Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-09-28
MODERN EXPLOSIVES.
A. Account of the More Important SUBJ
stances Now la Use.

Few would imagine, as they watch
the coal quietly glow and consume.
away in the CRATE, that there are pres
ent all the materials necessary for pro-
duning an explosion; yet such is the
case, and it has been found that the
ignition of coal-dust laden air is a not
infrcq lent source of disastrous explo-
sions in coal mines.
What has occurred with coal may
occur with any combustible solid
which is finely pulverized and sus-
pended in air. and in this manner the
explosions OF flour which destroyed
several -four mills in Minneapolis in
1878 are accounted for The explo-
sions Of sawdust in the Pullman car
shops and at Geldowsky's furniture
factory. the explosions of starch in a
New York candy factory. of rice in
rice-mills. and of dust in breweries
and spice-mills. are among the many
examples of the action of q similar
cause; but perhaps the most unusual
case of this class Of explosi ons was
that of finely powdered zinc. which
occurred in 1854 at the Bethlehem
z nc Works.
The modern high explosives are
bodies which contain within their
molecules the elements necessary for
ordinary com bustion. while at the
same time they are more or less
endothermous; and the best example,
and perhaps the most important If
these is the mercury illuminate. This
substance was discovered by Howard
in 1900 and was made by dissolving
mercury in strong nitric acid. and
pouring the solution into alcohol. |
discovery aroused the liveliest inter-
est and it was imme lately tested by
firing in musket, bus though it inn
parted very little velocity to the
projcctile, and produced only slight
recoil and report, it burst tho barrel
of the piece completely open; and
hence 1t was relegated to the position
of che mical curiosity until recalled
for. use as printing for percussion
caps.
Its adaptation to modern uses began
in 1868 when Nobel discovered that
by the explosion of few grains of
this substance nitro-gly cerine might
be detonated. and was extended in
1868. when Mr.. f. o. Brown discov
cred that not only could dry gun cot
ton be detonated by this means, but
that if a small initial mass of dry
gun-cotton was detonated in contact
with "a mass of wet gun-cot ton. the
latter would be also detonated. even
though it were completely saturated
with water.
Baron Won Lelk, of Austria. took up
the study of this material in 1853. and
his otfor.s to perfect the methods of
manufacture and to moderate the vio-
lence of the gun charges were attend-
ed with such, apparent success that
special battery of twelve FOUNDERS was
instructed for use with it, and the
position of the explosive seemed as
sured. until 1865 when his magazines
blew up spontaneously and the ar
ticle was interdicted by the govern
ment.
Gun-cotton constitutes the best mill
tary explosive, known. for. while its
explosive force vastly exceeds that of
gunpowder and approaches that of
nitro glycerine, it is thu safest and
most stable explosive we possess. since
1t can be stored and transported wet;
and. while in this state. though it may
be detonated as described above, it
can not be exploded in any other way.
As much has 2 00) pounds of wet
compressed gun-cotton have been
MI IN, 81 1.
gradually dried. layer by layer and
been consumed without exploiting
Besides, gun. cotton is the only mil
itary explosive which can be detonated
with certainty when frozen. In call
ing it mill airy explosive. l mean. of
course. for use in torpedoes and for
military mining. and not as substi-
may be, and has been, successfully
used as a charge for shells fired from
gunpowder guns both in this country
and abroad. Shells containing as
much as one hundred and ten pounds
of gun-cotton have been repeatedly
fired in Germany.
The most prominent rival of gun
cotton for military uses. and the best
explosive fer industrial purposes. is
nitro ycerine and the mixtures of
which it forms part. This substance
was discovered by Sobrero in 1917,
while carrying out series of experl-
ments under Pelouze. Its liquid form
makes it diff to store aud trans
port AMI permits it to find its
way into unexpected places.
where it constitutes source
of danger c 'nsiderations such
as these led Nobel, about 1867. to in-
vent dynamite. The name is now
applied to a great variety of nitro
glycerne mixtures. but they all consist
OF porous solid absorbent which
sucks up the liz uid nitro glycerine by
capillariiy and holds it in its pores or