Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1911-04-26

piOSiVe Wnlch Is the most pow
III erful in the world and one
which 1t is claimed makes the
/ defenses of New York harbor impreg-
/ nable. No hostile ship Of even the
most advanced type can now approach
within ten miles of Sandy Hook with.
out danger of being sent to the bot
/ tom by a single she'll
1 II is the recent perfection of "Ex-
plosive D. that has placed In the pos
session of the government a weapca
far superior to joveite. nitroglycerine,
melanite or the shimose that Japan
used against the Notifications of Port
Arthur. II is startlingly destructive
In its effects and yet so safe in the
handling that accidents to gunners
are unknown.
To Col Beverly w Dunn of the
| ordnance department of the army, and
at present chairman of the American
/ Railway association, belongs the dis
/ tinction of inventing the wonderful
| agent of destruction. He is the in
ventor of "dunnite" and Explosive
d" is his Improvement on the original
/ invention He has given it freely to
the government
Hudson Maxim, the inventor, made
this statement the other day:
The United States government
owns and controls brand-new ex-
plosive which will prove a revelation
in warfare and will do most every
thing except perhaps blow the white
crust off the top Of the earth "
In Washington experts of the ord
nance corps were asked
why need the United States fear
war with any nationr
I'VE fear no one!" was the answer,
Then the experts set forth just how
the explosive could be used. how dan
gerous 1t is and, In a measure, how it
is made. They would not go into the
latter very deeply, because that is the
governments secret.
ITO show what 1t would do II used
in the forts about New York against
an enemy's ships" said an ordnance
expert, picture modern dread
nought Of the North Dakota type ten
miles AT sea steaming toward Sandy
Hook Then glance toward the Hook
and see a burst of fame from one of
the big fourteen-inch guns and a heavy
projectile go plunging through space
direct for the waterline Of the dread
nought.
The dreadnought suddenly stops,
trembles and settles. In a minute It
disappears, leaving struggling men in
the water. One shot OF this mighty
explosive has sent $10.000.OO0 worth
Of steel and the finest workmanship
TO the bottom Of the sea. and with it
one thousand officers and men.
ut is almost inconceivable, and yet
II appears to be true, for with the dis
covery made IL only remains that our
men should have northumberland
we have that"
There are enough shells loaded with
Explosive D" stored in the magazines
of Fort Hancock. Sandy Hook. Fort
Hamilton and Fort Wadsworth to pre-
vent the city OF New York and the
surrounding country from being dam
aged one iota by the combined fleets
Of the powers Of Europe
The explosive IS a compound Of
which picric acid IS the base. In a
rrojectile used in a twelve-inch gun
Of the army or navy, and weighing
/ 1.04e pounds, there are sixtyfive
pounds of the explosive. That is az
near to the nature Of the ingredients
Of the compound RS any but the ex-
perts are allowed 20 get.
The Dunn explosive is fired by a
time fuse and will not explode on con
tact. But when It does explode its
powers are almost supernatural
At Sandy Hook for one of the Sc
cret tests. the government built a
large compartment of steel armOr
plate several inches In thickness In
| front of the compartment facing the
/ gun vas a sheet Of armor plate 1lA
/ inches thick. The regulation l2inch
gun was used and he proiectile. con
tanning sixty-hve pounds OF Explosive
D. fired with an ordinary charge OF
/ smokeless powder II went through
/ the armor plate into the compartment
and exploded. Great holes were torn
I In the steel box on all sides and
demonstrated thai had It been a ship
It would have gone - the bottom with
all on board
Among the other tests made was
+ that OF shells fred from field pieces
into an embankm@nt TO determine
what could be done 70 an enemy's en-
/ trerchments. One she'll went into an
embankment several feet and expiod.
ed ia half a second There wac a
/ great hole in the earth. Had It been
/ real entrenchnent with men behind
/ II the entrenchment and every living
thing in # would have been destroyed
Nothing resIstE the terrible force Of
Explosive d. Il tears through iron
and steel as revolver shot goes
through tin can Penetrating the
deck Of vessel. & would explode on
the second deck. blowing out the sides
and driving the second deck CowE.
through the bottom
Hereafter all torpedoeg o. the navy
are to be charged With Explosive D.
and they vii do ieariul work This