Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-10-25
SMOKELESS POWDER.
How 1t Is Made For Our Navy
Plant At Indian Head.

Few people have any idea how
smokeless powder which is used by
| the American Navy is made The fol
| lowing article from Leslie's Weekly
| of October ~. written by Mrs Charles
! Il. Miller, of Baltimore, gives a good
explanation IF the method of the man.
ufacture Of smokeless powder:
The tendency of modern warfare
has been toward the adoption of those
instruments which accomplish its pur-
pose with as little destruction to life.
health and limb as possible This is
| eXemplitied somewhat in the use of
| smokeless powder, the manufacture OF
which is attended with much less dan
ger, and its transfer from place to
place results in fewer accidents as
compared with tie production of gun
powder. 1t can be handled with per-
feet safety. and even set on fire in
open air without.causing an explosion
or occasiouing the least anxiety.
At Indian Head, Nd, there is a
plant for the production of this pow
der which is owned and operated by
the United States government, and
the entire output of the factory, which
amounts to several thousand of pounds
day, is consumed by Uncle Sam S
Navy. About twenty FIVE buildings
are used in the process of its manu-
faeture. They are situated in that
portion of the reservation farthest
from the river. and scattered over a
large area, being about 400 feet apart
AS an explosion is possible by reason
of the character of the material used,
this provision is made so that if one
building is blown up the others will
not suffer thereby. Three hundred
and fifty men are employed. Smoking
is not permitted on the ground, and
the workmen areIno even allowed to
carry matches. The buildings are all
we'll ventilated, IS the fumes of the
chemicals used are apt to bring on
lung and heart trouble Chimneys
are arranged to carry off the poisonous
gases, consequently there is little ill.
ness among the men.
The cotton used is shipped to Indian
Head in large bales and stored in a
building erected for that purpose The
second stage is known as the picking
room. Here colored men open the
bales and pick the fibers apart, making
the cotton ready for the drying house,
where it is kept for twenty -four hours.
The temperature of the drying room
is at boiling point-9l2 degrees. After
this process il is taken TO the mira
tion building, where nitric acid and
sulphuric acid are added. Hhe mix
ture is whirled around in huge tub
like machines, covered with a hood
aud steamJet to carry off the acid
fumes. When it is completed the cot
ton is washed in fresh water by a
wringer similar TO the nitration ma.
chine, and unless this is very thorough
there is risk of spontaneous decompo-
sition. 1t is now gun cotton, and is
placed in cars and pushed to the boil.
ing watts, where it undergoes another
stage of publication. The pulper, n
machine very like the one used in
paper making, next comes into play.
Here the gun.cotton is chopped up by
knives. so as to give the tibers q thor
ough cleansing. From here it goes to
the poaching house, which consists
of a series of large tubes in which the
pyrocellulois as the material is now
called goes through further cleaning
process of hot and cold washings. It
is then dried by wringer similar to
a printing machine and sent to the
press s'house where the water is
squeezed out under great pressure.
After few minutes III the machines
the mixture comes out in a block re-
sembling a huge white cheese. This
is weighed and sent to the mixing
house in which are instruments of
he kind used in making bread by ma
ohinery and which are known as knead-
ing machines. The pyrocellulous is
here mixed with a solvent the name of
which the government prefers to keep
a secret. The resultant material is a
thick yellow gslatinous mass resemb-
ling tatfy. Ii is now smokeIess pow
der and is once more put through
machine by hydraulic pressure after
which it is received on reels and dried
by steam SO Gs to evaporate the solvent.
1t is then pressed into the proper grain
suitable TO the different calibres of
guns, and here it might be taken for
horehound candy as the color and
shape are Identical.
After the powder has been cut to
the proper length it is picked over and
the defective pieces thrown out The
inspector is particular that only per-
feet powder is sent to the ships. The
next step in the process is drying and
the powder is sent to the drying house
in covered cans. Here ii is blended
and packed ready to ship. After the
manufacture the powder is tested at
the proving grounds spoken of in a
former article by actually firing the
big guns. 1t is then shipped TO the
various magazines, where it is made
into charges aud distributed TO the
ships. The sulph1ric acid used in
the making of smokeless powder is
stored in large tanks similar to the
ones. used for oil. These are kept out
side the buildings. Ether is a very
important factor, and is distilled on
the grounds by the use of sulphuric
acid and alcohol. IL is often necessary
to purify the alcohol, which is also
done there. During the process of
manufacture the pyrocellulous and
smokeless powder undergo critical
chemical tests, and half a dozen young
men are kept busy in this work at the
big laboratory, the finest building on
the reservation.
British Attache Here
II