Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-07

from denito-cellulose and nitroglycer-
In. The new smokeless powder Of the
United States navy is made of nitro
cellulose dissolved in ether alcohol"
In the case of the French battleship
Jena a committee that made its report
to the senate reached the conclusion,
according to Brassey's Naval Annual
for 1908, that explosion in which the
lives Of 116 men were forfeited was
due ito the decomposition of B pow
der, which might have been caused by
the magazine being under the COM
,partment containing the dynamos and
by want Of proper refrigerating ap-
paratus, or again, by some 80 per cent
Of the powder being more than six
years old" But, on the other hand,
"the technical authorities responsible
for the manufacture Of the B powder
defended it resolutely." Colonel Mar
sat showed by mathematics that It
was incapable Of spontaneous explo-
sion. M. Vieille, the eminent chemist,
who was the inventor, admitted that
such a thing might happen. Captain
Lepidi feared the worst. Il do not say
that all our ships will blow up to-
morrow. but all Of them may blow
Iup."
On the night of July %, while a
committee was inspecting it, sample
Of the powder burst into flames spon-
taneously." Experiments seemed to
demonstrate ''the danger of B powder
and also the fact that, IL at the right
Temperature, and Is not allowed to
grow old, no danger can result" The
Annual goes on to say that "undoubt-
edly old stocks will not be applied to
French men-of-war in the future"
The frightful casualty that took place
aboard the Liberte must give pause
to those who implicitly trusted the
vigilance Of the French admiralty in
this regard.
What Is this B powder that seems
to have been at the bottom of the aw-
full explosion that rent the French le-
viathan asunder on Monday morning,
September 20, 1911? 1t is the first of
the modern smokeless powders and
was invented by Vieille in 1886. II
consists of guncotton mixed with ba-
rum nitrate, potassium nitrate and So
dunn carbonate, and treated with eth
er ether alcohol, ethyl acetate. or ace
tone" It is unnecessary to essay the
Explanation of the nature Of each Of
these ingredients; let 1t suffice here to
point out that guncotton, the basis OF
the deadly agency, is made by treating
purified cotton with mixture of nitric
and sulphuric acid. To every pound
Of cotton twelve pounds Of acid Is add
ed, and the cotton is allowed to soak
for twenty-four hours. Then the cot
ton is wrung dry and compressed into
blocks. While it is damp 1t can be
shaped with tools, just as though 1t
were wool, and when the projectiles
were being made for the dynamite
cruiser" Vesuvius the blocks Of gum
cotton were sawed and turned In
lathes to he dimensions desired
Cordite consists chiefly Of fifty
eight parts nitroglycerin to thirty
seven parts of guncotton. Nitrogly-
cerin was discovered by Ascanio So
brero at Turin in 1S47. 1t is liquid,
colorless or light yellow, made by
adding glycerin to a mixture Of nitric
and sulphuric acids. At $50 degrees
entigrade-equivalent to $50 degrees
Fahrenheit-it violently explodes, and
;ko
denotes 1t must be mixed with other
substances to make 1t available for
military purposes.
Nobel, the founder Of the celebrated
prizes, who invented dynamite in he
year 1856, used Is parts Of nitroglycer-
in with twenty-five parts Of an alb
sorbent, varying the proportion to
thirty parts of the former and seventy
parts of the latter. In 1875 Nobel
produced a still more powerful form
of this substance, styled explosive or
blasting gelatin. A jelly-like mass OF
pyroxylin, or soluble cellulose nitrate,
Is dissolved in nitroglycerin, and mix
ed with wood-meal or wood-pulp. The
latter is put up in sticks (cartridges)
IA inches in diameter and eight inches
long, and these can be shipped In
boxes in sawdust, each box holding SO
pounds, To various sorts Of dynamite
trade names are given, the differentia-
ton depending upon the absorbent
that is used. Atlas powder" giant
powder" Titan powder" "rendrock
powder." Neptune powder" "Hercu-
les powder" are some Of the designa-
tions.
The British in South Africa in 1899
1902 used large quantities of lyddite'
which did not perform all that was eX-
pected of 1t, perhaps, because the
Beers, knowing the lay Of the land"
managed to entrench themselves In
positions where projectiles charged
with it could not readily find them.
It's name comes from Lydd, In Kent,
where it was first manufactured. 1t
is made by the fusion Of picric &cid
into a dense state, but the exact secret
of its manufacture is jealously guard
ed by the British government, as Is
the recipe for it's first cousin, melinite.
which Is made in France. Countless
other names ending in "lte" are given
to ballistic substances, such as the
suggestive title of hellhofite bestowed
upon q near relation of lyddte.
| Mercury illuminate is made by dis
solved mercury in nitric acid. 1t Is
exceedingly sensitive to heat and
shock of any kind, and may be deton-
ated by heat at a temperature vari-
ously given from 149 degees c. to 200
degrees C.-Philadelphia Ledger.