The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-27
WAR WITHOUT SMOKE.
~, Fashioned Powder Is Passing
Away.

ely but surely giving place to the nu-
.,,s compounds and mixtures passing
5.r the general name of "smOkeless
,,5ers." The evolution of warlike mate
ne is a never-ending process, and in the
raee for supremacy nothing is omitted py
- principal military nations of the
LII which promises to give their armies
aadvantage in the field. Now the chem
-, the uetallurgist, the engineer and the
Ls"tbematician are brought under contri-
Il Ten the result being that the materials
IA engines of warfare have reached a
development little snort OF marvellous ana
che end is not yet
'Nld campaigners can scarcely witness
4 Aa disaDpearance of black powder from
sbe field of action without a pang of re-
-ret with them it is indelibly associated
I'm gallant deeds and heroic actions
which have long since passed into history.
T,ba words powder" "smoke" and bat
lie" have been so long associated together
IN our minds that it is hard to conceive
Of a battle without the usual binding,
cuffocating smoke, enveloping everything
asina pail and oftentimes making it hard
10 distinguish friend from foe. Fancy
battle painting of the future without the
clouds of smoke which have lent such
picturesqueness 10 composluonS OF that
sort in the past!
Magazine arms, high explosives and
sn,okeless powders have all combined to
render the actual movements and features
of the future battle a matter of great
doubt Based on these new material ele-
ments many theories have been formed
and many maneuvers planned, but time
alone will prove their value. Although
many features of the battlefield of the
future are thus still in the domain of
theory, of one thing we may be certain,
and that is, says the San Francisco Chron-
icle, that the field will be practically
emokeless the exception being where
smoke Is intentionally produced for pur-
poses Of concealment or for the ranging
of the artillery.
In 1887 the French adopted a smokeless
powder for small arms, keeping it's COM
position a profound secret. The tactical
advantages of the absence of smoke, to
say nothing of the greater propelling force
of the new agent, were such that other
nations quickly set TO work, until now
nearly every country has its own special
smokeless powder for small arms and
cannon.
To understand clearly how 1t is that
powder can yield no smoke, we must first
see what smoke" is. In the case of or
binary combustion. the smoke, as is well
known, consists of fine particles of carbon
suspended in the air. When ever COM
bustion is perfect no smoke results, the
gases themselves being colorless. The case
of gunpowder is, however, somewhat diff
ferent The ordinary black powder is a
mixture of charcoal, saltpeter and sui
phur the saltpeter Furnishing in a solid
state the oxygen necessary for the COM
buston Of the other ingredients. Now 1t
30 happens that in its explosion a large
amount of solid matters results, the car
Donate and sulphate of potassium and
some others amounting to over one-half
the weight of the powder itself. Beng
fDplt liFi 1aH OF f1na ,F,l
these substances are suspended in the
atmosphere and give rise to the large VOL
nme of so-called smoke. The force due
to gunpowder comes from the formation
Of large volume of gases and their ex-
pansion by the high heat evolved. OBJ
vously, then. it might be inferred that a
truly smokeless powder, where all the
powder is converted into gas and no solids
are formed, would give much greater en-
ergy, and so Ii is found. Powders of
the highest force are thus necessarily
smokeless.
So far the problem was comparatively
simple, and, with no other conditions to
fulfill, smokeless powder would have ap-
peared upon the scene a score and more
years ago. But between laboratory con-
dltions and those of the field there Is q
VIDE difference. To be of any real value
as military power the explosive must not
only be approximately smokeless, but must
give nigh and uniform velocities with mod
craze and regular pressure. 1t must
Iurther give out no noxious gases and be
perfectly stable under all the varying con-
ditlons Of climate and transportation to
which military explosive is subjected. 1t
may be safely stated that so far France is
me only nation having a perfectly re.ia-
Die smokeless powder.
Gun cotton, one of the most powerful of
explosives, has long been known as
a truly SmOkelpSS noVvdar bY1f IN sr,tta Of
tohs-contlnued experiments it's use In guns
had TO be abandoned owing to its rapid
@clioh ana the failure to restrain its force
within bounds. Nitro-g.ycerine, a heavy,
Olly liquid, is the other high explosive best
AsoWh and in most general use in the form
vi dynamite. Although the number of
shoKeless powders on the market is legion,
tne only ones which appear to possess the
necessary qualities for military purposes
are collolds or jelly-like substances con-
sistlhg OF some form of gun cotton or of
tndO substance mixed with nitro-glycerine
Gu sVhethlng to act as a retarder.
Nainphor was long used for this purpose.
ne ingredients are brought into the form
VI d so4ution and when well incorporated
anu at IN a semi-solid state 1t is pressed
tOusH holeS in a plate or rolled into
SnoSls ana afterward cut up to form the
slaHh' Great uniformity can be obtained
I un powder made IN this way, as the
'AAeuANo inc illOSl lnOTOuBn mix
us black powder mixed in the dry way
IN M never be as uniform
me English cordite, a typical smokeless
pU,Muer' has as high as So per cent. of
~ ~ slycerine and has given good results.
Is IN the form of black cords, whence
,e name and these are made of various
$50 py which the rate Of burning is con-
o noiied and the same composition is made
a''aDle Tor guns OF different calbers.
a" spite OF its enormous force there is
ga e. objection to the use of nitro-glycer-
any III guns, even when IL is mixed with
oeier substances and controlled. IL is not
r Ouly less reliable than gun cotton and
h moIe liable to dangerous decomposition,
- ~. us use in the gun in any form is
~, 20 nave very destructive result,
r9@tIuclng rapid erosion Of the metal and
tuins ny making IL useless These dlsad-
fbae@ses will doubtless result in its
a DI,'iuonment for use in smokeless powders
n.u 'he use Of gun cotton either alone or
or,i, or less modified. 1t was early rec
,S"'1ea mat the physical form of gun cot
Na, oeins a number of loose threads, each
na a',gneu and hollow. had a great influence
o o' 'ne rate Of burning This constitution
- Vhe cotton allows the fame