Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1889-10-24

Of The bare and ehambvrisg tbs plecs
the charge u slow powder was great
~ lacrcasea. and IN the aavy guns the
rule for the charge u one-half the
weight Of the prolcctiis for a qua thir-
~ calibers long
The products ~ combustlon % pow.
der are liquids Rad gnsses. aud the
actual tempcrature about asoo dog.
fAhrvnheit A. this Temperature the
voiume oi the gases h about 600
time. that ~ the powder. but when
cooled dowa 10 the erdlnary iempsra-
,urs it is about 81 timss greater.
brown powder. whea fired Ia gun,
leaves a roddlsh deposit Ia the chan.
bcF. and on the face Of the breech
plug This deposit when cool. l.
readily faxed % II is composed Of
sixty -four p-r cent 81 potassium ear
bonaie, iourtoen pr cent 81 potassium
blcarhonate. aad tseuty-two pr cent
Of potassium sulphats.
The knowlcawe o. whai actually o.
ours 10 the charge during the com
busiion must. Oi course, he altogether
theoretical bui n h prohsble that
Eagene Du noufs theory 10 not fAf
wrong lle sage
The aciloa VI such powders sornas
10 b. ~ iallowsi rpon airing IN
charge ths gasar conanod in the pvw.
der are role4@~d and aci 70 eKI,ei by
their okpansioa the prol.ctilo toward
The muEzlo Of ihe gun This totm
the 'hrst explosion. A. this time
the oxygen and hydrogcn aro released
as gases, bat under too great heat %
unite In the iogm ~ steam A. The
pressure l. deereased hy thc motion 81
the prolectilo In The gun this beat also
decreases and the gasos -oxygcn and
hydrogrn unit Ia the form ~ water
The beat Teuefsicd by this uhion ~
once changes the water into steam.
this cxpansloa. which takes place bc-
fore the prpisciiie leave. the muEElc
of the gun. ! term the v~coud cHplo-
siou.' There b thus formed a powder
oi gruat explosive forso which acts
Z 80" ~ -" tNtN fHNtNAtAsh h4FN AA@N
found that such powdcrs ara very 81.
fective In di-sipsiinR the smoke aris-
Ing irom the discharge. owing. ~ I
suppose 70 tho fact that the steam.
generated a. shove stated. coadcnsos.
and in - d1ing absorb. large guantl-
tics oi IN carbonate u potash. The
solid portJn 81 the result ~ dscom-
position ~ y chAngo ~ powder. aud
that por,iua walch forms the smoEe
All the browa pov der Cor the navy
l. manufacture BY the Du foat-. and
before acceptncc Il h ssut 10 the
Naval uranage Proving Groahd o. he
tested ils Isysical qualities are de-
termlnra - ~ powder yard. and II
tha pfuxing fTvund Il l. fired Zoe We.
loelfs ana ftassurc The Governmenl
sppelarmAlaas require a pros.ure q
Aftmnn fnks BWr square ZACH IN the
- -n<*f A.st ; fnuEzle pressure u 2.OOo
{< - sexana. The xelocislen ars
A''l&A ~ y ne ncuAnKeui ss~nx<9p<
- Ne pressure by the crushcr gaaro.
ne speciac gravity - brown pow der
fAAgcs from sli in the 5-inch h n
X 10 LASS iu The iO-lnrh n n
The attcution ~ the general public
has lately been called 10 so-caiicd
vmokeless. aud even noiseles. pow
der. There are several patents 90
the former class uf powders. and
schul,lo's powder j. aa early example
~ H. They are all ~ nitro-cotton or
other kind ~ nitro-cvilula-a. specially
treated with the view ~ producing a
siower- burning Substance ur ~ nitro
Elycoriue ur Hitro-cution. The French
have adopted smokelozs powder
(foudrC 80 for tho i.skel ride Thls
l. said 10 possess high balllstic quail
ties, aud ~ produco very little smoke,
bit u l. also rriorted 70 be very deli
quesoent Prof D,-ring, chief assist
ant chemist IN the War Department.
In a rcc-ut lccturo summarized the
views II French writer on smokelcss
powders ~ follaws.
"As regards the influence which the
Use of a smoksls.s powder would have
ou tarties. the writer remarks that the
sublcct y at present conlectural. but
some Obvious consequence can b. fore
scen. Ia the ease II artillery. the uso
of mokcless powdor against an eaemy
similarly provided would render pre-
cislon oi aim possible. and would Ai.
iow the effect n ere 10 b. seen. A
small dras back would BE- that Il would
b. more dificult 20 execute the move
meat rocommeudcd for avoiding the
efccts oi well-dirccted hre from the
ensnmy. via. al dtaRcing the guns BY
hand Hhout af,y-hvo yards. a move
ment favored by tho cover 81 smoke
As regards infantry. he thinks that
the question Il more complex. The
smoke cloud with the old powder l.
iess dense than IN the case ~ artillery.
aud intcrfercs less with the mAlats-
nance Of eacctive hro The smoke
shuts oui she sight Of death and sui.
fcring and gives q sense ~ protection;
false sense. however as the smoke
really bctrays this iuianlry's position
~ these remarks the writer does not
mean 10 aad fault with 'Poadre b. 90
the eouirary. be rcgArds u ~ . neces-
sary accompaniment u a reduction oi
eaiibor ~ the rife. the old powder eaus-
ing 100 much ioaling. II the enemy
wero also provided with . smoke
les powder. the balance Of I'd
vantage would NJ equaiizod, both sides
would have IN modify existing tactical
arrangements surprise would Be a
factor of the greatest importance In the
use Of artillery and still more of In
iantryi ths latter could had footing
anywhere and rcmAin unnotiosd Tor
long time while keeping ap fre. tho
smoke alone hetraylng their where
ahout& Hearing. Il 10 stated. will not
b. able 10 take the place of sight In
iudging oi the direction from which
frlng with smokeless powder proceeds.
Colonel selhsrs having rce~usly shown
that the apparent airecsisn diners
mach from the true one on socoant of
the disturbing influence q the prolsc-
ole On TIE sound waves prsfucsd is