The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-09-11
Government Factory to Be Started
Upon Potomac River.
MANY MEN ARE EMPLOYED
MANUFACTURE EXCLUSIVELY
THE sMoKELEss ARTICLE.
Capacity viii Be 1000 Pounds
Daily, But One of the Indiana's
Big Thirteen-inch Guns Will Use
Up Half of This Amount at
Single Shot.

Washington. Sept. 10.-The navy de-
partment expects to begin the manufac-
ture. of smokeless powder at its powder
mills few miles back from the Potomac
river, near Indian Head within the next
two or three months. Work on the mills
has been pushed energetically. and at
present about LOO men are employed.
Admiral ONeil, chief of the bureau of
ordnance, accompanied by Lieutenant
seymour of the bureau inspected the
work during the last week ana was much
pleased at the progress made.
Already about a dozen buildings are
completed. the electric light plant, said
to be one of the finest in the world, is
Installed and the standpipe, 12O feet high
7 is I'D. There are eleven or twelve other
! buildings well along toward completion;
Altoge cher the group of buildings will
number twenty -four or twenty-five, with
a capacity of 1900 pounds of smokeless
powder daily. This daily output seems
large at first thought. but one of the big
13-inch guns of the Indiana uses LOGO
pounds of powder at single shot.
With a View to Safety.
The various buildings of the powder
plant cover a wide area about four miles
back from the river. The general pur-
pose has been to keep the buildings as
far apart as the requirements of manu-
facture would permit in order to avoid
the dangers of explosions. For that rea-
son there is no large central building,
but many small ones, each having dis
tinct branch of the powder making, They
are arranged also. with view to the
prevailing winds, so that the risk of hav-
ing the fumes of acids borne by the wind
is reduced to a minimum
One building is used exclusively for the
picking process; another for the mixing;
another for the acids. In this way each
stage of manufacture is detached froro
all the others, not only reducing the
chances of accident, but also giving some
security against widespread damage in
case of explosion in any one stage of the
process. Another precautionary measure
has been taken in the building OF nght
paper walls at the ends of the buildings.
These readily give to the pressure OF an
explosion, leaving the main walls OF the
ducing the loss which occurs when an ex-
p1osion is closely confined
No More Buying Powder.
In order to connect the many buildings
and permit the powder process to be car
ried on eXpeditiously, a complete trolley
car service is to be in operation. This Will
keep the material in it's various stages
moving forward from building to build
ing until completed. The electric plant
the machinery running the trolley. car
service from mill to mill and supplying
light for the plant.
The opening of, the mills will mark a
distinct departure by the government
Heretofore all the supplies of powder have
been drawn from private sources. The
first appropriation made by congress for
powder factory was about S2O0.090, but IN
the last naval appropriation bill SLUO0UU
was given for the purchase or manulac.
ture of powder This permits a part OF
the last appropriation to be used for the
mills now in course of construction. Com
nlander Cowden is in charge of the work
of construction.