Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-15
MAKING DYNAMITE.

The questioner reddened a little as he thought of the length, height and breadth of his ignorance. The super intendent pulled open a dark drawer and handed out a stick of some soft substance covered with shell of heavy parafined paper. Opening one of the neatly crimped ends a soft sub stance was seen within that looked sopething like fine cornmeal which ed
 That's some of it." was the brief explanation.
 Looks harmless enough" said the visitor, in an indifferent tone, laying it back upon the desk with well con- cealed qualm of nervousness.
 And as harmless as it looks, ex- cept under certain definite conditions" was the quick rejoinder in tone sug- gesting considerable professional pride. Nothing less than a detonating cap buried ir one end of the stick and set off by special kind of fuse"
 How about a sudden jar?" was ask ed. In reply he raised the stick with which he had been emphasizing his remarks and hurled it to the floor with all his strength. The visitor re- strained with great difficulty an inn pulse to shatter the international rec- ord for the standing high jump and prepared to continue the study of high explosives in such @ manner as to pre- clude forcible demonstrations.
 NO damage from that source" con- | tinued the informant, "as long as your power remains in it's normal condition. | When partially frozen, however, some | dynamites may be exploded by violent concussion; it depends a great deal upon the composition of the dope"
 "The dope?"
 ''Yes. You see, all dynamites con- sist in general of nitroglycerin mixed with more or less complex absorb ent called the dope Two elements universally used in the dope are saw dust or wood pulp and nitrate of soda. They are non- explosive but both, es- pecially the latter, when ignited, give off a large volume of gas. which ex- bands and adds considerably to the force of the nitroglycerin explosion '
 "Yes," the visitor responded remin- iscentiy; "and the other ingredients
 Well, you see," he replied, after a moments hesitation "it would be a hard matter to explain to you in 20 minutes all that has been discovered and utilized in 20 years of research Over there is the laboratory building pointing to small red building al some distance where could be seen ar occasional figure moving around amid a labyrinth of retorts, glass tubes ant what not;>"we employ an experienced chemist to conduct constant expert. ments with view to hitting upoY some new active absorbent which shal be cheaper, safer and more effective than that now in use"
 Accepting the hint the visitor paused to sum up. Then dynamite consists ir nitroglycerin mixed with a numbe of non explosive substances. which to
 gether act as an absorbent?"
 Exactly"
 And the nitroglycerin? What is Una
 made of and how do you make ft!'
 ''Nitroglycerin Is formed when pur glycerin is eagitated with a mixtur
 of nitric and sulphuric acids" house or "nitrater' we passed som
 long rambling buildings from whicl
 issued dense white and red fume
 which set us coughing and gasping a
 great rate. Here's where we mak the acids for the nitroglycerin," wa
 the explanation, "and over there, poinfing to a huge iron tank of boiler like appearance, "is where the acid
 are mixed and from whence they ar driven in suitable quantities by com
 pressedSair to the nitrater."
 Arrived at the last mentioned build ing, and having accustomed our eye
 to the semi mi-darkness. which appeare