The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-23
ENGLAND WANTS
AMERICAN SHELLS.
The Remarkable New Life Destroyer
May RevoIutionize Warfare lust
as Dynamite Did.

The English Government has It's eye on
an American invention that viii, II Great
Britain succeeds in getting 1t, insure GER
tain victory for Queen vicroria.s army
should the disturbance with France event
uate into anything more serious than q.
present.
The invention is no more or less than
a high explosive shell, devised by a young
Fermonter, and device applauded by the
leading officers of the American army II
has been tested :. the army proving
ground at Sandy Hook, and so remarkable
have been the trials that the inventor has
gained the support OF some OF the most
conservative artulerists in the country.
The she'll has, of course been offered
to this government, but. in the case OF its
being rejected, England stands ready 10
take 1t, and without any hesitation for
her diplomats believe that the time is no.
far away when Great Britain will be
involved in further wars. and they are
anxious that every available invention be
secured that will gain for her forces the
victory that should belong to the grea test
empire on the globe
The one great drawback to the Anleri-
can acceptance of this new she'll is that
the Ordnance Department does not favor
the use of very high explosives in ordinary
guns, although this Is a subject to which
the Board of Ordnance and Fertilization
mas CctNolGd d. i<Lt pax pl lJS attention
recently
THE NEW EXPLOSIVE
Some Of the officers argue that now that
theorite has been adopted for the army
as service high explosive the need for
a speciaNy-designed she'll 20 carry high
explosives is not so pressing as 1t has
been. Theortte. although as powerful as
blasting gelatiue. Is wonderfully insensi-
tive to shock. and ordinary shells charged
60 fv1,
canrSn. In this it is like the lyddits the
British are now using in South Africa,
and the melinite of the French army
| But with England the new shell has no
drawback. Her representatives have for
some time been quietly examining it, and
are certain that 1t is an invention that
should be in the possession Of the English
army.
The American engineer uses diaphragms
in his shells, and makes them of thick
steel They are cast with the SHE'LL and
their number and thickness he determines
by mathematical formulas. The early
experimenters succeeded in using bursting
charges of explosive ge!atine OF small
weight, because a small mass OF a high
explosive can be safely fired in an ordi-
nary shell. But the moment the column
of explosive in the shell is raised then
the danger begins. for the top explosive
is forced downward by the shock of dis
charge. and the whole mass IS compressed
violently against the base of the shell.
The natural result is the explosion OF
the charge. The inventor determines how
high column can safely be used in q
shell under a given firing pressure. then
makes big factor OF safety. and divides
his she'll up into small safety columns.
The principles apply to field artillery and
coast-defense monsters equally Apply
ing his principles OF diaphragm construc-
ton to q Pinch shell, he has done what
nobody ever dreamed OF doing tefore-he
has successfully fired more than u hun
dred-weight of explosive gslatine from
R-inch gun under service conditions
The shell is 81 Ia inches long. much lon
ger than the ordinary Pinch she'll
Loaded with $50 pounds of explosive geIa-
tine 1t weighs 1,G50 pounds. a central
steel finch pillar runs through the length
OF the shell cavity. At right angles to
this pillar are nine diaphragms of half
inch steel, dividing the interior of the shell
into ten annular chambers. each about
five inches wide. In tho base of the
shell is the fuse. and running from it.
through the centre of the pillar. q thin
fuse hole. OF from this run the little fuse
holes to the ten chambers.
HOW IT WORKS
Access to each chamber is had through
two holes bored through the walls of the
the gelatine is loaded into the chamber.
after which the holes ara closed by screw
plugs The tests OF this shell Rave beef,
made under allotment OF s15.GfO from
the Board of Ordnance and Fertilization.
The English have had great success in
the use of high-e4plosive shells charged
with lyddite. They were OF wonderful
service in the Omdurrran campaign, whsre
they were first used Lyddite shells
thrown agaires masses of the enemy from
ordinary field guns were highly effective.
Their moral effect was great, and their
slaughterins power far exceeded that OF
shrapnel. One-third OF the dead in the
area OF action of Iyddite she'll showed
no mark OF violence. the victims dying
from shock.
In the Transvaal War the Iycitiite shells
are doing. great execution. so much so that
at the beginning of the war the Boer COM
mander sent a protest to the English gem
eral against the use of lydttite. Equipped
with these shells the English are not
securing the earth for new devices, but
it is recognized among the English ord
nance experts that the value of Iyddite
would be enhanced greatly by the use of
the new American method OF packing the
!igf. explosive in the smell. The American
device would admit. too. of the use OF
more powerful explosives than lyddite-
explosive .elatine. for example.