Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-05-13
POWDER FOR BIG GUNS
WHERE 1T COMES FROM AND
WHAT 1T LOOKS LIKE.

for Making Ordnance Powder
Comes From Gcrmany-SOme of
the Different Forms of This Ex.
rlOsive.
1t is singular thing that gunpow-
der remained practically unchanged
and unimproved for more than 400
years after its discovery by the Euro.
peans. Some refnements of manu-
facture were introduced; it was made
less bulky and more cleanly; but its
cOmponents we're the same and it's ex-
pansion about the same. Military
powder, as we know it to-day, is the
invention and perfection of decade.
Great minds have been bent upon it !;
much money has been made out of it.
Without it modern ordnance would be
comparatively worthless. With it, the
amount of damage of which the 13-
inch gun is capable is a matter of con-
lecture only. A practical demonstra-
tion of the effect of a shell backed by
this modern explosive would be given
many times during q war between
Spain and this country. TO this pos
sible struggle the military men OF Eu-
rope are now looking. In fact, they
talk of little else.
The man who invented smokeless
powder was German named Dittmar.
He came to America with his secret
and tried to sell it, but nobody would
buy it until its worth was proved.
Dittmar built some works and endeav.
ored to show its value, but failed. The
smokeless powder was not success.
Much was printed about it and enor-
nous forces were claimed for it, but it
was all on paper. 1t was not any
good, and there is now no powder of
the smokeless kind that is of any good
to the army or navy. Men still exper-
iment with it in a hopeless sort of
way, but military people do not look
to it to produce any results. 1t would
be an excellent thing, of course, if this
powder could be made perfectly smoke
less gunners would like to see immedi-
ately the effect of their fire upon an
opposing ship. The advantage of hav-
ing the sight clear for the second bar
rel is well understood by sportsmep.
For big guns, however, the Dittmar
smokeless is valueless.
The United States have as good ord
nance powder as is to be found in the
world. Seven years ago they did not
have it. Their possession of this mod
ern explosive in its state of highest de-
velopment is due wholly to the skill,
patience and liberality of Dupont. 1t
should be said that big-gun powder is
a German invention. The German
government made the powder and it
guarded the secret of manufacture
with jealous care. Dupont tried in
vain to purchase the formula. The
servants of the autocracy were incor-
ruptible. Possibly his French name
had something to do with his failure.
He did manage to get sample OF the
powder. With this as his model, he
began to experiment. He was not inn
mediately successful. His work ex-
tended over some years and bled him
heavily. He hit upon the secret after
many disappointments, however, and
then improved upon his discovery.
To-day his product is as good as that
of any German factory. The secret Of
this powder is now common to half
a dozen of the European governments.
Probably their formule all came from
Dupont. 1t is not known generally
that the United States contain but
two factories capable of manufacturing
the ordnance powders. One is owned
by the Dupont-Nemours company, and
is at Wilmington, Del. The other is
owned by the California Powder conf
pany at Santa Cruz, Cal. The Du.
pont people and the Santa Cruz peo-
pie are related by blood and marriage.
The companies are practically one.
OF powders now made there are
probably hundred kinds. They may
be divided, however, into three classes
blasting, sporting and military. The
military powders look as little like Or
dinary gunpowder as it is possible to
conceive. That intended for the 30
caliber rifles, with their lead-pencil
bullets and 2,O00-yard zone of fire, is a
very good imitation of clean, yellow,
well-grained sand. Then there is a
powder intended for similar use that
is of reddish brown, and is cut into
thin, minute squares. Powder to be
used in certain of the field guns looks
like nothing in the world so much as
sheet glue, one-sixteenth of an inch
thick, and broken into irregular bits.
The powder for the Hotchkiss gun
is in blocks one-fourth of an inch
square, and as solid as coal. There is
a spheroidal kind, whose grain is
something larger than an ordinary
marble. 1t looks like bit of lead
hardened into globular form. This is
also Il field piece powder. The 13-
inch guns take the brown prismatic
and the black prismatic. The black,
which is the quicker of the two, is