Iron County register., 1885-12-03

Zalinsh has placed the rolls on iron
plates and dropped big rolls upon them
from a height of twenty feet without
exploding them. Held in the flame of q
lamp the roll took fire and burned bril-
Iiantly, but only as hot grease might.
But the most singular feature of this
powerful explosive was the fact that
there could be a local explosion in mass
OF it without setting off the whole lot.
Having fired rifle ball into a bag of it,
there was a very distinct flash and ex-
plosion where the ball entered it.
ssOn another occasion Lieutenant Za-
linski, wishing to break big iron
plate apart, laid alternate cartridges of
dynamite and gelatine along the line of
fracture and exploded them with bat
terry. The dynamite went off as usual,
and SO did all but two of the gelatine
cartridges. These two were each about
one-half consumed, the remaining por-
tions being found, blackened and
charred, after the explosion. 1t was
concluded that the gelatine must be exc
ploded by illuminate to get it to explode
at all, and, to make sure of its full
effect, it must be first confined.
''When the attention of Lieutenant
Zalinski was called to the fact that naval
officers had tested dynamite by hanging
one hundred pounds of it against a big
armor plate for a ship and then explod-
ing it, with the result of mere dent in
the armor plate, he proceeded to make
a similar experiment. An eight-ounce
cartridge was hung against three
quarter iron plate and exploded. A
slight depression in the plate for the
length of the cartridge was the sole re-
suit. Then an angle iron weighing a
few pounds, the inscribed circle of which
was considerably larger than the circum-
ference of the cartridge, was hung over
another cartridge placed on another
plate of iron. Behind this plate Sec
ond was placed. Light as this tamping
was, it enabled the dynamite to blow a
big hole through both plates.
There are varying grades of dynar
mite proper" said the manufacturer.
1.-The quantity of nitro -glycerine used in
the mixture determines the grade. Thus,
a sixty per cent. mixture is used in
blasting out the headings in the new
Croton aqueduct, and forty per cent.
mixture in the benches or in breaking
up the blocks that are thrown down by
the first explosions. In some quarry
work lighter mixtures are used, be-
cause only the natural seams and
fissures are to be opened, and the
solid rock must be kept intact. No. l
dynamite is worth twenty-five cents a
pound; the lightest grade only fifteen
cents. The gelatine is quoted in Eng
land at two shillings. When freight
and a ten per cent. duty have been
added, with reasonable profit, the price
here would not be less than seventy-five
cents pound 1t can be made here,
but it is too powerful for commercial
purposes. For war torpedoes it will
prove superior to everything"
at would interest the passengers on a
Liverpool steamer to know that a con-
signment of this explosive was in the
hold under the main saloon," said a
listener.
''It is never carried in steamers,
said the manufacturer. Sailing ves-
sells monopo1ize the business. We ex-
port large quantities of dynamite, es-
pecially to Mexico. 1t is packed in
each. They are lined with cement, and
will absorb moisture and prevent shocks
besides. In that shape it is mixed with
general merchandise, and is insured and
carried at the same rate charged for the
barrels of flour beside it. American ex-
plosives are the favorites in most parts
of the world. Dynamite is used for odd
purposes, such as cutting trees, instead
of an AK or saw. If pound of dyna-
mite is properly placed under big tree
or stump, for that matter, and is ex-
ploded, the whole business is lifted out
of the ground. 1t is a cheaper and bet
ter way of doing the work than the old
way. But the chief use of the explosive
is in mining and quarry work, and to
those branches of the trade we devote
ourselves exclusively."-M.Y Y. Times.