The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-04-14
A HIGH EXPLOSIVE.
GUN COTTON COMPARATIVELY SAFE
I'M NAVAL WARFARE.

Experts Tell Some Things About Its Quail.
ties and the Way In which II Is Made.
Detonation or Explosion Is Brought
About by Shock.
"Gun cotton, " said an ordnance officer
d fow days ago, 'is by far the safest of any
of the high explosives. That is the reason
it is chosen instead of the nitroglycerin
preparations which, although they will
produce more powerful effects are very
dangerous things to have on shipboard.
They can be exploded too easily by the ap-
plicntion of heat by shock and under
some conditions by spontaneous combus-
tion. But the gun cotton, so long as it is
kept wet, is absolutely safe, and there is
no trouble about preserving tho necessary
degree Of moisture. "
Precisely the same opinion regarding
gun cotton as an explosive for naval war.
fare was expressed by the superintendent
of one Of the largest powder manufactur.
ing firms.
"Not only is gun cotton absolutely inert
and harmless SO long as it is wet, " he
said, but it does not necessarily follow
that it will explode oven when dry OF
course it is then much more liable to do
so, but if it is undisturbed in any way
considerable quantity Of it might remain
dry without any accident. In our works
we arc extremely careful about the way in
which we handle dry gun cotton, but
there is no Hued Of any precautions when
it Is wet. On shipbOard the disks of dry
cotton which are used as primers TO de
tomato the wet are always kept away from
the magazine, either on deck or in one of
the cabins.
"Tho only danger from them would be
in case they were dropped while being han
dlod The result then would not always
perhaps not usually-bo an explosion, but
you never can tell with certainty. One of
the disks might be dropped half a dozen
times and not explode, and the next time
under apparently the same conditions it
would go off. As far as heat is concerned
if the dry gun cotton is exposed to a con
tinued high temperature for long time
it is likely to decompose, undergoing
chemical changes which generate heat and
may go far enough to cause spontaneous
combustion. But no such condition is
possible on "a ship, because the gun cotton
is always carri d in the torpedo heads and
inspected regularly to see that it remains
wet The heads are practically airtight,
but if any evaporation is noticed the cot
]
means arranged for that purpose"
/ The process by which so common and
| harmless substance as cotton is convert
/ ed into high explosive is a comparatively
/ simple ono Pure raw cotton or ordinary
cotton waste is stepped in solution of one
! part of nitric acid and three parts of sui.
| phuric acid. The nitric acid is the one
which renders the cotton explosive, the
/ presence of the sulphuric being required
only to absorb the water, thus allowing
the other acid to combine more readily
with the nearly pure cellulose of which
cotton consists. After the cotton has
soaked in the acids for several hours it is
taken from the pots and squeezed through
heavy rollers to extract all the superiiuous
acid which it has not absorbed. Then ii
is washed carefully and thoroughly, still
with the same object of removing the free
acid. If any of this remained its tendency
would be TO cause chemical changes in the
gun cotton and decolnpose it. Formerly
this washing was the last process resorted
to for the removal of the free acid, but a
few years ago Sir Frederick Abel found
that the cells in the cotton fiber so alb
sorbed and retained the acid by capillary
attraction that the washing failed to eX
tract it entirely. T6 romedy this and make
the gun cotton more pure, it is now after
being washed passed through a machine
similar to that which grinds up the rags
in paper mill. Here it is crushed thor
OuuhlV and oftpryard washed agniD llpti1