The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-15
ENOUGH Bricks USED
In REMINGTON PLANT
TO REACH SALT LAKE
DANGER TOO
GREAT TO RISK
Amateur Chemists Should
Fight Shy of Dabbling
in High Explosives.

A word Of caution to amateurs who
wish to experiment with high explo-
sives-don't. The Manufacture of
high explosives. is now highly spe-
chemical engineering, and great tech
meal knowledge and experience are
necessary If one wishes to go through
life whole. Another caution - not
one of the present explosive COM
pounds has been discovered and made
practical by an amateur; they are as
much growth of scientific research
as is the n1anufa cture of aniline dyes.
The bases of the most terribly de-
structive explosives are very innocent
substances themselves and OF high inn
portance in the arts of peace. Cotton
and glycerine are the two most i'm
portant. raw materials used for high
toluol. etc. Cotton is by far the most
important, as it's nitro compounds are
the base of all sTnokeless powders US
ed in cannon and rifles and explosive
shells and torpedo heads.
Srnokeless powder is now the most
important military product of guncot-
ton and nitro glycerine. Broadly
speaking, smokeless powder is gela-
tinized form of guncotton- or. guncot-
ton and nitro-glycerine in varying pro-
portions, with small proportions of
other substances to modify its action
or to stabilize it. The general meth
Cd of making each of the two types
is as follows: Guncotton powders are
made by dissoIving a mixture OF dini-
tro and trinitrocellulose in a mixture
of alcohol and ether, working the
mass until a plastic jelly is formed
and then working this up with its
other ingredients and finally pressing
the mass into threads and cylinders or
cutting up sheets of tito make small
grains.
Smokeless powder for big guns and
smaller rifed cannon is usually made
in the form of perforated cylinders of
varying sizes by forcing the plastic
mass through dies. These cylinders
are from an eighth of an inch to an
inch in thickness and from half an
inch to two inches long, the size and
number of perforations varying with
the size of the gun for which intended.
The cylinders are perforated so that
the flame from the combustion can
burn them more evenly, thus secur-
ing uniform pressure in the gun and
its maximum effect.
Smoke1ess powders are exploded by
direct flame. from friction or electric
instantaneous. Set afire in open air
smokeIess powders burn fiercely. bur
without explosions. Unless badly de-
Perforated by age and consequent for
nation of excess of free acids, smokes
less powder seldom explodes. by con-
custom. When excessively acid it
will explode spontaneously.
In appearance smokeless powder re-
semb1es yellow or amber celuloid, has
a horny, texture and can be cut with
a knife. The powder used by the
United States is guncotton powder.
a small proportion of diphenylamtne
and calcium carbide being added to
aofk do
of manufacture are closely guarded
secrets.
Nitroglycerine smokeless powders
have as q base. both guncotton and
nitro-glycerine. The guncotton is dis
solved in the nitro-glycerines a-ielly-
like mass being formed. This is then
dissolved in acetone or mixture of
alcohol and ether. stabi1izing ingre
dients added and the whole worked
into plastic mass, This mass is
then pressed into sticks or perforat-
ed cylinders or granulated from sheers
by the same process as guncotton
powder. and the finished product is
similar in appearance.
Nitro-glycerfne powders nave a
greater explosive force than nitro-cel-
lulose powders, but have the draw
back of being unstable and irregular
in action. In fact, all smokeless
powders have these defects. The
perfect smokeless powder is yet to be
invented and meanwhile those who
handle and store it must keep con-
slant watch for signs Of deterioration
and consequent liability to spontaneous
explosion.
The most stable and effective type
of sTnokeless powder is the English
..cordite.,' so. called because nodded
into strips or cords Of varying length
and diameter. The new type cordite
ia eomnOSed of a0IrOximatelV 65 parts
of tri-nitrocellulose, thirty parts of nj
tro-glycerine and five parts of mineral
jelly or petroleum. acetone being used
for making the jelly and dissolving the
nitro-gelatin formed.
Z Originally petroIatum was added to
cordite with the idea that it would
lessen the erosion of the charge on the
rifling of the gun. Later it was dis
covered that the petrolatum acted as
an almost perfect stabilizer by pre-
venting oxidation mechanically. Cor
dite formerly contained q higher pro-
portion of nitro-glycerine. but this
formula has been abandoned for the
later one, as the old powder was too
subject to decomposition.
Blasting gelatin is similar in conpo-
sition to this type of smokeless pow
der and is made by dissolving guncot-
ton in nitro-glycerine, the proportions
of each varying as to the class and
uses of the explosive In all smoke
less powders effort is made to retain
some of the solvent used, as this
makes it safer to handle and more uni
similar substances are sometimes adj
ded as tabilizers.-American Drug
gist.
Speaker Champ Clark is considering
retiring from Congress to run for gov