The Washington herald., 1914-11-08

the use Of nitro-glycerin from him, and
mat my nrst United States patent on
explosives, No. 41i1Z7, September IA 1ss9
nled May u, 1850, was based on inforna-
ton gained from him while 1 was in
England
In view of Sir Hiram's present claims.
mat ne was the first to add nitro-giycer-
n - 70 elssoNed gun cotton to make smoke
iess powder II Is interesting to see what
ne had to say in a letter to me under
oate or August s, 1883. to quote:
There Is nothing new about the addI-
uon OF nitro-siycerfn to a solution OF
gun cotton II was patented fifteen years
ago by Nobel"
At the time was first in England In
the summer and autumn Of ISIS. thera
was much excitement in naval and mill
taIy circles In England about a secret
snokeless powder called the LebeI now,
GER which had been developed in France
l obtained small sample Of this DOW
oer from workman in the employ of
me Maxim Nordenfelt Company, who had
been showing the gun in France 7
showed this sample to my brother Hiram
we examined the powder and learned
that IT consisted merely of gun cotton
dissolved and dried Therefore. II wog
easy for US to duplicate the French I.ebeI
powder. This fact Is verified in a letter
from Sir Hiram Maxim to Lieut.. ] r
Meigs. Of the Bethlehem Steel COMPANY.
under date of August 5, 1895, wherein
Hiram says:
MY brother Hudson was the first man
OUTSIDE Of France to obtain an Authentic
specimen Of the original French smoke
less powder, and he assisted me in NV
experiments for several months"
And Sir Hiram continues:
"On his return to the United States =.
continued his experiments NV
Drother started out with a view of max
ing smokeless powder which might be
a substance which would have ali of f5s
hardness, density and keeping qualities
oI cennloid, and at the same time pro-
duee high ballistie results"
Sir Hiram continued further in the
same letter:
This new form Of powder has null
tiple perforations We regard tbJ,
new powder as being an ideal smokeiess
In the suit of vickers Sons & Maxim
against the British government. the only
invention for which Sir Hiram got credit
was the addition Of castor oil to a COM
pound Of nitro-glycerin and gun cotton.
t1e DuieFWa8 base6 entirely UPON the
Atnd % grease employed AbeI aud De-
E1r uled vaselfne In cordite to soften n
an1 slow It's aetina. Sir Hiram uea,l cas-
tcf~Ql1 which had been suggested to ma
Dy rTOf. 1toWorays Wtfo mare the nitro
glycerin for the Hoosac tunnel. and i
communicated the suggestion to my
brother Hiram. The idea Of using castor
oil first came from Prof. Mowbray, as ha
had already used It in the manufacture
Of zyionite. a form of celluloid made at
Zylonite, Mass.
As the British government did not uSs
castor oil, the suit Of the vickers Maxim
Company against the government failed
Castor oil, and all forms of grease, are
no longer used in smokeIess powders,
either here or abroad. The United States
has never, at any time used any form
Of grease or oil in its powders.
II any OF the readers OF this paper will
take the trouble to look into the sub.
ject, he will be amply able to satisfy
himself that Sir Hiram Maxim never in
vented anything in explosive materials
whatsoever that is either now in use. or
has ever been used commercially, or has
ever been adopted into the service OF any
government in the world
/ will pay the sum Of 500 to any one
who will be able to discover any invention
in smokeless powders by Sir Hiram Max
i'm now in use or that has ever been I'm
use in the service OF any government on
earth. II any one has any doubt as to
the truth Of my statements, this sum of
500 surely win pay him for the necessary
time and trouble to look into the mat
ter. II he should be able to find that am
wrong