The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-11

eXerIeds no more power! How about
the tail; what does that do?"
fhe tail, said the Torpedo Lieu
tenant, is hollow, and gives buoyan-
ey: The propeller shaftihS runs
through it, and it has the vertical and
horizontal 'rudders attached to it.
Would you like to know how the tor
pedo is fired from the ship?"
VERY much" replied the Man in the
Street. I want to know all about ev-
erything''
We'll, the torpedo discharging ap-
paratus is just a gun, after all. The
torpedo is put into a tube about it's
own length, or trif1e longer, and
oteWn cut either by compressed air or
a sIilau charge of gunpowder. A pro-
1ectlon IN the tube takes against the
lever Of the air valve, and starts the
engines as the torpedo leaves the tube,
and there you arei"
Dear mel" said the Man in the
street. Really. how simple it all is!
ana what happens when it strikes the
enemy's Ship"
All, that's an important detail. of
course said the Torpedo Lieutenant
In the nose Of the torpedo there is a
pistol, as it is called. This consists of
pointed striker, which, when struck,
detonateS some illuminate of mercury
(aDout thirty grains in a little copper
eap), the illuminate detonates a small
charge of dry gun cotton, and the dry
gunTcotton, in turn, detonates the 200
pound charge of wet gun cotton-and
there you are again."
Stop minute" said the Man in the
Street; Il don't quite follow the charg-
es. Why carry three kinds of expIo-
sives in single charge ?"
pleasure to explain things to
you" said the Torpedo Lieutenant;
you follow each detail so closely. Wet
gun-cotton, then, IS simply dry gun
cotton soaked in water-abour so per
cent Of water, to be accurate. 1t is alb
solutely the safest explosive known.
You can't set it off by fire, however
hard you try. A large quantity was
once tested by placing 1t In the center
OF a huge bonfire; it simply fizZled
gently away as the water evaporated.
A shell bursting in a magazine of wet
gun-cotton would have absolutely no
erect on 1t! 1t is as safe as damp earth
as Tar as fire or heat are concerned.
But 1t can be what is called detonated
Administer to it a sufficiently vio-
lent shock, and the result is frightful
explosion. The small charge of dry
gun-cotton does this; but not again
that fire or heat will not detonate dry
gun-cotton, only burn it comparatively
slowly. The dry gun-cotton must, in
10 tNili NC uSlOLdleu. 1HlS IS eHoCC6Q
by the few grains of illuminate of mer-
curry in the copper cap. That is where
the danger lies. 1t is very sensitive. A
light blow detonates it then, as 1 have
SAID. In turn, it detonates the dry
gun-cotton, the dry the wet, and UP
goes the enemy"
~ How very Interestingly" said the
Man in the Street. The defamation
and the explosion are the same things,
but with difference?"
Exactly" said the Torpedo Lieu
tenant. "Gunpowder, as in a gun, for
instance, explodes, that is, it burns,
and generates gas, but comparatively
slowly; gun cotton, on the contrary,
detonates, that is to say, that on get
ting sufficiently powerful shock it
changes instantaneously from the solid
into the gaseous state with enormous
violence
Joc'Why, then" exclaimed the Man in
the Street, "a torpedo charged with
gun-cotton is as safe to handle as an
unloaded gun!"
You've hit it," replied the Torpedo
Lieutenant. Until the last moment be-
fore firing, and the pistol with it's de-
tonator is inserted, the torpedo is per-
fectly harmless; you may put it in the
fire or batter it with shell, and nothing
will happen, though there are lots of
people even in the service who don't
realize this fact"