Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-07-09

spade, and that. too, with no greater
| Inconvenience TO the neighbors If even an
/ ordinary amount of care be exercised
Mr.. T. Latin Kellogg, vice president
and general manager of the Pb91Ix Pow
der Manufacturing company, has devoted
| considerable attention lately % the manu-
( facture Of high explosives and smokeless
! powders, as well as of black powder
ABOUT two years ago he secured control OF
a process Of making a powder that pos
sessed many If the qualities Of q smokeiess
powder and a safe explosive agent Of
very great disadvantages that rendered its
production disadvantageous commercially,
and its manufacture was abandoned.
This powder contained neither qua cot
ton nor nitro glycerne, and Vet vas So
powerful as to gain the title of THE d.
namiters Delight" During tests made
by the engineer corps of the United States
army at Willets Point 1t developed a
strength equal to 80 per cent Of IS per cent
dynamite. It's chief ingredients were pic
re acid end yellow prusslate of potash,
With pr hJe L would burn without eE-
p.5dIs and would not explode by con
custom. rrq Iitd d strong illuminate
cap TO Zpl16e a. on. then il was like a
little demon.
AOou- "a year ago the writer witnessed
some expert nents with 1t in the excaya-
ton for the ship canal in the upuer part
of the island, which were apparently very
successful. About twenty pounds we're
put into a bank of holes that would ordi.
nary require over fifty pounds of forcite,
and BROKE the rock just as the workmen
wanted 1t, without scattering pieces all
over the works, and a similar result was
reached the following day, though the holes
were wet and the powder not confined Ia
cartridges
One charm of this powder was taat il
was easily made, and required nc large
works for It's production. At a cost OF
about $3.50 II the apparatus necessary to
produce what wollj be required in a big
excavation, like that Of a slip canal, could
be erected right alongslde of the work,
and the powder made day by day, Just as
it is wan ed. So, too, on board Of man
of-war a magazine would be unnecessary,
as, with only a table, having a water
jacket, heated by steam from she boiler,
and four basins, SIDE by side on the table,
the powder could be made as it was need
ed, none of the trouble, time and danger
attending the manufacture Of black pow
der or other high explosives ing present.
The best smoEeless powder 50 far pro-
duced seems to be that made by Hudson
Maxim, brother of the inventor Of the
Maxim gun. This seems 10 be absolutely
smOkeless; It's products Of combustion are
not deleterlous or unpleasant; it is perfect
ly safe 10 manufacture; it Is perfectly
stable under all conditions of temperature
or exposure it is not injured By water; it
will neither foul the gun nor corrOde the
cartridge case; 1t Is sure to ignite, and is
attended with very little recol. This
would seem to be the ideal powder, and it
probably is, when the proper gun and
cartri 1ge are found with which to use it.
The difficulty With most of the best
smokeless powders is not in the powder.
bat in the gun, for the conditions are so
different as to require an entire change OF
arm. In the first place, the necessary in
itial velocity will not be developed unless
there Is sufficient pressure Of projectile
and a perfect gas check is used Then the
velocity Is so high in the gun that lead
en- bullet will not take the rifjne, but will
rip off the lead, and the bullet will leave
the gun in a shapeless mass; therefore, a
new bullet has TO be devised
Col. Burlington, Of the ordnance corps,
United States army, while working in
conjunction with Mr. Maxim, at the
Springfield Armory, Mass. invented a
steel covered projectile filed with lead,
which he blackened by a inter process u
prevent from rusting. There are grooves
for a lubricant a. the base of the bullet
which prevents the lead filing from burst
ing through the steel casing and leaving
the latter in the barrel as sometimes oc-
ours with the Austrian and French pro-
jectiles when using the smokeless powder.
This bullet has been improved upon by
Captain PalliSer, OF the British army,
anu his projecule has produced better
! results than any other that has been tested
There is really no such thing as a noise
less powder, though nearIy all smokeess
powders make noise that, being at a
muCL higher pitch and of less volume than
when black powder is used, cannot be
heard &c so great a distance.
With the noise and smoke of the battle
Heid eliminated from an engagement, and
nothing left but the deadly weapons OF
| precision at great distance in the hands OF
expert marksmen, and the still more dead
ly machine guns pouring a ceaseless tor
rent of missiIs from which there is nc
possibility of escape By concealment, wal
is quite another affair from what it was in
good ol1 days. There will be few sur
vivors Of future battledelds, and a conse-
quentlY shorter pension roll, so that the
Investion OF wonderful engines of destruc-
| ton does not make war more terrible; il
I simply makes it impossible.