Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-04-13
LIABLE TO EXPLODE.
HARMLESS HOUSEHOLD GOODS THAT
ARE REALLY DANGEROUS.


At tue premises OF an English con-
pany there occurred some time ago a
disastrous fire which completely Quilted
an enormous building and caused losses
%aggregating 100000. The fire was at
tributed to an explosion Of malt.
Any fine inflammable dust when
mixed with a certain proportion of dry
air will explode. There was Il previous
similar accident in Il New York candy
mandatory. \ terrific explosion
which wrecked the entire building was
discovered 10 be due to the fact that
allowed TO invade the room where the
furnaces We're.
An eminent authority on explosives
declares that many of those accidents
in coal mines usually attributed to fire
damp have been caused by dry coal
dust suspended in the galleries having
been accidentally fired. Even so appar-
entity as innocent a substance as flour
becomes fearfully explosive wler.
mixed in suitable proportions with dry
air.
Another substance that has proved to
large quantities is chlorate of potash
4. disaster some years ago in a big Lon
don factory proved the destructive
powers OF this simple remedy for colds.
Sugar and chlorate of potash mixed
form IN explosive which has been tried
for blasting purposes. but so dangerous
n compound is il that any explosive
containing these ingredients is not like
ly to pass the government tests in this
country.
A good many years ago it was dis
covered that %celiulose soaked in strong
nitric acid changed from a substance
no more harmful than paper to a fierce
explosive. The number of materials oil
which nitric acid will work "A similar
transformation is almost endless.
Wood. paper. straw. coal. peat, pitch.
starch, sugar. tea tan. phosphorus, iron,
zinc, copper and magnesium are only a
few that could be named.
One of the best known and most ter
rible of these mixtures Is nitroglycerin,
which is simply nitric acid and com
mon glycerin mixed together and al
lowed to fall into a stream of water.
Dynamite is nothing more than nitro
glycerin absorbed by some spongy sub
stance. Alum. asbestus, plaster Of par-
is. sawdust. bran. meal, ven dried aud
pounded potatoes. have been employed
for this purpose, but the substance
most commonly employed is what Is
known rs "kiesel guhr." or sponsy
earth. This is the kind of clay formed
of minute fossil shells, great beds Of
which are found in Germany and 9th.
er parts of the world.
Guncotton. which was first made in
1916. Is the form of nitro compound
usually employed In war. 1t is manu-
featured from ordinary cotton waste
treated with a mixture of nitric and
.sulphuric acids.
There is N very curious point about
guncotton. 1t cannot be made from
raw cotton in the bale: waste cotton is
necessary for its manufacture. 1t seems
as if the bleaching to which manufac-
tured cotton has been subjected has
something to do with fitting the waste
for becoming explosive material. Oily
waste is, however, completely useless
for making guncotton, and if even a
little is carelessly used a whole batch
of the manufactured product may be
spoiled. -
Guncotton Is so extraordinarily sud
DO, l., a.. .-tt1, NIa@ :, ,,-i ...,.Ax
has been exploded in contact with q
heap of gunpowder and has failed to
fire to it.
The great advantage which guncOt-
ton possesses over all other explosives
is that damp does not injure it. In
fact. wet guhcotton explodes with just
as great violence as dry. but is of
ours much harder to fire. COnse.
Quently it is one Of the safest expIO-
sives to carry. as 1t can be thoroughly
wetted before packing and kept wet
during transport. For mining purposes
or for use In war guncotton is usuaIly
compressed into hard cakes.
The cordite which is now used In
British military rifles is a rather more
substance. being composed
Of thirty-seven parts Of g~uncotton
mixed with fifty-eigbt of nitroglycerin
and five parts Of mineral jelly. 1t is
formed into little cords each three
eighths of an inch In diameter. These
are made up into little fagots which
are placed III the cartridges.
What seems a very odd substance
from which to make an explosive is
gutta percha. But by the action Of nj
trio acid it can be turned into a formi.
dable detOnutOr.
Each codntry has its pet powder. The
United States uses picrate Of ammonia;
the French have a beautiful, semi
transparent, chestnut c0lored powder
made Of the nitrates Of potassium and
barium. Besides these there are dozens
Of explosives with fancy names such
az ballistite. cannonite. rifleite, randite,
p~lastOmenite. These vary in size and
shape Of grain, color and power, but
they all depend ON the action of nitric
acid for their explosive forcc.-Atlanta
Constitution.