The sun., 1890-12-04
xMMkxs1rF IND ak1sIrE
Their Success - FrsliHinary Experfnenss
- to Iasure Them . Deesstve Trial

KMMENSITE AND GELBITE
Their Success II r~sliAinary Experiments
- to Iasure Tsen = Deesssve TRIAL
wAsHrNoroN. Dec. a-of the making Of high
explosives and smokeless powders there Is no
end. Thess materials are OF enormous Inn
portanoe In warfare. and perfection has not
yot been reached In thom. The secrets also.
OF thelr composition and manufacture are kept
a. far IS possible, and each nation wants
Its own supply. To the familiar gun cotton.
dynamite nitro.glycerine. and explosive Gela-
tino have been added within few years sew
eral scores Of high explosives, either for
blasting or military uses, including the
chioratss the picrates. the panclastites.
ana othors. numerous enough to form dis
tinct groups and classes. Among those which
have recently attracted attention for use
In the bursting charges OF shclls is lyddite. In
vented BY II. Turpin. who sold 1t to slr W.
Armstrong. SO that 1t Is now used by the Eng
lish military authori.ies This is n picric acid
compound. while another. originally OF much
the same character, but now improved, Is the
French mGlinite, In which nicric acid is sup
Ios,d to 10 Combined With some coal,tar M
demos, since no f1nsl miin..e she'll Is said has
s,sn sSr.si hy Sisr:sh Of ths p,sss, a
snS sein4s m9Ps ss.a u shss asnsns
Invented y Rudolih siSCels 8, snd % on; ,n,.u,
ae s1.s St asHs Sa = s1sss fts srRs
tbe Fioleh having their famous Vieills. ,nr
Worth s ns 'no B.sa is s''SS rem
wss sSerS is also .SS
dor, tho SWSlish Grairut Invented BY Skog-
sne SSs Inn
Ing sl:h tho new, eNnlosiSo Of Dr; stephen Il.
i.o. until now it is believed to merit having a g
IT, ssnS net'S 9%.
Cd with at the Washington yard during the
Sass yea, Vas 9" SON SSlni a 81 dns the
ammonia The irst ol these three. ,nbs,ance
semi. .ilaid. whom The % ones t Two s we're gradual:
~ stirred In. Then the paste was taSen OIL
was s redncsd @ os to yeew e powdsr % BY p"andins
In a n:Grtar with u pestlc. which was Very
practical tost ol lite safety pnSer c9neppss!on; q p
ieobly; willie mixed win charcoal and fired
from Pistol i gave sharp report m and - Q very
pounds Was placed under u raft composed Of
forty ordinary railroGd tios securely 6olted
Ss hEh
intact:
Il, 5; sss. e s% AMI .rf &
Iss tesa.s sspsas% ~. he later although broken
Of s. ns e. .s,s
n
ais so:sd ;"a Rssa 5H%
These we're, experiments at the Government
ordnance yard in the presence OF officers ap-
pointed to witness them. At the mannfact9rv
thin plate Of Iron from an ordinary pistol with
charge OF emmensite. when with larger
9on Thee o H
divided up among four holes. each four feet
deep in rock tore !, + 70 pieces &C., for long dis,
account OF experiments Witnessed by him at
tho factory:
tSsh s cam .nG It.
Oh, With sunpowd.r. about pound and half being
n; ;aSss.s with
s:k s:i
it and the other
sts :.a )
Gelbite is . smokeles powder. obtained by
treating . specially prepared paper with en-
Nsvy Yard from revoivers and lilies. Il gave Oh
only, slight dusty .pnf which was very
| quickly dissipated. but was accompanied by Q
sharp. quick report 1t has decided yellow
color. and ts propulsire force Is said to be
very nearly three times that OF ordinary gun
powder
powders is that they deteriorate under changes
of temperature: but emmensite can be either
heated or frozen without being essentially
damaged and it has even been soaked In
water with little il any injury. The navy high
exriosf hitherto has been gun cotton.
which has also been used in the guns of the Ve-
suvu-. But that vessel has her pneuma attic tubes
built into her. and the aiming has to be done
wholly by the helm Assuming that emmen-
site should require the use OF special short
guns. like the one which the Ordnance Bureau
has now determined 10 construct for It, and
also that 1t would require q mortar like
| elevation instead Of ordinary horizontal she'll
/ firing. yet these guns would have the great ad-
vantage Of being suited to any vessel In the
service. That q shell filed with q bursting
charge Of emmensite would be moro effective
than one filled with ordinary powder seems to
! be evident: while in having powder as the pro-
pulsiye charge instead OF the pneumatic ap-
naratus 1t would acquire far greater range.
| The experiments with tho new special gun will
| doubtless be made as soon as i Is constructed
aud will attract much attention. The army
| authorities have also been testing the new OK
| Dl0Sy0 during the wear