New Britain herald., 1915-02-20
HOW BRITISH MAKE
 THEIR EXPLOSIVES
Described by Writer Who Paid
 Visit To Factory.

Correspondence of the Associated Press)
 London, Feb. Follow the British make their explosives is described by a writer who was given permission to go through a factory now turning out much of the material used in the British and French shells.
 The factory grounds are connected by telephones and tram lines, says the writer, and in addition to the buildings there are a number of em- bankments. Some of the sheds are highly dangerous. First among these comes the nitrating room, in which tank filled with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid is kept in state of violent agitation by means of com pressed air jets, shot up from the bottom Above the acid, a small stream of pure glycerine trickles in. Below the vat is a pool of water in which the vats contents could be drowned were mixing to go wrong. The acids when mixed with the glycerine, become nitro-
  than gun powder and likely to ex- plode at the slightest shock.
 Fumes Closely Watched.
 The fumes arising from the tank are closely watched while the con- tents are cooled by means of chilled brine, forced through a coil of pipes at the bottom. Should the slightest trace of red appears the attendant must drown the stuff on the second.
 When ready, the crude explosive runs through lead pipes to another room. There it is allowed to settle in vats, and the surface is skinned off. If the compound has not been prop erly mixed, a ring of peacock green appears on the surface of the tank, and the attendants dash out of the building to save themselves if they can.
 Wash Nitro-glycrinc.
 The third building is devoted to the washing of the nitro-glycerine to get rid of the excess free acid Two washings are gone through, the first :n pure water agitated by compressed air jets, and the second time in wa 1 ter to which strong solution of soda 1 has been added to neutralize the re- 1 maining traces of acid.
 JJitro- -glycerine is now used Dor many purposes in the form already reached. But to make dynamite, it is 1 taken to a fourth shed, where finely 1 ground wood pulp and Chilean salt 1 petre are added. This yellowish soapy l mixture is harmless unless fired by strong concussion generally by a cap l of illuminate of mercury, an eXplo- l siye that goes off al the mereSt touch
 Dynamite Rarely Used. Dynamite is rarely used in torpe- does, because gun cotton is more con- venient. Some forms of it, however enter into submarine mines. ... The making of melinite and picric l acid and of trinitro-toluol, the terri 1 ble explosive used in aerial bombs,
 is kept from the public, while abso- l 1ute secrecy surrounds the making of
 cordite, lyddite and the mysterious
 "B'' powder. Not even the workmen and the chemists employed in mak- ing these explosives knows the com.
 binations into which they are mixed l for service use. It is said that some l of the materials turned out in the
 explosive factories which employees
 and chemists think are absolutely l necessary to the production of service
 charges, are not used at all. They arc 1 asked for simply to mislead possible
 traitors who would betray govern l nent secrets.