Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-09
Good MONEY IN CORNSTALES
Many Practical Uses Found for the Waste Of
Com Fields,
PROTECTIVE Bit FOR MODERN WAR SHIPS
I'm Advance in the Develop
ment OF the Nnvy-GrouinR
value of the By-Pro-
duet of stnIkn.
PROTECTIVE Bit FOR MODERN WAR SHIPS

A new device in war ship construction has
been found. which, 1t is believed, will make
the American navy, ship for ship, the SUI
perior Of any other in the world. Curiously
enough the material for this Improvement
comes, not from our seaboard products, but
from the waste Of western farms. Its value
lies in the fact that it will prevent a yes
sells fighting ability from being destroyed
even after ii has been pierced in a dozen
places.
Mr.. Lewis Nixon, formerly a United
States naval constructor, and who is now en-
gagged in building war ships Tor the govern
ment at Elizabethport y. 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 a projectlle has been appreciated by
naval constructors ever since we began 10
build steel armored vessels.
ITO meet this need the French originated
The use OF c~ellulose. which. when fred into,
swells up under the influence Of water and
prevents further inflow. After various trials
tt was adopted in our navy. Thus. in the
Columbia, the New York and the Olympia.
there are protective decks OF ample strength
10 keep out the shells of any vessels they
are liable to engage, while their stability Is
protected by belts Of c~ellulose several feet
chick along the edges. The English armorei
cruiser Blake has no such protection for its
stability and would not have the same
chances as the above vessels Of our navy in
q sustained engagement.
mo thoroughly satisfactory ~cellulose ma
terial for this purpose was discovered, how
ever, until the pith Of cornstalks was uti-
lized in it's manufacture. Corn pith is a
perfect obturator. 1t absolutely prevents
-..a &c.,. .-n.g-- Ia, -. 4kn ppanfpu rnaha
by an eight-inch shell. When chemically
treated II is thoroughly f~ireproon and in
every way 1t meets the requirements of the
situation. Maize is exclusively an American
product. This gives us an immense adVan-
tage over other nations. We have in the
waste matter of our western fields the very
best material in the world for imparting this
sort Of strength to our war ships.
Keeps Out water.
"For keeping out water, a ~cellulose belt
of three feet may be said to be about as
efficient as a siX-inch belt of steel, so that
we can protect our stability, when We have
a good protective deck back of 1t to protect
the vitals, with 100 tons of c%ellulose, where
We should require 1000 tons of armor.
In vessels of high speed, where weight
Is needed for machinery and an armor
belt can not be carried, cellulose is used
TO preserve the stability. In battle ships
thick armor is used amidships and a pro-
tective deck and c~ellulose belt beyond the
limits of this armor. In accordance with
this plan, the Navy department has pro-
vided for c~ellulose protection in the Ken
lucky, Kearsarge, Alabama, Wisconsin, Illi-
nois and other new ships of the navy.
Our cruisers of the Baltimore type, If
they are provided with a %cellulose belt,
would be warranted in engaging many of the
zo,o,S-,ta.p i-o,cIajs of nthar Dou,ara.
without il they are liable to be sunk by a
well-directed machine-gun fire. This prod
uct of American farms affords a cheap and
ready means of vastly increasing the eff
cheney of our cruisers, and the
sides OF all our vessels should have these
belts without delay. This discovery and
application OF cellulose is of as vital i'm
portance to our navy as the development
of the Harveyized armor and smokeless
powder.
This follows from the fact that, with
out adding very much TO the cost of our
vessels, We can greatly increase the eff
cheney of them all by making their sides
automatically resist the inflow of water, and
as our cruisers carry heavier batteries than
similar vessels of other nations, they would,
when so protected, be able to give battle to
ships far heavier than themselves
At one time a cellulose made from the
iber of cocoa was used IN American ships.
The cocoa ~cellulose was useful, but it would
not resist the water for more than a few
minutes. Besides. as soon as it was wet it
decayed and rusted the ironwork of the ship.
In italy and Germany a cork conglomerate
mas been employed for this purpose, and in
France a seaweed called zostire has been
used. None of these substances have proved
fully satisfactory.
Test of the Product.
The use Of corn pith for this purpose was
suggested several years ago by Prof. Mark
W. Mersden, who had observed its remark
able absorbent qualities. He brought the
matter to the attention of the Cramps and at
their suggestion devised an apparatus for
separating the pith from the stalk. In 1896
the naval authorities we're induced to make
a test Of the new product. A 250-pound pro-
jectile was fired through . steel Golfer dam
packed with celluloso three feet thick. The
shell made a hole a foot in diameter through