The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-07-19
HIGH EXPLOSIVES.
Used to Klndle Fires, Cook Meals and
Even to Drive Nails.

From Public Opinion.
Nitrogelatin and maximite are the
children of dynamlte-well trained chill
dren, who know how to do the hardest
kind of work, yet so we'll balanced that
they can be admitted to polite society
without causing the slightest apprehen-
sion.
Maximite, the most deadly of all mod
ern high explosives, to most of us in
stantly suggests mammoth guns shat
tered fortresses, wounded and dying men
"a synonym for destruction-yet but
few days ago in Mr.. Hudson Maxim's lab
oratory In Brooklyn l cooked neat lit
tie luncheon over maximite, finding 1t as
safe and manageable kitchen fuel as a
stick of drift wood and far more conve-
nient and expeditions One match is al
ways enough to start maximite or smoke
less powder. There is no danger of them
not lighting at once, and when you are
first playing house with these deadly
high explosives you are very apt to wish
there were. Not that Mr.. Maxim wishes
to make maxmite a speciality Is a fuel
for light housekeeping; he merely per-
mitted me to do all these cooking stunts
to prove how utterly harmless we'll
trained maximite can be.
Feeling very much as though 1 had re-
ceived an invitation to an "at home In
the cage of an African lion, l recently
visited Mr.. Maxims laboratory and, and
with bated breath and trembling hands,
poached eggs and prepared coffee over
smokeless powder. hammered nails with
nitrogelatin, mode tea in Mrs. Maxims
drawing room over a cake of yellow
maximite, assisted my host in hanging
out gun cotton to dry and aided in the
Gaping of fuses that had been filled
with illuminate mercury.
Mr.. Maxim enjoyed 1t all, but 1t did
not seem very harmless to me that par
ticular day. After cooking our meal we
did our laundry work In the way of hang
ing out wet gun cotton to dry. We Kept
1t away from the matchbox and the
flash light however, and hanging out
over the bright green grass plot, II
looked as innocent as baby's elder
down cloak, yet we knew that a spark
In its mesh would cost us our lives
Our most interesting as well as dam
gerous experiment was filling fuses for
maximite cartridges, forcing the fulmi-
nate into the fuses with a 1000 pound
pressure and screwing In the caps. In
this latter occupation / resigned as as
sistant in favor of MIR. Maxiui's wife. and
from the doorway thoughtfuliy watched
the screwing in Of the caps. The dan
ger in this work Is not in pressing In the
illuminate. for no pressure can set off
this explosive. but friction is most dlsas-
trous. A single grain Of the powder
overlooked and left In the mouth of the
fuse. so that the end of the cap could
CRATE against 1t, would have blown up
everything in sight.
AS we started back to the house, In the
grass plot. bright with the new green
of spring, / noticed ends of smokeless
powder candles and rags OF gun cotton.
Mrs Maxim caught my glance of aston
ishment. Yes she said and laughed;
they're everywhere. l found a piece of
smokeless powder on my dressing table
this morning and l am sure there is a
dish of maximte on the dining room man.
tel. though Jeopardy insists on keeping
it out of the kitchen. She does not like
it in spite of all Mr.. Maxim's assur-
ances.'