New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-29
SOME SMOKELESS POWDERS.
RECENT INVENTIONS AND EXPERIMENTS
WHAT FOREIGN COUNTRIES HAVE ACCOMPLISHED
AND WHAT HAS BREN DONE HERE.

have been the first practical demonstration OF the
possibility Of doing battle against an enemy without
having him INSTRUCTED with heavy veil Of smoke,
or making the aim of the rifle and the cannon more
matter of guesswork than anything clse the subject
Of q suitable and effective sHokeess' powder has
engaged the attention OF the orinancc experts and
chemical experts OF all the prndpal naval Powers.
Tho Lebel or vieille uhe name of the inventor,
Lebel being the name OF the rife with which
IL was first experimented) smokeles, q powder
invented only few years ago. but 1t awakened the
genius Of those who are always a. work with their
brains with chemicals, with metals, or with steam
or electricity, to improve upon the I'D methods OF
killing the men and destroying the property OF the
beIlicercnt forces on the other siden other words
the enemy
Much benefit has been obtained through these ex-
perments notwithstanding they involve greater ex
pense in preparing for war in time of leace, and
especially In actual itself. The sodios at the
rear of the breech OF big gum whether 1t is ~
ton or a 11O-ton gun, and the infantryman With tho
stock of q rife at his shoulder, have reasol to be
grateful for the invention OF this new powde and
will be when it is perfected Tor 10 DO ape 10
see the man whom IL is desired TO pierce with ulilet
or to get an unObstructed view OF the ba'er! or
regiment which II is intended to NOV down as stlks
of rye are leveed with the modern reaping machine
mr. Of the shin which IL is desired TO send down mo
Davy Jones's" locker, will give those III charge
the guns TO be fired greater confidence that inc po"u
and projccue to be fired are not to be wasted AZ
the same time when it comes TO real experience Oh
the battlefield or in the harbor or on the sea- IL Is
probable that the fighters on one side might WISH Una.
the other fellow could have the smoReless po"ucr a."
to himself so that they could be hidden by their own
soxe and Tins be less liable to the sure ann OF lelr
opnonents. But unless the two SIDES couiu Co'ho
10 some mutual undertaking that only one wouu
use tho smokeess powder, 1t is propaoie 'haV oo'i
will use il in actual warfare, especially as IL POSSESSES
many advantages .
brains and chemicals will continue 10 be used TO
solve the problem: "what the best and most
edectua methods to kill our brother VINO Is as'lisV
Ms and TO destroy his properly, anu 10 eAe0"'0 inns
destruction with the utmost thoroughness ana sea'
EST expedtion?n Then, too. the development Vi uo
full movers of machine and rapld-fring guns makes
tbe smokeless powder an almost absolute necessity rs
i nee makes possible both rapidity of fire ana pre-
cision of aim Your correspondent had long ana
Interesting talk on this subject to-day WIN one Vi te
experts OF the Bureau Of Ordnance OF the navy o
said r. ,, ,. ,-
oon Nth cnveral varieties of smOleless powder and
buo u has heen found that most of those tried were
satisfactory rs 10 comparative smokeeSsness' energy
and completeness OF combustion, they were ho' "'
IN retain their normal qualities suihcieh' ie"e' Va
time-owing to changes OF temperature anu ~
nhere-to make them Of practicable value uiiuoi '
varvipr conditions of service afoat. iho "i
.smolcless however up to the present time Is Simply
relative and signifies that the smoke gwen vi VII
firing is so slight as not to obscure INC snoo", "
tbe object aimed and fired at and Is so quickly ui9a'
no+ed as 70 admit of continuous hrlhg' Aho H
less powder is a permanent inventoh' ho"o'',
its use will prove of inestimabe advantage III iuVo
naval actions enabling "a commander ID Keep all 0"'
nortnualIv I'm view and TO estimate tho varying
o1onros of distance, 10 deliver more rap" anu nv
nrote fire TO see the effects OF gun anu toip0uo ~
and TO transmit his signals with the cer.as " IN
benr seen In feet actions It's use wiz ueoI0oS enc
10 hn1
mower of The gun and the importance OF meet ac'i'he
are details of the trials OF the most noted Sihohe
less powders are not yet sufficient to SNOW 70 VIM
degree the baIlsticai formulae OF oroih"ry Po"'''
win have to be modified in order 10 enable us " rep
cont the action of the smokeess powders now IN use I'D
] -, Countries. hut An approximate idea OF the
relotve values of some of these may be obtained from
comnsrson of the work done by prolectiles, IN guns
Of the same cabre With charges giving equal chaioer
measures Such comparisons would be exact uc
weight of the projectile, density OF LOADING ana ue
length of the travel OF the projectile were Identical
! lint I'D TO the present these conditions have hOt
| been obtained absolutely
This officer was fally informed OF the experiments
| with different smoseess powders, and he remarked
that the officers OF the Bureau of Intelligence Oh inc
! Navy Department manage to obtain pretty good IN
! formation of all experiments and considerable about
e manufacture of these powders But lie was careful
not to say anything which would conflict win
regulation Of the Ordnance Bureau that oncers must
not give information of experiments and Improvements
without permission from their superors." 1t may be
said however, that experiments thus far made nave
demonstrated with short guns the balllstical effects
Of smokeIess powders are greater than those Of
ordinary powders.
one Of the smokeless powders which has commanded
a vast deal OF attention is known "cordite." II
takes its name from the form IN which it is made
II is composed of ordinary blasting gelatlne, Win
soluble nitro gycerine added and with solvent
sufficient TO give IL the consistency Of moderately
thick Jelly. This IS pressed through holes to forin
cords which at first soft and plabe, but which
become toughened after the evaporation of the solvent
Then these cords, which either of square or
circular cross section cut to the necessary lengths
and packed side by side in cartridge cases. The
powder IS of q chocolate brown color on the outside
but when broken shows light gray section much hke
fine grained pumice stone When fired 1t leaves no
residue in the BORE many powders do, and 1t
gives off only a slight flmy vapor, which disappears
quickly The reputation Of cordte and its use In the
magazine rife seems to be assured. AT any rate 1t
must be taken a good sign that the experiments
which have been carried ont with 1t in India have been
attended with such satisfactory results that soon
as the climatic tests have been thoroughly and
cessfully made the Government officials In India intend
10 establish factory for its manufacture. II is main
tanned that higher veloces and lower pressure have
been obtained with charges but half the weight of those
Of ordinary gunpOwder.
The Nobel powder, adopted in Italy, is reported to
have been perfected for naval but nothing definite
is known as 10 its keeping qualities under varying
climatic conditions. IL is preparation containing
nitro-cellucse nitro glycernc and camplOr TO which,
during mixture benzoe is added, to aid solution and
sfteryard evaporated. 1t IS maintained for this
powder that 1t gives stable and tempered velocity
necessary 10 fit it for in firearms that 1t is not
doliqucscent stands high temperature without de-
tenoraton; leaves only slight residue, and is nearly
smokcless
The Maxim smOkeess powder has been expert |
rnonted with in Europe with satisfactory results 1t
is obtained by treating highgrade guncotton with
vaporized solvent The following will give general
idea Of the processes employed; quantity OF
bgh-grade guncotton is reduced to pulp In machine
4,o and then washed thoroughly |