Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1891-10-23

rERRoRlTe.


AAC ACW CApiuSINc, VI COuTsc, ~ b
chemical compound. A pound of it
was placed in holes six feet deep,
which were then covered with earth
solidly to the surface and was fired
with the ordinary primer. The result
Il thus described:
The dctonation was a long, muffied
enc, without any smoke, but a volume
of earth weighing fully a ton was
hurled through the air In almost every
direction, rising to height OF twenty
Ave to fifty feet. The enormous force
OF terrorite was evidenced by the
Tater4which 1t made around the pit,
and which measured nearly twelve
feet I'd diameter. The same quantity
of dynamite or nitro-glycerine would
not have done quarter SO much
damage. Il
The previous trials In Mexico were
not the less remarkable. The reports
of these tests say:
To determine the explosive power
OF shell fred from a howttser the
testing officer applied American and
French concussion fuses The first
shell exploded with such violence upon
striking the mountain that some Of
the fragments rebounded to the can
nsn. In order to continue theexperi-
ments with safety the range was in
creased to 1000 meters. The shell
In this instance was found to have
exploded into small fragments, while
large pieces Of rock, some weighing
over ton, were torn from the noun
tain side.
The most interesting Of all the
Mexican trials was where nine shells
were fred from French rifled
breech-loading steel gun of eight
centimeter caliber. The powder
charge was fourteen pounds in
each case, and each shell
contained 2l0 cubic centimeters
of terrorite. The shots were fred at
q distance OF 5000 yards. Three OF
the shells were fired without fuses,
and after striking through the target
were found uninjured in the sand
wall behind. The other six shells
were then supplied with the same
force as those fred at the rock. 1t Il
not known whether our Minister tt
Mexico ever heard of these tests of an
American invention or even reported
them to the United States Govern.
ment.
| The terrible force Of the new ex.
plosive may be realized from the fact
that one-eighth a. a pound of it has
the same destructive energy as q
pound of giant powder, which is the
purest form Of nitro-glycerine. 1t
/, has other qualities, however, which
| are even more remarkable. 1t can be
handled with more safety than powder
| In any of ,its forms, because It is un.
susceptible to shock,s or jsrring, OF
atmospheric influences, and hence
also can b safely Transported. 1t
cannot be exploded by mere applica-
tion Of fire, for the compound must
reach white heat before it Is affected.
It may even be ground 10 atoms with
out exploding. Changes OF tempera.
ture, even below the freezing point,
!! do not affect 1t, and its inventor
Iclaims that it will not deteriorate
under any changes of conditions OF
Through any lapse OF time. 1t Is Else
/ euSQkeless.
II subsequent tests shall confirm
these preliminary ones it Is certain
that dynamite has met a rival which
win drive 1t out of the field, and that
IN explosive has been discovered which
will revOlutionize the art Of war and
j I>~>.A hAPnuno r. mill O<,l v,o %Hn n,,M
ton Of harbor and boundary protec
ton. Its inventor claims that q shell
/ nlled with sixteen pounds OF terr0rite
and striking the most powerful iron
clad Afoat would not ieave enough o1
It to build raft. Heavy guns loaded
with it and placed In New York
harbOr would keep of any hostile
! vessel. Itwould reduce the offensive
and dangerous power Of an enemy's
vessels to the limitations Of q bl0ckad
ing feet., Vessels Of var also will
| keen . respectable distance from each
other, for II one should hit the Other
with b terrOrite shell it. would be al
Iup with 1t. Terrorite on the St
Lawrence at Ogdensbtlrg and othel
lplaces would suf1iciently defend oul
northern boundary. Armies woult
| fight. farther apart, as terrorite cal
be used for artillery purposes and i
can be fred safely from any rife @
1 rnofGhrsss 1t can be used IN ciiarginl
tOrpednes and submarine mines. 4
shell q. SOLID steek II Is said. weigh
Ing 1000 pounds, thrown from q II
] inch steel rifle and filled with thi
explosive, not only would pierce IL
& inch armor but prove terribly dc
structivc when It's contents were dis
tFibnted. The new American inven
ti0n b well named terrprite. I
4 promises TO be the coming high el
pl0sive and the most valuable an,
! effective agent Of destruction whicl
American genius has yet produced.