The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-06-01
JAPANESE EXPLOSIVE
SOMETHING ABOUT THE TER
RIBLE SHIMoSE POWDER
Nature and Effectiveness Explained
by It's Tnventor-Simpicity
Of Its Compo-
sifion

The explosive used in the Japanese
navy bears the name of its inventor,
DR. Shimose- The destructive power Of
this explosive was demonstrated dur
ing the recent naval engagements, says
the Shanghai Times i few days ago
the inventor, DIR. Shimose, delivered a
lecture in Toxic. in which he explained
the nature and use of the powder. The
inventor said that, according to their
use. explosives were classified under two
headings. namely, those for mining and
those for military purposes. the latter
being again classified into those for dis
charging and those for destructive pur-
poses "Shimose" belonged to the lat
ter category. and was never used for the
purpose OF discharging shots. The ex-
plosive used by the European powers for
wariiHe purposes was gun cotton. But
manifold Inconvenience attended the
use of gun cotton: for instance, when
dried too much. it exploded even by
slight friction
IN order to prevent this danger. it was
necessary 10 combine il with water 20
the extent OF 20 per cent. in which case
il burned with difficulty when ignited.
But when the water exceeded % per cent.
gun cotton would not explode. Again,
owing to possible evaporation, the water
contained in gun cotton did not main
tain an equal quantity making its safety
unstable. Sometimes il would become
moldy, thus losing most of its explosive
power. which could not then be easily re-
stored At present the most powerful
explosive power in the world was blast
ing gelatin which was used by Amerf-
cans. though not for military purposes
II was far superior TO gun COTTON IN de-
structive power, and could be quite safe
" handled IN ordinary times One de-
feet. however. Of gelatin. was its easy
freezing. Frozen gelatin would explode
from the slightest cause, and this fact
made II unfit for military purposes.
The "Shimose" explosive was very sim
ply constituted but It was sufficiently
safe TO be used by the navy.
Continuing, DR.. Shimose said neither
the falling OF an iron hammer upon il,
nor ignition. nor the firing Of bullet
into il, would cause his explosive to ex-
plode. In such cases il would burn like
turpentine, but the fire could be extin-
guished by eupful Of water. Combined
with a certain ingredient. IT had sUf-
cient explosive power for warlike pUT-
poses. Among the explosives IN the
world the American gelatin had the
greatest destructive power; Shimose
came next, gun cotton and dynamite fol-
lowing in order To illustrate the ex-
plosive power Of Shinose. I small guam
uty placed upon an iron plate enc or two
inches thick would. when exploded. per
forare the plate for the area covered by
the powder Al an experiment carried
cut a. Kugenuma. Sosh8. 4 six-Inch Shi-
NOSE shot was fired a. 3 coal store pro-
tected with armor plate similar 10 that
Of = certain cruiser. The shot made
hole about three feet in diameter. where
IS in the case Of the ordinary shot. The
diameter Of the hole was only six inches.
It burst on contact with the plate. while
the other exploded only when il had
Travelled about three feet after Passing
through the plate. The Shinose shell
vas blown into COO or Geo pieces
while the other broke up into ten or L
fragments. This TREMENDOUS ROVER p 4
testified . by the fact that 2 bIuejaeEet
On the Fartag was struck by more THAI
16o fragments Of the shell. The placing
Of one such shot OF the deck would mean
the wou165ne Of al the crew there Blu:
the explcsive was not intended for the
Hing n men but for the destruction
II wsrships. One more noteworthy fea-
F'--a y he Shimose powder. concluded
? : . doctor vas the fact that It's cost as
abont half that OF gun cotton.