Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-12-15

|, the Aisne, says a correspondent of the
, Naval and Military Record of London,
has laid due stress on the strength con-
ferred on the German position by the
use of field and siege artillery mounted
in strong and well-concealed positions.
, The reliance placed on artillery by the
Germans has been one of the most strik-
ing features of the Western campaign.
Although we have no absolutely def
mite proof of the existence of the Ger
man 16-inch siege guns. the reduction
of the fortified positions of Liege, Ma
muir and Maubege was undoubtedly due
to the attack made by most formidable
siege batteries of large caliber.
In the first place, some description
may be given of the explosive used by
the German naval and military forces.
This is trotyl, or. as it is otherwise
known, trinitrotoluol, or T. N. t. This
explosive does not seem to be a prepa-
ration of secret chemical formulate.
since it has been extensively advertised
} by various German ordnance firms in
J the past. For example. the Spengstoff-
Carbonit Company. which manufactures
explosives at Schlesbusch, near Co
logne. have advertised trotyl charges
for all classes of projectiles for some
years past. Trotyl appears to be the
product of concentrated nitric acid and
toluol, the latter being a distillate of
various forms of hydrocarbons, such
as naphthalene, coal tar. naphtha, ETC.
It explodes with a brilliant flash and
dense clouds of greasy black smoke
AS the Official British Report says, this
latter feature has earned the big Ger
man shells the nicknames of coal
boxes" or "Black Marias." Trotyl does
not seem to possess such powers of dis
. tention as the various forms of Ique-
fed picric acid used by the British,
French and Japanese forces. which pos
sess a coefficient of distention of
(about) 500 compared with ESQ for tro-
tyl But this may be compensated by
the greater loading density of the Ger
man explosive. Picric acid is produced
by the action of nitric acid on phenol
and can be melted at 1875 degrees
centigrade to form a liquid filing for
shells. Picric acid Is, however, highly
poisonous in manufacture. and forms
dangerous picrates in action on various
metals Especially lead). which are liza
BILE to cause defamation. A very good
account of the German explosive ap-
peared in these columns as recently as
December "a, 1913. under the heading
of Modern High Explosives" and the
following extracts give an excellent
view of the German explosive:
1T has the primary advantage .
that it can be employed as the bursting
charge for not only she'll, but mines and
torpedoes Also 1t is highly stable and
does not form metallic salts or lose it's
stability in the slightest degree on be-
ing brought into direct contact with
metals; consequently it can be poured
in melted condition straight into the
shell or other containing vessel.
ITO give some idea of it's insensitive-
ness to shock or friction, it can be fired
at short range with rifle bullets and
will not detenate: it can also be safely
sawn through or turned up in the lathe
with ordinary steel tools.
illuminate of mercury alone is not
sufficient to cause il to detonate, but
merely blows ii to pieces; consequently
a special detonator = is employed
for this purpose"
The detonator referred to consists of
small charge of illuminate of mercury
loaded next to the cap of the detonator.
and the remaining space is filled with
tetryl. or tetranitromethyianiline
''T. N. T. (trotty) is nonhygroscopic,
and unprotected charges have been left
under water for several months and on
being fired have given complete detona-
. ton. In addition to being melted, T. n.
T. can be compressed in powder form
to a high density. and it is usual TO
employ small primer of this COM
pressed material in order to get the
most complete defamation of melted
charge" Trotyl appears. however, to
J lack the sensitivity of picric acid, for.
according to published figures. the
height of fall for defamation of equal
quantities of pieric acid and trotyl are
so and 90 feet, respectively. Since the
: introduction of trotyl new explosive
has been perfected, called tetranitra-
nilin. or T. N. A., which is said to be
much superior to trotyl
On September 20 the Engineer pub
1ished a very instructive article dealing
with the German and Austrian artillery.
This account was illustrated by views
of the German 15-pounder quick-firing
gun, taken from the official German
manual, and other illustrations and dia-
grams of German artillery and shells.
The following notes are mainly based
on the excellent description in the En-
gineer.
The German light field gun is a
weapon of decidedly inferior quality
when compared with the famous French
quickfirers 1t is simply the old breech-
loading type to which modern mechan-
ism for overcoming recoil has been add
ed, as was done to our old 15-pounder
guns when converted to use for the
? territorial batteries. The German gun
. fires 15-pound shell with muzzle
velocity of 1,525 foot-seconds, as COM
pared with the French weapons 1,740
foot-seconds. On account of this lower
muzzle velocity, the German gun re-
quires much more curved trajectory
and more precise ranging on account
of the smaller danger zone. The Ger
: mans seem, however. to have developed
very successful form of aerial recon-
naissance for range finding, and this
seems to have been of very material
. assistance to their accuracy of fire
But, according to an official British re-
! port, there was one day in the earlier