Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-08-30
POWERFUL AND QUICK.
Chemistry Of Modern Explosives.
6un-Cotton Weak when Compared
With Compound Of Nitro-(ilycer.
ine-Any Substance Can Be
Made Into a Terrible In
strument of Destrue
ton.

II is, vastly superior in strength 60 gun
powder, but She discovery OF newer and
far more powerful explosive compounds
has takes the name away from gun. cot
ton entirely. Powerful explosive az il is,
that substance is weak, compared with
the numerous compounds bBned upon
! nitro gly cerine. A writer in the New
York Mail and Express gives q brief az
count Of some of these. This FIRST higA
explosive, according to the olassifcation
OF the present, was originally discovered
and pub into practical usa 10y a distin-
guished chemist. He made il by slowly
! digesting ordinary gtycerino Mt q low
temperature, in mixture OF equal parts
OF nitric and sulphurio acids. In this
operation the oil slowly separates and
falls TO the bottom OF the vessel. IL ia of
q yellowish color, and has a swoetis Rsnot
unpleasant iaste. II ignited in the or
| binary methods employed in burning
other inAamable oils IL burns in a similar
manner TO them, but II 1t be ignited 10y
percussion, it instantly explodes with in
conceivable force.
So sensitive is nitro lyoerino to oop
cussion and percussion that II II be drop
| ped Only few feet or struck eNen a
slight blow il will explode An example
of this wonderful property occurred a
| few years ago in Panama, when the sud
den ignition OF Il quantity OF IL, convert
ed wharf and & warehouse into mass
of unrccognizable Fragments, Inflicted
damage TO the amount OF about a million
dollars and suddenly ended a number Of
lives.
| Careful inveBtis elton soon demonetrat-
ed that the change which converted q
harmless substance like glycerins into
such n tremendous explosive is made by
the substitution OF molecules OF nitrogen
an oxygen for atoms OF hydrogen in the
original compound. When this is done
With great care, and the process Is carried
through 60 ;ho last stage the resultant
liquid i9 nothing more than vast mass
OF gas held together by the weakest and
most unstable thread.
II was seon that the same law OF suhsti.
tuition could be applied TO other bodies
with exactly the same results. II applied
TO cotton hbre IL produces the familiar
gun cotton. Applied TO ordinary gelatine
II produces nitro-g elatine, with which
Lieutenant ZalingSi recently performed
such remarkable feats at Sandy Hook. Az
matter of curiosity II has been applied
by chemists TO II great variety OF sub
stances, and high explosives have beer
| produced from linen, sawdust, bread, oof
fairgrounds, tea lePyss, cigarettes, hay
old clothes und number OF other mater
, isle. In fact, DR.. Chandler, who ia in hi
, ino the most distinguished authority II
, the country, onoe said tina. there wa
, hardly substance in ordinary use II
| household life but what, by proper treat
ment could be converted into an Ell Pic
sivo compound powerful enough TO do
stroy the largest building 10 the city.
The alarming number OF acoident
which occurred from the used OF Noble
oft, AZ well rs tho great value OF the die
oovery in mining, quarrying and excayat
, ing operations, called tho attention o
scientists to the matter, and they won't e
, work 90 find some means OF destroying
/ the danger without imparing the lioac,
, of the compound. They soon Discovered
, that II nitro u lyoerine be absorbed by an!
puveruient body it would after eIplod,
/ only by percussion, and that the per
, eussion had 60 10 com pRratively power
full. II was mixed with hue clay mad
into cartridges or nodded IN forms, to b,
sold in bulk. Sone German chemist
produced whal il now know az dynamite
& Othors have used plaster OF paris, osalk
magnosia, Fullers earth and other liner
J powders, and have produced the yari~u
, explosives known as rendrook, rsckabsoi
: and the like.
The latest discoyery in this line wa
very recently reported from London, anC
II that OF new compound called carbo
dynamite. 10 il composed OF ninety
parts OF nitro-glycerine absorbed by ter
parts OF a variety OF carbon One OF thI
London papers has published au account
of q number OF experiments made viii
this new com pound, which, IL j. asserted
showed that IL possesses several d. portant
advantage over ordinary dynamite
Among other advantages 10 10 eaid II
have considerably greater powor, aud e
generate much lees noxious yapor by ex
plosion.
IL il difficult TO oyersstimate the ecOno
mic value OF these high sHplosives. Some
ores, ike the copper ores OF the upper
! Lsks Superior region, are almost proof
egainst guUposdor blasting. Tho rock
aud metal together are 40 hard that two
, charges out OF every three Of gun powdei
are Nrcd our ne III from II chhhoH WIN
ont SCATTERING the ore. II the high *
, plosiyes arc used the expansive power ~
found 80 be- 20 great that the orc Il
J ,hattersd in every direction. The differ
: encs il 70 great, that while guupowde'
may be said 20 blow Up and sideways 81
the great high eIp.osives blow downward
A. well. This property has been utilized
in many ssys, notably IN the removal OF
reefs and Other distractions Ia the New
York hstbor Diamond reef off ,h'
Battery, and a number u the smaller
rookie near Hell Gsts, we're destroyed hy
, lowering hehvJ charge Of nitro giyssr
enc or dynamite directly upon the sub
Acqueous surface OF the rock and tHplod
ing u by means OF an electric wire. IL
every case D.. rocks we're shattered aud
ihs channel improved from one TO i've
feet in denth.
Farmers End the high explosive esPsci
ally valuable IN clearing new land Of
stumps, as single cartridge will make
r fus kindlipg wood OF q s'uup that woold
take two men q week to rsmeys. Another
, aud most reprehensibls use OF the eI
, plo.iys ia the killing OF asb. One anal