhardt in 'Thcodora' wore dark
emerald earrings because, he main
tanned, no such stones wero known in
the Byzantine period. IT,. 1...s recalls til.
criticism Of . ss.....mer on rubufe's pie
lure of "Adam and I've" exhibited ~
this country some swenty years ago
The figures he found no fault with, hui
the apple did not suit him at all
why" he angrily protested, thar
warn't no sech apples in them days
That's new variety Of pippin intro
duced myself not thres years ago"
The Wort Coffec Yet.
CHICAGO Times.
skimmings coffee is the latest decep
ton in articles of drink that has beer
exposed. >;kimmings coffee is an artici,
that has sweated aboard ship, and it la.
q rich, brown color, but it is wholly do
cayed. 1t sells for ct cent /;
pound, and di>ho.,s aa..,crs takc i
and mix it with sound coffee, after dry
ing it.
Japanese Coin.
One of the greatest curiosities il