Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-02-05
#isrellaneous Rsaaina.
cATAPULT TO coRDITE
Development Of 3ropelIins Power OF
Destructive Agencies.

with him-that 1t would be more
pleasurable If one could hurt and kill
ones enemy without the %gratuitous
thrill of having to sit on the massive
tusk on the verge Of a cavermouth, or
Of having to approach within a few
PAGES of the huge legs which might
the next moment descend upon him.
1t would be more convenient to stand
at the cave entrance, on a dizzy ledge
of rock, and hurl a weapon at the dis
tant enemy.
The Chemical catapult.
So man was driven to invent the
ca;apult; and a gun is merely a chem
ical catapult. The trigger is pulled
back like the leather Of the catapult,
and the sudden and extraordinary ex-
pansion of the explosive corresponds
to the elasticity of the rubber or spring
the essential feature Of both instru-
ments being the employment OF some
source Of more than human power
which can be made to yield up its en-
ergy at a given moment in the requir-
ed way.
Explosives are, therefore, tabloid
energy or power, and it is a just re-
hinder Of the fact that some sub
stances are explosive generally, where
as quite a number Of common things
may be made explosive by some par
ticular kind of treatment. When water
boils on the fire there is no explosion
as it is changed into steam, but II the
spout were sealed and the whole of
the water could be changed into steam
in a second there would be an ex-
plosion. And the instance Is good be-
cause it is really a kitchen model Of a
volcano. Moreover, steam guns were
used in America in the SOS.
The essential idea Of an explosion Is
then the violent release Of some pent-
up thing; just the opposite, from this
standpoint, Of the catapult, which
works by allowing a distended thing
the elastic-to contract suddenly,
whereas all explosives release a COM
pressed thing. The release rise to an
air wave, and this. of course, is eX-
perienced as a sound. 1t is h sound
which is popularity called an explosion.
What Is Tabloid Foree?"
Now, it has been said that an eX-
plosion is tabloid force, power, energy.
How is it made available? 1t is easy
to follow the mechanism Of an explos-
i've further. Explosives, as commonly
used, are solid substances which, by
burning. produce almost i~nstantane-
ously an extraordinary large volume
Of gases. The heat and pressure Of a
blow causes the burning to start, and
the burning also produces heat which,,
acting upon the gases, increases the
volume still further. 1t may be sug-
gested that there is no obvious reason
why even a sudden and enormous ex-
pansion should cause the damage Of
an explosion. And the suggestion is
quite just.
1t is only when they are confined
that explosives are really dangerous.
%gunpowder burned in the open merely
causes a noise like 'pouf," and burns
quickly. Guncotton may be burned on
the hand-it Is not to be recommend
ed as a fashionable hobby-without
any serious inconvenience. Indeed,
gunpowder was first used as an in
cendiary composition. But a firework
or a gun charged with gunpowder will
explode with a loud report and may
cause fatal wounds.
"High" and "low" Explosives.
Gunpowder is the best known ex-
plosive mixture. 1t is made from the
commonest ingredients-carbon, sui
phur and saltpeter. There are several
notifications Of gunpowder, other nj
trates being substituted for the salt
petre-potassium nitrate. The nj
trates give the oxygen to the mixture
without which it would not burn at
all, other explosive mixtures contain
ing CELEBRATES which have the same
amount Of oxygen as saltpetre and nj
trates. The different powders are used
in different circumstances where a
more violent or a slower or a safe ex-
plosive is required. For it is not al
ways the same effect which n asks
from an explosive. Velocity may at
times be sacrificed, say, in favor Of a
higher weight Of ommon shell. Gun
powder is a low" explosive; its ex-
plosion is slow and it's effect is less
violently descriptive.
Dynamite is probably the best known
high" explosive, n the name does
not stand for one particular substance,
but for a large class, which are, in eff
feet, diluted nitroglycerin, and which
are generally used for blasting.
Germany's New Explosive.
Guncotton may be described as a nj
trate of cotton wool (Which the chem
list would call cellulose.) Both nytro-
/ glycerin and ]guncotton are less useful
as explosives themselves than their
derivatives, although Russia and the
United States use compressed wet
]guncotton in their high explosive
shells. One of the most famous deri-
vations is the smokeless propellant
used by the British army and navy,
cordite.
Germany is reported to be using in
the present war a new" explosive,
It's chemical name is trinitro- toluene
(picric acid is called trinitro- carbolic)
but it is commonly called T. N. T., or
in Germany, Tyrotyl. 1t is not at all
new. In fact, a we'll known member
of a series of aromatic explosives and
toluene is a derivation Of coal tar. 1t
has long been known that it much i'm
| proved the ordinary detontors and
that detonators made with T. n. T,
were being used in Germany.