New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-03

conflict, for the first time in history burst,r
| shells of the armor-piercing kind Will be END
| ployed; they will mark epoch in the ID
| veopment Of naval warfare. Perhaps | shonI
! explain that the AZ inch armor expcrirnenta
upon with such shells consisted Of Harveyjze
plates like those which being put on mi
lattle-ship Kentucky, now building.
| "Jovitc' Is the invention OF a Swede name
| Blomen. 1t Is a mixture Of certain coal-ta
products with metallic nitrate. Nothing possI
| bly, could be more safe in the way of an ey
plosive. Though its energy is so tremendous,
| VII! not explode If struck by rifle ball M
course. dynamite will explode under such crcum
stances. and that is one reason why the latte
is such perilous stuff to handle in war Anothe
objection to dynamite is that it makes thl
soldiers sick. If little of it be rubbed on thl
hands some Of the nitro glycerine contained m
it is absorbed. and hence the unpleasant feeling
When dynamite has been fired the men have ID
wait fifteen or twenty minutes for the sickenind
vapOrs to pass off. This means waste Of tim1
that may be extremely valuable.
During the last few weeks Washington peonId
have been frequently alarmed by loud and rel
peated explosions, which the timid are inclined
to attribute to a bOmbardment by Spanish war1
Ships coming up the Potomac. The fact is thai
these noises have teen made by myself on Ana
lostan Island. with the help Of materials which
structon rather than destruction number of
residents Of the district, most Of them men oil
scientific training. were DESTROYS of learning
something about explosives in a practical wav
in order that they might offer their services to
the Government. one Of these students was Writ
Tassin. Of the National Museum. Another was
y A. Witherspoon, al examiner in the Patent
Office. and yet another was Dr. Allen. a chemist
in the Department OF Agriculture. In addition
to these may mention DR.. Peter Fireman. an
instructor in chemistry in the Columbian Uni
versity, Julius L. Arntzen an agriculturist
chemist; n. Munroe Hopkins an electrician and
Eugene Byrnes Of the Patent Office. There we're
several others besides
Mr.. Tassin has already invented a method
or throwing up rife-pits which is likely to he OF
great value during operations in Cuba His idea
Is that a squad Of sappers shall take a number
)f 1ovite cartridges and run forward with them
making holes in the ground with their bayonets
and planting the cartridges in them. A single
man can fire a whole line of these cartridges and
-un back IN time to get out OF danger. OF course
| series Of explosions ensues, and the result 10
he excavation Of a deep ditch which serves adj
nirably as line Of rihe-pts In Hs manner
'fle- pits can be eXcavated al a moments notice
instead Of requiring the exposure Of a consider
ible number Of men during a period Of digging.
What is called sap in warfare is an ir-
egular ditch-made irregular So that the work.
RS in IL NAV not be swept down By an enilad-
ng fire Within the last few days the War De-
'artment has purchased large number Of
shields, protected by which the sappers
nay move forward toward the enemy. From
Vhat you know Of the way in which high ex-
losive like dynamite acts in excavating earth
eneath the place where il explodes. you will
ealize how a very suitable trench might be dug
4 this manner Offhand But for the reasons
have mentioned. 'jovite is very superior
ubsttute for dynamite. and there need be no
ervousn"ss in the use of ii. Unless something
etter yet shall be discovered it will certainly
IKE the place of dynamite for use in the pneu-
latic guns Of the Vesuvus
There is every reason. indeed. for believing
nat JOvite' Will be used instead OF guncotton
n loading toipedoes. so that those engines *
mag be employed without danger
those who manipulate them The load proper
a fish torpedo is of wet guncotton, which IS
lrmlcsS. but the War-head contains a small
mount Of dry guncOttOn for detOnatOr I
ink that the value of a perfectly safe high ex-
osive in warfare can hardly be overestirnated
on understand, | suppose, the difference be-
'ecn low explosive like gunpowder and q
gh explosive. such as nitro-gelatne which il
n times as powerful gunpowder Each
ain OF gunpowder holds all the elements neces-
ny 10 explosion, but in Il high explosive all
csc elements contained in each molerula