Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-25
NA TIONAL DEFENSE PROBLEMS
VL-Lessons of the War-Explosives
By Frederic ]. Haskin

II the European war has produced
new types of guns, new methods OF fort
hurrying the death dealing monsters
| from one place to another, 1t has also
provided a vast experimental plan for
projectiles-the new explosives.
Uncle Sam himself maintains a num-
Der of proving grounds for new kinds
new explosive designed Ign by the Govern
ment chemists is demonstrated, but
since August 1 last he has been de-
in part upon the tbe
battlef1elds of the European war. Ever
since the conflict commenced the Unit
/ ed States Government has been closely
watching, through the medium of milf
tary experts and chemists we'll versed
in the composition. of detonants. the
abroad. with a view to adopting the
| best of them for use in this country. In
| the event OF war, the United States VIII
not be ignorant of the latest words in
gun powder and its modern deriva-
tives..
"TrOty.
One of the most important of these
| improvements on the invention credit
ed to the Chinese is a compound of
comparatively recent inventions. known
| to the British military experts as "T.
N. T." and to the Germans as "Trotyl."
under the name of "Trinitrotoluene," q
title which is almost as deadly to the
person who tries to pronounce 1t as
would be a small quantity of the COM
pound The precise combination and
method of preparation of this explo-
siye differ slightly in different coun- n
practically the same. A considerable
quantity of trotyl has already been
Manufactured in the United States and
the War Department Is experimenting
with il in an effort to discover whether
Fit is sufficiently superior to the explo-
sives formerly in use on this side of
the Atlantic to warrant its adoption.
Because trotyI is the most efficient
explosive yet designed for use In war
fare, according to foreign experts, 1T
must not be inferred that 1t is more
powerful than any other explosive
hitherto known. In point of fact, there
are substances known to the chemist
is manifested by any compound used in
the construction OF military explosives
| or propellants.
The Most Powerful Explosive
The power of an explosive depends
| upon its capacity to produce a large
volume of gas from a comparatively
small amount of original solid matter.
| Judged by this standard, the most pow
| salt of hydrazoic acid, the ammonia
compound of which produces. accord
ing to the French chemist Berthelot.
1.14S cubic centimeters of gases for one
gram weight of substance. No other
known substances gives a correspond
ing change OF volume in passing from
are chemical reasons why 1T is unwise
to try to use this substance in lieu of
gun powder or in place of dynamite.
In the first place, these compounds of
hydrazoic acid explode with extreme
violence If heated to a temperature
only slightly above the normal boiling
point OF water. They are therefore far
too sensitive to be used for the prac-
tical purposes to which military ex-
plosives are put. Moreover. their ex-
treme violence of action would be, to
some extent. disadvantage. It would
prevent their use as propellants, since
they would burst the gun barrels and,
would shatter their enclosing cases
almost to the condition of powder on
being discharged and on the whole
would thus have a less destructive eff
feet than would be produced by an ex-
ploslve that burst the shell into rela-
s a56gS END Py the
its destructive influence.
Over-rapid Explosives
Such tendency TO over-rapid explo-
sion is a fault of picric acid and it's
derivatives, lyddite and melinite. In
ticai explosives now used in warfare
are modified in such a way as to re-
tard rather than to accelerate their
example, the British explosive, cor
dite," which is used for small arms
and cannon alike. is modified in action
by the simple expedient of manufactur-
ing IL into cords-whence its name-of
smaller or larger size. The larger
the cord, the slower Its combustion.
Thus IL may be adapted to the require
merts of a relatively slow burning pro-
pellant or of a quickly detonating ex-
plosive-although for practical pur-
poses another explosive. lyddite, is usu-
ally substituted by the British in their
mines and torpedoes.
The Torpedo Field
In the field of torpedoes, however, the
United States Government is now ex-
perimenting with the invention of a
Young American, which naval experts
claim is destined to revolutionize war
fare on the sea quite as much as has
sists of a torpedo OF, novel size and
shape. capable of being guided or d.
several miles distant. The torpedo is
under the control of the marksman
from the time 1t is launched and 1t
may be made to turn to the right or to
the left or even dive at the win of the
wireless operator. The secret of the
process whereby the torpedo is guided
] IL being carefully guarded. for 1t Is