Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1903-04-11
LIABLE TO EXPLODE.
HARMLESS HOUSEHOLD GOODS Thai
ARE REALLY DANGEROUS.
sugar aAa chiorate of Potash 0. a
wicked c,mbinatien. and fi""r
Dust and Dry Air J. FrnaEht Wit"
naanrr-oddItiss of Guneottoa.


DanEer-OddltIes OF Cuneotto.
AT the premises OF an English com
many there occurred some time ago e
disastrous nrc which completely guu"d
au enormous building and caused lo-s'
agere.ntne $4,000. The IRE was az /
tributed 10 an explosion 81 malt
ANY fine luhlmmable dust when
mixed with certain proportion % drl !
air win explode There was a.prefiou- /
similar accident in New York candy T.
mandatory A terrific explosion
which wrecked the entire building
discovered % be due t0 tho fact Iii'
psrticlcs Of Gne icing sugar hnd 1frl
| Allowed 10 Invade the room where tilr
| furnaces were
An eminent authority on explosives
declare That many 10 those acr.d'h''
in coal mines usually attributed 10 ore
| damn have been caused by dry conl
dust suspended lu the galleries having
/ been accidentally lred Even 80 appar
entity AS innocent a substance as Hour
becomes fearfully explosive when
mixed in suitable proportions with dry
air
Another substance that has proved Co.
be extremely dangerous when storgd ID
large quantities il chlorate OF potash
A disaster some years ago In a biz Lon
don factory proved the destructive
powers Of this simple remedy FOR colds
Sugar and chlorate % potash mixed
form an explosive which has been tri"d
/ for blasting purposes but 20 dangerous
n compound is IL that any explosive
containing these ingredients Is not lik"
ly 10 pass the government tests in thi'
country.
A good many years ago Il was Dis
covered Tint crlIulose soaked To- strong
nitric acid changed from q substance
no more harmful than paper 20 herc"
explosive. The number ~ materials on
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
few thar could be named.
one of the best known and most Ter
rlhle Of these mixtures is nitroglyc"rin.
which Is simply nitric acid and com
mon rlycerIu mixed together and a'
lowed to faI into O stream o. water
/ Dynamite Is nothing more than niir"
clycrrIu absorbed hy some spongy sub
stance. Alum. asbestus. plaster ~ par
IL. sawdust. bran. meal even dried and
nourdri potatoes. have been employed
f0r this purpose. hut the subsian'"
most commonly employed Is what u
known as 'klesal euhr." or sponsy
earth. This o. the Kind of clay formed
Of minute fossil shells. great beds Of
which are found To- Germany aud 9th
or parts of the world.
Guncott0n. which was FIRST made tn
1876. Is the form ~ nitro compound
usually employed in war u Is manu-
faruircd from ordinary cotton vast"
treated with mixture OF nitric aud
suphurIc acids.
There Is one very curious point about
gurcotton. Il cannot Doe made FROM
raw cotton lu fle bale: waste cotton i-
necessary f1r lts manufacture Do sa"fH-
as n the bleaching to which mnur'.r
tur-i cotton BIAS hren subjected Dos
something 90 DO with citing tho vast"
for becoming explosive material oiIg
waste o.. however, completely useless
for masking guuc1ttou. aud 10 even %
little is carelcssIy used "a whole batch
of the manufactured product may Co.
spoiled.
Guucotton Is SD extraordinarily sud
den iu its action that % small quantity
has been exploded iu contact with %
heap of guupowdor and has failed 90
set fire 90 o.
The great advantage which guncot
ton possesses over 400 other explosive.
Is that damp does not iniure IT, poo
fact. wet guucottou cXp.odcs with lt.
MS great violence as dry but ls 1i
course much harder 90 Ore. Cousr
guently 90 Is one Of the safest eXp'n
sIyos to carry. as 10 eau Boz thoroughly
wctted before packing and kept wri
. during transport For mining purposes
or f1r use iu war ggucotion is usually
compressed into hard cakes.
The corl.te which is now used lu
. British military rifles is @ rather more
compound substance. being composed
3 Of thrtysevon parts 90 guncoito1
mixed with dfty-cIsht of uitroglycCr.H
aud i've parts of mineral jelly. % i-
formed into little cords each thr'"
e.ehths OF 900 inch 600 diameter. These
are made up into little fagots which
are placed Boo the cartridges.
What seems % very odd substance
from which 20 make an explosive is
, gutta pcrcha. but by the action of ui
trIc acid 10 can bee turned into a form,
b liable dctouator
Each country has its pet powder. The
United States uses picrate ot ammonia
r the French have a beautiful, semi
transparent. chestnut colored powder
made of the uItmtos " potassium and
harum Resides these there are dozen.
OF explosives with fancy names sue.
2 ms balIisuto. cauuouItc, r.1cIto, randitc
piastomcuItp. These vary ln size nr,
- shape OF grain. color and power. hu
they all depend ON the action Of nitric
nc'd for their explosive rorce.-AlIans
Constitution