Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-12-28
NIGHTS or TRoKITE.
Heaviest of Bish-rower Guns Can DC
Safely Fired.
Xk..xi. ux...a


Heaviest of BIgh-Iower Guns Can De
Safely Fired.
New York Herald.
The War Departments adoption OF
thorite is the military event OF the
year. Uncle Sam will see to 1T that no
foreign power learns iot as to its
secret manufacture. Its mysteries have
been confidod to only handful OF high
military officers pledged to solemn
secrecy.
Thorite has solved yexed problems
that have racked the brains OF most
skilful ordnance experts for five years
or more. Uncle Sam during this time
has secured the earth for man able to
furnish him highly explosive shell
capable Of accomplishing two things:
Issuing from high power gun without
danger of explosion from the shock In
the broech of the weapon.
Striking its mark without exploding
from the force Of impact, but ut any
desired time after impact
DIR. Hiram p. futile, wizard from
Tacoma, Wash, journeyed to the ma
tional capital last summer, and mnde
the proposition to the Army Board of
Ordnance and Fortitications thnt he
prove his ability to furnish the desired
hTtlClt. EOuOTlll hiltiW"u Niph' hi'co1
issued an order enforcing an old rule
barring admittance to government tests.
A few weeks later tho wizard of the
West did wondrous things at Sandy
Hook. The official adoption of thorite
last week is the result.
That thorite could be fired with per-
| feet safety and without possible danger
| to gun or gunner was readily demon
strated ny numerous tests. 1t was fired
| from guns of various sizes, by both
black and smokeless powder. That
intense heat brought in direct contact
| with it could not affect it in any way
was proved by the inventor in o striking
test. He heated a poker red hot, and
| thi ust it into two.pound can of ex-
plosiye without any perceptible result.
| Other tests demonstrated that not
even the pressure of the heaviest siege
guns 40, 600 pounds to the square inch
could affect it. A l2-inch service
shell with 80 pounds of thorite was
fired from huge seacoast rifle. No
fuse was fixed The explosive shell
wthstood tho enormous pressure caused
by the explosion CT 450 pounds OF brown
powder at its base and went out to sea
without utturing sound OF suffer ing
| destruction.
That this new element of war fare
would not explode from the shock of
impact, but would rear its harvest Of
death at any moment desired by the
gunner, was proved in more fascinat-
Ing series of secret tests. Ten-inch
shells filled with 1t were left without
fuses, and were fired through huge
pieces of Harveyized steel armor plate.
Regardless of the terrific shock and
tremendous friction, these shells did
not explode.
In another trial all iron shell OF 1872
pounds weight and inches diameter
was loaded with only four pounds OF
the new explosive and placed inside a
square enclosure strongly built of steel.
Connection was made by wire between
theIshell and an electric circuit. The
purpose of the steel enclosure was to
collect the flying Pieces of the she'll
in other words, to test its fragmenting
power" An electric button was
touched, and after the explosion several
men were delegated to gather up the
scraps of iron within the enclosure.
They counted 10000 visible fragments.
To determine destructive power,
shells which had been fused we're fred
from 2lainch Sims Dudley gun down
the beach at Sandy Hook. Great
"craters" left in the sand were
,sufficient proof that thorite is as
powerful as the strongest blasting gela-
tine.
Thorite shells, it was proven, cannot
explode save by aid of certain time
fuse or detonator devised by the in
ventor. In other words, itEcan be ham.
mered and battered around during
transportation and subjected to various
| ta, t,,,- I1I - ~
shells. No accident can occur unless
the detonator is attached and set.
The new explosive, furthermore, needs
no particular make Of shell, but can
be put in any. Another advantage is
that its power does not weaken during
long storage.
The Ordnance Department has already
shipped to DIR. futile sufficient raw
material to manufacture several thou.
sand pounds of the explosive within the
next two months. The finished product
will be placed in shells OF 32-inct
caliber for light artillery guns, to bt
sent to the Philippines.
The War Department has Just FUR.
, chased a dozen Maxim guns, of the
same type as used by the British IL
their Khartoum, Omdurman and Trans
vaal campaigns. These will soon arrive
at Manila, and shells for them will
also be supplied, although the depart
ment has ordered 5000 rounds o.
ammunition, such as used with then
in Europe. These new guns, together
with those Of the regular artillery, al
throwing thorite shells, will dislodg,
the rebels from their ambush shelters
in swamps and canebrakes.
, Thorite will be adopted for our grea
coast defence howitzers. as soon as the,
are completed. Large shells will bt
manufactured to ii them After tn,
army shall have successfully used tn,
invention. the navy will adopt it. b,
its means each fighting ship can Great,
, greater havoc than did the dynamit,
. cruiser Vesuvius in the Spanish war.
The adoption of thorite puts thu
: United States upon an equality with
France and England in respect to higt
. explosives. IL has been the boast o
|, these two nations that they excel il
ability to safely fire highly combustibl
shells with gunpowder. Lyddite, tn
English, and melinite, the Frencl
: explosive, are practically the same
BAby's Close Call.
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