Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-02-26
How Gun-CottOn is Made.

It 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 Harbor. In the
manufacture of gun-cotton the best cot
ton waste and the strongest and purest
nitric and sulphuric acids are used for
the explosive. The cotton waste, after
it has been handpicked for the purpose
Of removing the dirt and grit, is placed
in boiling tanks, where it is allowed to
remain for four hours. It is afterward
subjected to a thorough washing and is
reboiled. This operation removes all
oily matter and leaves the cotton harsh
and stiff. It is then dried in the rooms
heated with the waste air from a drying
box.
After undergoing this treatment the
cotton rolls up into snarls and punches,
and in order that the acid may have a
freer access to it it is passed through a
shredder and converted into Il fluffy
state. 1t is afterWard exposed in an
alright box for several hours to q tenn
perature of 200 degrees. which practi-
cally deprives 1t 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
these troughs the cotton is placed, one
bundle at time, and allowed to re-
main about ten minutes, long enough
for it to be thoroughly soaked. The
acid is hand-pressed from the cotton,
which is then placed in covered earthen
jars, where itremains tWenty-fOur hours
undergoing 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 prac-
tically gun-cotton, but the acid, still
moved or it would be apt to quickly de-
teriorate and become extremely dan
gerous. The charges. therefore, are
taken one by one and placed in an acid
wringer and plunged into large tub
which is kept filed with running water,
in which large wheel is rapidly turned
in order to subject the cotton to thor
ough washing. This latter process is
continued till no acid is perceptible to
the taste. 1t is then subjected to still
further washing and boiling in an aka
line mixture, this being necessary to re-
move every trace of acid.
The cotton is now in long shreds and
balls, which can be used or stored with
out danger, the processes of conversion
and cleansing being completed, but for
11Sa II ,1,11ct no mt i,,+o
compact form. For this purpose the
gun-cotton in charges of 800 pounds is
thrown into a pulping tub, where,
mixed with water, it is ground by steel
cutters into fine pulp. The grinding
and breaking up of the cellular tissue
of the cotton has made it more or less
dirty, and it is necessary, therefore, to
expose it to frequent washings in the
poaching tubs, from which after treating
it with lime water to make the moisture
slightly alkaline, it is drawn up into a
large iron tank, where it is fed to the
mOlds, which under a moderate pres
sure, press the water from the pulp and
trim out cylinders OF cotton about eight
inches high and three and half inches
in diameter. These cylinders are then
placed under hydraulic press and ex-
posed to a pressure of about LOO
pounds to the square inch or about eight
tons on each. The cylinders are pressed
into hard cakes or disks. some two
inches high and three and half inehes 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 its great explosive
power and the conditions of safety at
tached to its storage, superior to any
other known explosive for naval war
fare-Neac York Times.
II has inst fransnireH that the chill