Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-07-07
implements Of Defence Now Made
Forbid Even Slight Indulg-
ence in Var.
Great improvements Have Been Re
Gently Made in the Production
of Powder.
The Battle of Waterloo Could Now be
be Fought in About Fifteen
Minutes.

of the marks By which we are to recog.
nize the approach of the millennium is that
there shall be wars and rumors of wars
There may be rumors. of wars In the near
future, but the. advent of smokeless powder
and long-range guns will do away with
wars. That Is, with the oId-fashioned
wars, in which there were battles anC
skirmishes.
1t used to be that an attacking army
would send line of skirmishers out across
the field to develop the enemy's position.
Now If line OF skirmishers should ad-
vance upon hidden foe, armed with the
new SmalL-bore, long range rifles ano
smO6eless powder, the skirmlsh line woulC
be swept eff the earth without developing
anything of the enemy's line or the soldier
Of to-day Is trained to be q marksman,
with his perfect arm.
Not only is the bes powder absolutely
smokeleiS but it makes very little noise
when fired. A battle of to-day, therefore
is entirely Invested of the old-time mag
nifcent dramatic effect of the booming of
cannon, the battle Of small arms and the
cloud of smoke, and oven Of the smell OF
birthstone. Tee best smokeless powders
are also odorless, according to the New
York Advertiser, but others In burning
release gaSs that cause great suffering
among those that use them, so that your
own army may be used up as well as that
OF the enemy. Others release a sui phuret-
ed hydrogen gas that is very unpleasant
indeed, and, while one might take a grim
delight In the smell Of burning birthstone
and the old powders, a Whit Of sulphuret
ed hydrogen would cause him to grasp his
nose with his thumb aud forefnger.
The effect Of this maneuyar executed by
the entire line of battle would not fall
short of the ridiculous. The signif canoe,
however, OF the old expression to illustrate
lack OF experience in war, He never
smtl5 gunpowder," is now lost with all
the rest OF the pomp and panolpy Of war,
for the Ill-smelllng sm0keleSs pc Fders that
release noXlous gases when burning have
been discarded.
1t is aScertained by experiment. that the
best smOkeless powders are made by unit
ing gnn cotton and nitro glycerine. These
substances enter into toe composition OF
the smokeless powders Of every govern
ment and Of the private experiments. II
| is also proved that instead Of using low
grade Of these, the highest explosive
agents in the world, the best results are
attained by uniting the highest grades OF
each.
Gun cotton is really cotton fiber soaked
n large X2ess. of mixture of the strong
est nitric and sulphuric acids This pro
duces the highest grade of gun cotton.
! When this is Thoroughly freed fro II acids
1t has always proved to be very stable
compound, The ordnance department of
the United States navy has always shown
a preferance for this over any other high
explosive, and their officers have made the
very best quality.
Nitro-glycerina is made by mixing sui
phuric aud nitric acid with ordinary sweet
| glycerine, instead of with cotton fiber as
IN the manutac ure OF gun cotton. Giyc-
crime is described as "a sweet vicid
Iicquid, formed during the suonifcatjon
OF fatty substances, consisting of carbon,
| hydrogen and oxygen" The "fatty" SUBJ
stance usually employed in the manufac-
ture Of gly cerlne is lard-pure, innocent
lard, the adipose tissue of the pig. Who
would think, when he saw a pig roofing in
field, or even when dead and hung up In
a butcher shop, with his hind feet spread
SO far apart that his whole body is split
wide open, that he represented such terri
| bic possibilities of destruction Ore
ordinary pig, when his fatty substaI c."
has bt en- properly treated with nitric and
| suiphuric acid, could blow up and entire
block in the city OF New York.
Mixing these harmless acids with the
| equally inotfensiye glycerine is what pro-
duces the dangerous result, and the process
is also attended with great peril. The
materials are mixed in large steel tank,
called an agitator, in which there are
MANI coils OF lead pipe, through which a
stream of ice water is kept flowing during
the process of mixing Should the tenn
perature of the mixture happen TO rise
above IS degrees F. an explosion would
occur. Nitro gIycerine is very sensitive,
and In order to guard against the shock
of sudden blow or severe conclusion, it
| is kept stored in earthen tanks, which are
sunken in the ground
Before being delivered into the hands of
| the public for blasting purposes it is usu-
ally mixed with some substar &c, such as
wood pulp or fulier's earth, to act as
| buffer and take up the conclusion. Ac-
cording to tie different methods of so
preparing the crude material, we have the
various high explosives Of commerce, such
as dynamite, forceite, rack-a rock, renG-
rock, ETC., the strennth OF which depend.
upon the quantity of nitro gly cerlne in
the compound, the standard of measure
being what is called ''75 per cent. dyns-
mite that is, mixture containing IS
per cent. of nitro-glycerlne GO % per cent.
wood pulp. These compounds will not
explode. from an ordinary jar and will
| burn without exploding, but they freeze
AZ degrees Fahrenheit, and very many of
the fatal explosions that occur among
| = bn Il !
come from an attempt to thaw them in
cold weather, or in placing them near a
ire to keep them from freezing.
| Notwithstanding the fact that through
the constant use of dynamite, men get
careless and disasters soon occur, still we
must admit that ii is d great agent for the
benefit of mankind. Dynamite and the
steam drill together have made the upper
part OF Manhattan Island available for all
ire purposes of a great city. And so ex-
| pert have those become who are cons ant
| " handling the drill and the explosive
that cellar can be blasted out of solid
rock right alongside of building already
! erected, and in not much greater time
than 1t would take to excavate sand with
a spade, and that. too, with no greater
| inconvenience to the neighbors if even an
| ordinary amount of care be exercised.
Mr.. F. Latin Kellogg, vice president
and general manager of the Phoenix Pow
der Manufacturing company, has devoted
| considerable attention lately TO the manu-
facture Of high explosives and s1nokeless
powders, as well as of black powder
About two years ago he secured control OF
a process of making powder that pos
sessed many Of the qualities of smokeless
powder and a safe explosive agent of