The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-09
NEW EXPLOSIVE TESTED.
DIR. TUTTLE'S THORITE WITHsTOoD
ENORMOUS PRESSURE.

FuseIess Shell Containing Thirty-ninc
Pounds of II Was Fired Out 10 Sen
| and Did Not ENplOde-SmnII Qunn-
tity of II Will Sink a BnttIeshIp.
Thorite. the new high explosive offered
to the War Department by DR.. Hiram p.
futile OF Tacoma. successfully withstood a
| severe test at the Sandy Hook proving
| ground yesterday. A twelve-inch service
| shell was charged with thirty-nine pounds
Of this new destroyer, and fired from a
sea-coast rife. The shell was not fused.
The explosive withGtood the enormous pres
sure OF the defamation OF 450 pounds OF
brown powder at the base OF the shell. and
went out to sea without exploding Had
the shell been fused 1t could have been
exploded when It struck the water, and the
force OF the explosion would have been suf-
fcient to put out Of action, II not send to
the bottom any heavily armored battle
ship In the immediate vicinity.
Thorite, In all tests made by Major Heath
at Sandy Hook, has been fired with alb
solute safety. and test is yet to be made
showing that 1t cannot withstand severe
service conditions. Should the further tests
OF the futile explosive be as successful as
Board Of Ordnance and Fertilization will
recommend to the Secretary Of War that It
be adopted for the service. One Of the
ordnance officers at the Hook yesterday
told THE SUN reporter that thorite was
showing up remarkably well, and that 1t
seemed that it was such a high order de-
stroyer, and at the same time so safe to
use, that its adoption would render unne-
cessary any further experimenting with
shells specially designed to protect the
bursting charges OF high explosives from
the shock Of firing and impact But so
often in recent years have new explosives
failed after a long series OF successful tests,
that the ordnance officers prefer to wait
before becoming too enthusiastic over tho
rite.
Just now it's battle between thorite
and the Isham shell. Since the failure OF
many shells Of peculiar design successfully
to carry high explosives out of service
sea-coast guns, the ordnance experts have
been devoting their energies to the study of
high explosives. 1t is a coincidence that
Just when Isham, the Vermont engineer. is
bringing out a shell of special design to
carry any explosive. DR.. Tuttle comes for
ward with a high explosive which doesn't
seem to need any specially made shell. The
tests OF the Isham diaphragm shell will be
renewed within a fortnight Two twelve
inch Harveyized ncke-steel armor plates
were shipped to Sandy Hook from Pitts
burgh over week ago. AS soon as they
are received at the proving grounds, they
will be set up against oak and earth and
attnpka6 u twnIyo Tel gb,l
On Monday twenty shells. each carrying
two and half pounds OF thorlte, were
fred from a fiye-i inch siege gun with per-
feet success. The shells were INFUSED and
were fired down the beach. None explod-
ed. This firing was made to find whether
thorite would withstand the high pressures
developed in siege guns. The high cham
Der pressure OF 900 pounds to the square
inch, 1000 pounds above the service pres
sure, was recorded during the firing. Last
week thorite was fired from the two and-a-
half-inch Sims-Dudley powder pneumatic
gun, to determine its destructive force.
Tho shell was fused, and the crater made
b. the explosion down the beach indicated
that the new explosive is about as power
full as blasting-gelatne a seven-inch shell
was fired from the Ames rifle. This shell
carried a little over five pounds OF thorite
and the shell, when It exploded. few into
thousands Of pieces. These tests were highly
satisfactory to the ordnance officers.
Nearly every day Major Heath is MAX
ing experiments with smokeless powders.
The chief work OF the season has been the
investigation Of these powders to deter
mine upon an absolutely safe method OF
firing them. The bursting of ten-inch
gun in the spring. under service condi-
tons, made it imperative that something
be done at once to prevent another such
accident The trouble has been, so the
experts now believe, in the manner OF
igniting the firing charge. Their theory
Is that smokeless powder, slightly dete-
riorated, as was the powder used at the
time Of the accident, does not ignite easily.
and that the powder at the base Of the
chamber detonates first. At the proving
ground this summer tube perforated
with many small holes. and loaded with
black powder. has been inserted the length
Of the smokeless powder charge. The tube
OF powder, exploding all at once. ignitcs
the whole firing charge in one instant. This
method of ignition has worked with entire
success, and the abnormal pressures are no
longer met with.
CT-ppRESSEn HaY1y1 EDITORS,