Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-03-02
HOW GUN COTTON rs MADE.

1t may not be 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 New
port Or. I.) harbor. In the manu-
facture of gun cotton the best cotton
waste and the strongest and purest
nitric and sulphuric acids are used for
the explosive. The cotton waste,
after it has been hand-picked for the
purpose of removing the dirt and
grit, is placed in boiling tanks, where
it is allowed to remain four hours.
1t is afterwards subjected to a thor
ough washing and is re-boiled. 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 a drying
box. After undergoing this treat
ment the cotton rolls up into snarls
and lunches, and in order that the
acid may have a freer access to it it
is passed through a shredder and
converted into a fluffy state. 1t is
afterward exposed in an air-tight
box for several hours to a temper
ature of 200 degrees, which practi-
cally deprives it of all moisture.
From the air-tight box it is removed
to the dipping room, where there are
iron troughs flied with one part nj
trio acid and two parts sulphuric acid.
Into those troughs the cotton is
placed, one bundle at a time, and al
lowed to remain 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 it Ie-
mains 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 lis now nitrated
and is practically gun cotton, but the
acid, still mechanically held, must
be wholly removed or it would be apt
to quickly deteriorate and become ex-
! tremely dangerous. The charges,
therefore, are taken one by one and
placed in an acid wrlnger and plung-
ed into large tub which is kept
filled with running water, in which q
large wheel is rapidly turned in order
to subject the cotton to thorough
washing. This latter process is con.
tinued till no acid is perceptible to
the taste. 1t is then subjected TO s
still further washing and boiling il
an alkaline mixture, this being nee
essary TO remove every trace of acid
The cotton is now in long shreds ant
balls, which can be stored or useC
without danger, the process of con
version and cleansing being complet
ed, but for military use it must b,
put into more compact form. Fo
this purpose the gun-cotton in char
ges of 800 pounds is thrown into
pulping tub, where, mixed with water
it is ground with steel cutters into
fine pulp. The grinding and break
ing up of the cellular tissue of th
cotton has made it more or less dirty
and it is necessary, therefore, to ex
pose it to frequent wasEings in tn
poaching tubs, from which, afte
treating it with lime water to max
the moisture slightly alkaline, it i
drawn up into a large iron tank
where it is fed to the moulds, whic
under moderate pressure, press th
water from the pulp and trim Gu
cylinders of cotton about eight inehe
high and three and half inches i
diameter. These cylinders are the
placed under hydraulic press an
exposed to pressure Of about l. 10
pounds to the square inch or abou
eight tons ON each. The cylinder
: are pressed into hard cakes or disks
some two inches high and three an
a half inches in diameter, with a spe
cifc gravity little greater than ws
ter. They are then packed in boxe
of fifty pounds each and kept IN mag
azines for general use. Gun cotto
is, from its great explosive powe
and the conditions of safety attatcl
ed to its storage, superior to an
other known explosive for naval wa
Z 7.