Middletown transcript., 1915-09-18
ABSENCE OF SMOKE
Modern Conflict Different From
Wars Of the Past
GUNS HAVE GREATER POWERS

OOINO HAVE ONLh AAN Nv LINZ
One Of the marked features of the
European conflict that distinguishes 1t
from the wars of the past is the alb
sence of smoke, says Popular Mechan-
les.
Owing to the use of smokeless pow
ker no smoke is made when a rifle IL
discharged, while the heaviest artillery
throws off nothing more than thin
mist that is invisible 100 yards away
and disappears within a few seconds
after the gun is fired. Only when shrap-
mel or a shell eXplodes in the enemy's
lines is there anything visible in the
way of smoke the whole purpose being
to conceal the position of the guns
throwing the proiectiles while making
the points where tie projectile eXplodes
clearly visible The expression ''the
smoke of battle" is faithfully descrip-
tive of the wars of the past, has little
meaning when applied to a modern
war.
The so-called smokeless powders used
Ill ilOuGIIl guns dIG IlOI GHlllClJ
less, but are sufficiently so for all prac-
tical purposes. When gun powder ex
plodes something like half of its sub
stance takes the form of finely divided
solids, and it is this that causes the
dense smoke resulting from the explo-
sion. Practically all of modern pro-
pellant, and by this term is meant the
smokeless powder used for propelling
the projectile from the gun, is on the
contrary, converted into true gas. In
modern warfare every precaution is
taken to keep the location of battery
hidden from the enemy for artillery
fire has become so accurate that when
position is once known there is little
difficulty IN raining shells on it. But
the use of smokeess powder is not all
that is required in many cases. Care
must be taken to prevent the raising of
dust by the blast of gas and air result
ing from the discharge of the gun, and
for this reason positions for batteries
are chosen, when possible, on ground
that is not of a dusty nature.
In addition to their smokeless feature
the modern propellants have enormous
ly greater powers than gunpowder. In
the days of the civil war the distances
between the opposing lines were seldom
more than mile, and it is said that
the average distance was considerably
less than this in the battle of Gettys-
burg. The effective range for modern
artillery varies with the calibre of the
gun, and ranges ordinarily from 1000
to IL, 600 or Is, 900 yards. The three
inch field gun used in the United States
army can be sighted up to $500 yards,
or nearly four miles, while the new
fieldpiece now being made is designed
to have an effective range of twenty
three miles. In the European war most
of the artillery engagements are fought
at a range of more than four miles.
Since shrapnel is designed to burst in
the air and rain its bullets on the troops
at (which it is aimed, it is necessary for
the officer directing the fire to see just
where the shells explode. For this rea-
son the shrapnel shell contains, in addi-
tion to the high explosive, a smoke
producing charge that forms a matrix
in which the shrapnel balls are imbeded.
When the time fuse sets off the burst
ing charge in the base of the shell this
matrix ignites and produces ball of
black smoke that serves as a marker
easily visible to the officer directing the
fire. In the case of shells that explode
when they strike, no special arrange
ment of this kind is necessary, as the
high explosives used in shells generate
a black or colored smoke, depending or
the explosive used that provides a suffi.
cient means for determining and main
tanning the range. In this connection
it is necessary to distinguish between
the propellant used for firing the she
and the high explosive used in the shel
itself
A propellant is designed to force the
shell forward with gradually increasing
velocity until it leaves the muzzle, with
out endangering the gun by excessive
gas pressure. The charge in the shell
on the other hand, is designed to shat
ter and destroy by the generation o.
the greatest pressure in the shortes
possible time.
The gases thrown out by a bursting
projectle are often poisonous, but tn,
possibility of injury from this cause il
considered negligible except when tn,
explosion takes place in an inclosur
that tends to confne the gases. No de
finite information as to the fatalitie
resulting from this cause are available
but there have been occasional despat
ches from the battle fields of Europ
telling of soldiers overcome or killed
apparently from the effects of the case
following the explosion of a shell with
in a building.