The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-10-19

| the ships on the various stations. Just
prior to the breaking out of the war
the powder in stock was all of the
blac xand brown varieties. which make
| smoke and plenty of it, but, by the
time actual hostilities had broken out,
| quantities of the new smokeless va
! rietieS, got from all sorts Of sources,
1 had begun to pour in. Today, while
! there is still a heavy stock of the old
explosives in the magazine, a goodly
variety of the smokeleSS powder is also
kept on hand. and, gradually as the
Old styles are used up for salute firing
and target practice, they will disappear
altogether.
! A fair stock of shells and cartridge
cases is kept at Fort Lafayette con-
stantly. in addition to the powder, so
that the cartridge and shell filters and
assemblers can have material to work
on, but the main stock of shells, cases,
etc, is stored at the Brooklyn navy
yard. being Serlt down to the fort when
needed. In value the contents of the
fort are not particularly impressive
say 800, 900 or whereabouts. counting
the powder at 20 cents a pound and
allowing $4,000 for the cost of the shells
and cartridge cases. This latter ec'ti-
mate may seem excessive, but is not,
probably, since cartridge cases and
shells. especially arn1or piercing ones,
shell for one of the biggest guns is
worth 800. Five-inch shells are worth
SIS apiece, and the cartridge cases cost
from 81 for the one-pounderS to Sc Tor
the sfX-fnch. Shells once fired are gone
forever, CT course, but cartridge cases
are preserved after firing and used over
again after being reshaped, being
available for seventeen or eighteen fir
ings before being sent to the old metal
n nd ~ at
Fort Lafayette today that We're fired
at the battle of Santiago. There may
be some that saw service at Manila,
but that is not certain
SMOKELESS POWDER.
Owing to the fact that smokeless
powder still is new, comparatively, and
the methods of its manufacture are I'M
dergoing changes, that in stock at La |
fayette is in various shapes. and seems !
to be of several radically different
osrts to the layman, though with the
exception of the ''cordite" on hand ii |
is all of virtually the same composition |
The cCrdfte was obtained from Eng /
land together with the warshipS |
bought there just before the beginning |
of hostilities. Its name suggests its /
OF which you can get an /
excellent idea by imagining brown jelly /
pressed into cylindrical strings of var /
iouS sizes from less than a sixteenth |
of an inch (for use in the small gunS) to l
nearly half an inch, and then hardened
somewhat, but not enough to destroy
their debility
The oldest appearing explosive now
at Lafayette is the smokeless powder.
so called, first made in America for
the heavier guns. Like the English
oordite, it is a powder" in name only.
1t looks for all the world like carefully
cut strips of slippery elm bark, being !
light brown in color. 1t is made in
slabs, SO to speak, each being about a
quarter of an inch thick and from
eighteen to twenty-four inches long.
This powder is much safer to handle
han common black or brown powder,
Ind will bear quite a blow, providing no
sparks are struck. Like all smokelass
powder, it will burn without special
larger if a match be applied to it, with
clear, steady flame. not flashing up
With a big s-s-s-s like the old sort.
or the smaller guns there are also
Quantities of powder at Lafayette in
shorter narrower strips, but put up in
he same way practically as these great
park like pieces, but the quantity of
neither style is large, and manufacture
hereof was stopped some time. ago in
avor OF a string-like FORM This DOW
Ter resembles the smaller sizes of cor
lite, somewhat though the color. a
light yellow, gives it an appearance
lot unlike vermicelH and maeearoni.
But the use of explosive strings in
Jncle Sam gun will not be continued
ong, for a new and preferable form &
nd with which Fort Lafayette is al
eady fairly we'll stocked, has been de-
-ised.
Smokeless powder of the new form.
Intended for smaller guns, appears, on
usual inspection, to be gained. and
resents a. blue-black or violet appear
nee. The grains appear to be of re-
narkable uniformity as to size Look
t them closely and the secret of their 4
orm becomes apparent at once. The
owder is first turned out in string
Orm and then cut up into lengths. each
he being approximately a perfect CYL ,
lder. After being cut up it is put into
receptacle along with powdered black
lad or plumbago. such as is used in !
'ad pencils, and then the mass is thor s
ughly shaken together. so that the T
lumbago forms a coating on the little 7 =