The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-06-04
HIGH EXPLOSIVES.
Generally Not More Dangerous Than
Powder.
(Cinoinnati Commercial Tribune

(Cincinnati Commercial Tribune,)
During the Civil war there was one
development that changed the whole sys.
tenn of naval construction. The Monitor
and the Merrimac made the modern bat
tleships possible. In addition, the de-
mand for heavy armor called into exist
ence enormous steel plants, with Titan
esque hammers and presses. and called
into being lot of inventors who de-
yeloped new ways for hardening the steel
of which the armor ia composed.
But inventive genius did not stop here.
To pierce the arnor, guns Of enormous
power have been made. Going step
farther, the old fashioned gunpowder of
our forsfather's day has been compelled
to give way to the new explosives, ter
rible in power and destructiveness. As
Of the practical value of all these new
war devices naval experts can better
judge if the present war continues
sufficiently long to bring together vessels
of the Oregon. Massachusetts and Indiana
type. An engagement like that may upset
many ideas.
In the coming struggles whether near
at hand or far in the future, the work of
dynamite guns on dynamite cruisers,
like theV and Nictheroy, will be
watched with unconcealed anxiety. At
this time something about high e1plo-
sives cannot fail to be instructive, and
all these high-power explosives are d.
rectly or indirectly derived from nitro
slycerin. This preparation is made from
2itric acid and gyloerin. In its primi-
tive state it is too dangerous to allow it
20 be used except by those who find it in
dispensable for explosive purposes in gas
and oil wells.
Dynamite, or giant powder, is the in
vention of Albert Novel, a Swede. The
three liquids, sulphuric, acid, glyeerin
and nitric acid, are mixed with the great
est caution. Thia mixture is combined
with sawdust or infusorial earth. when it
becomes mass in appearance about like
wet graham -four. To some 1t appears
like coarse brown sugar. Explosive gum
Is of pure nitroglyoerin and gun cotton
more highly charged with nitrate.
The pulyerized form prevents the trans.
mission of ordinary shocks except under
pressure in confined space. The pres
sure of the inert mineral constituents
serves likewise to absorb heat and conse-
quently high temperature cannot be
readily impaired to the whole, but when
impaired this temperature effects great
explosion OF the gases and increased
effectiveness OF explosion.
1t is dangerous, of course, but there is
false imp ession as to the character of
the compound. Many think the stuff will
go OF with slight or no provocation,
when as matter of fact it Is all right
except in the hands of those depsely ig-
norant In late interview Edison said
Of dynamite:
THREW ROCKS AT DYNAMITE.
you hear people talking of the danger
arising from the handling of dynamite.
1 never could see that it was very danger
Gus to handle, in the ordinary sense of
the word at least. I renemb Der once ta-
king quantity Of dynamite out in the
woods near my iron mine up the State
and trying to explode it by such means
as might enter into any accident likely
to occur IN general handling. We did it
as an object lesson to the men as mu3h
as for anything else. We burned it, threw
big rocks at it and tried other ways of
exploding it, but we couldn't make it