Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-08
USES FOR CORN PlTH
Will Make Our Warships the Best in
the World.
DEFENSIVE BELTS OF CELLULOSE
CornstaIks Found to Be Valuable
for Many Other Purposes.
FOR FA r M E r S
Written for. The EYening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
A new device in warship construction |
has been found, which, 1t is believed will |
make the American navy, ship for ship, |
the superior of any other in the world. |
Curiously CROUCH, the material for this I'M
provement comes, not from our seaboard |
products, but from the waste OF western !
farms. Its value lies in the fact that 1t
will prevent a. vessels lighting ability from
being destroyed even after she mas peen
pierced in a dozen places.
Mr. Lewis Nixon, formerly United |
States naval constructor and who is now
engaged in building warshps for the gov
eminent at Elizabethport, N. j., says Of
the new invention:
THE value of some light substance that
will preserve the stability of light armored
vessels by displacing water that might
enter after projectile has been appreciate
ed by naval constructors ever since we be-
gan. to build steel armored vessels.
ITO meet this need the French originated
the use of celluIose, which, when fired into,
swells up under the influence of water and
prevents further inflow. After various trials
it was adopted in our navy. Thus, In the
Columbia, the New York and the olympia
there are protective decks OF ample
strength to keep out the shells of any yes
sells they are liable to engage while their
stability is protected by belts of cellulose
several feet thick along the edges the
English arrnored cruiser Blake has no sucn
protection for her stability, and would not
have the same chances as the above YES
sells of our navy in a sustained engage
ment
We Have the Advantage.
mo thoro lghly satisfactory cellulose ma
terial fer this purpose was discovered, how
ever until the pith of cornstalks was utii-
lied in it's manufacture. Corn pith is
perfect obturator. 1t absolutely prevents
water from cominl in by the opening made
| by an eight-inch she'll When chemically
| treated it is thoroughly ffreproof and in
every way it meets the requirements or the
situation. Maize is exclusively an Amer
| lean product. This gives us an immense
| advantage over other rations We have IN
| the waste matter CT our western fields the
| very best material in the world for impart-
| ing this sort of strength to our warships.
| For keeping out water a celulose belt or
| three feet may be said to be about as eff
| cent as a six-incn belt of steel, so that we
| can protect our stability, when we have
| good protective deck back of 1t to protect
| The vitas with 100 tons of cellulose, where
| we should require 900 tons of armor.
I'm vessels of high speed, where weight
| Is needed for machinery and an armof beit
| cannot be carried, cellulose IS used to pre-
| serve the stability. In battle ships thick
\ armor is used amdships and protective
deck ard cellulose belt beyond the limits OF
this armor. II accordance with this plan,
the Navy Department has provided for eel
| lulose protection in the Kentucky. kear-
sarge Alabama, Wisconsin, Illinois and
other new ships of the navy.
increases the Efficiency.
"Our cruisers of the Baltimore type, if
they are provided with a cellulose belt,
would be warranted in engaging many of
the second-class i1onclads of other powers;
without it they are Liable to be sunk by a
well-directed machine gun fire. This pro-
duct of American farms affords cheap
| and ready means of vastly increasing the
| efficiency of our cruisers and the unarmor-
ed sides of all our vessels should have these
| belts without delay This discovery and
application IF ceiiuiose is of as vital i'm
| portance to our navy the development
| of Haryeyized armor and smokeless pow
der.
This follows from the fact that, without
| adding very much to the cost of our YES
sells we can greatly increase the efficiency
| of them all by making their sides automat-
| ically resist the inflow of water. and as our
| cruisers carry heavier batteries than SINH.
| lar vessels of other nations they would
| when so protected be able to give battle &c
ships far heavier than themselves
At one time a cellulose made from the
fiber of cocoa was used in American ships
The cocoa cellulose was useful but it would
not resist the water for more than few
moments. Besides, soon as it was We
, | 1t decayed ana ruSte0 the lrOnWOTR OF Inc
| ship. In Italy and Gremany a cork con
! glomerate has been employed for this pur
J pose, and in France a seaweed called EOS
: tire has been used. None of these sub
l stances have proved fully satisfactory.
Absorbent Qualities.
The use of corn pith for this purpose wa:
: suggested several years ago by Prof. Mari
I | w. Marsden, who had observed it's remark
able absorbent qualities. He brought thu
| he atY pftt af NraY mn
t at their suggestion devised apparatus
r for separating the pith from the stalk II
1895 the naval authorities were induced t
make a test of the new product. go
e | pound projectile fired through a stee
| Golfer dam packed with cellulose three fee
thick. The shell made a hole foot il
| diameter through the structure. The waite
| was Immediately turned on and continues
| for an hour. At the end of that time not
" drop had come through. and the packing a
+ the hole in the rear of the plate was no
q even dampened. The cocoa cellulose, teste
= at the same time, failed to come up to theS
t requirements, and since then the use O
corn pith has been adopted in all of GU
V naval construction.
Q The celluiose is packed in the Golfer dal
" space between the outer and inner walls {
the ship. A belt of it three feet thick back
up the armor belt, extending six feet abov
and six feet below the water line, entirel
Ii around the vessel Fifty tons of it is r.
IS quired to equip a vessel of the Illinois elias
e and this is computed to equal 800 tons
. steel in adding to the defensive strength
d the ship. IT takes about fifteen tons Of tn
# | raw material to provide one ton of cellulos
+ To supply this important feature in II
e | construction of each of our new bait
Ie ! ships, therefore, requires $50 tons of stalk
T or the product of more than 200 acres
l. corn land.
D.. Minimizes Danger.
J. In the same way that the corn pith er
10 abes fighting vessels to keep af1oa
er even after holes nave been punched in the
&c Sizes it may be used to add to the safet
d | of merchant and passenger ships. Mo
is ocean disasters result from collisions b
lie tween two ships or from vessels strikir
ly upon hidden rocks. AS the cellulOse pacl
it ing swells to nearly ten times its origin
l. bulk under the influence of water, 1t wou
serve to close up even the yawning no
torn by liners PROV when she strikes
weaker ship. Even though the cellulos
did not hold long enough to- float sh
back to port, it would suffice to let h
T" passengers escape, and would thus remo'