Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-18
T. y. 7 High Explosive
Is Wonder Of Science
BY Ere feyie ]. Haski1

Washington, D. G., Dec. i5.-The
| great uar brought 10 perfection and
| wide use new high explosive which is
really wonder Of modern science. Trini-
| trot0luol or t \ r. is the substance
which wiped cities of the map Of Europe,
shattered submarines in the depths of
| the sea, blew whole companies Of men To
pi.nee. Il Is also the force which wiped
out great industrial plants IN blasts that
| shook the cnunfry
| The performance Of +. y. i. arc
terrific cn1we-inspirinv tftFr one Of the
! great nfinition plant explosions, colored
| workman with face the shade of boiled
| liver appeared a. the company Office
| and in a shaking voice demanded his
| time Asked why he was quitting when
our forces we're IN special need Of T y. T.,
| he replied:
| Boss, Is just found out that T. \
| T. stands for Travel, Niger, Travel
For military purposes high explosive
i Should meet three main requirements.
| First. it must yeiId the greatest possible
explosive force per unit weigh Of sub
| stance; second, it, manufacture must
not involve too nuch risk: snd third, it
must be convenient and relatively safe
TO handle
MANY roo Ss.SsTrIvs.
Certain explosives such - -nitrog "A
iodides and nitrogen chloride arr 80
sensitive that the touch Of q feather
will set them off These compounds are
unfit for military Use. Others, such IS
the Eliminates OF mercury and silver and
mixtures containing CELEBRATES are less
sensitive, vet moderate shocks will ex-
plode them These latter substances,
however, serve very useful purpose n
primers. where they are employed IN
very small quantities and 50 protected
that the danger of their premature en-
ploslon il reduced 70 a minimum. In
this way they ara used 10 deto0atc large
charges of less sensitive explosives.
Still other substances such as nitro
glyccrine, dry g,tncotton and pycrlc
,4cid arc even less likely 10 be set of if
carefully handled, YET frightful accidents
have occurred not only in their trans
portatlon, but also when these materials
were stored IN magazines where there
was little chance OF their being sub
mItted To even slight Jars.
Trinitrotoluol. however, has been de-
scribed rs dangerously safe, for 1t can be
any change that munition workers are
apt TO grow very careless i'll handling il.
HANDLED WITH SAFETY.
When pure. T. y I Is a slightly yellow,
fine crystalline powder which is insoluble
IN and unaffected by water. II heated
to about 80 degrees Centi.rade il melts
10 a deep yellow liquid resemblin & maple
syrup in appearance, which can be
poured into molds and shells with al
most perfect safety 1t cannot be ex-
pIoded by either fame or percussion.
and unlike pycric acid and q number Of
other high explosives, 1t forms no highly
sensitive compounds with the metals
which would render it dangerous to place
IN metal containers
II flame is applied to a mass OF T.
y I powder, il melts, takes fire and
burns quietly, evolving a heavy black
smoke. II will stand the most severe
shocks without deoomposng fact
bullet may be fred into il without effect
Yet il it is detonated by the sharp ex-
plosion oi illuminate OF mercury, il ex-
plodcs with the greatest violence even
when immersed in water.
Both the powder and safety Of T. y
I. were we'll demonstrated several months
ago when a ton or more of this substance
exploded at a plant located near one OF
our large cities. 1t is never clear what
causes such blasts, because those nearby
usually perish; but from our knowledge
of the properties OF this substance it was
probably detonated by some other ex-
ploslve. The explosion killed 90 men
and rocked the whole surrounding country
for miles; yet close To the scene of the
accident there were stored 80 tons Of
I y. T. which, had il exploded, would
have destroyed the great manufacturing
plant and probably wrecked the nearby
city. Thanks to the stability Of this
compound it withstood the shock.
While I. n. I can be handled with
almost perfect safety as far As its ex-
plosIvo properties are concerned, any
undue familiarity of the factory workers
is not without its evil effects,
COMPOUND is POISONOUS
This compound is quite poisonous
even IN small quantities, aud those en-
gagged III is manufacture are apt to be
seriously affected unless they take proper
precautions
When the material is melted certain