Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-28
BY UHHam Drum.

Upper: These fUe bottles CON-
tain finished and unfinished cam
non ponder. From left to right
the sizes sho1Dn here are 155 nm
hoWitser, 90 nm from 7Uhich the
S0lDe71t has not get been extract
ed, 40 nm finished, 155 nm still
| filled NTH solvent and 155 nm
| finished.
LoUer: This sample OF S-inch
naval explosive sho1Us the perfo-
rations 1Ohich make this ponder
| practicable. Size OF the seven
holes seen in the end of the inch
long grain governs the rate OF its
batrn1ng.
| the grain in its last formative pressing
under 5000 pounds pressure, from which
the powder emerges in long strands re-
! sembling macaroni.
After pressing, powder Is cut into ex-
act segments before the ether and wood
alcohol, which made it semi-plastic, is
extracted with heat 1t Is said that
Hitler, the base of whose powder is nei-
Their wood nor cotton, but oatmeal does
not have time to remove the solvent from
his powder.
In 80 and so caliber and in 155-mm
howitzer charges the grains have only
single hole of unbelievably small
diameter. Larger cannon varieties have
seven holes, not much larger, but all
accurately spaced,
Green" powder becomes finished
powder after the solvents have been ex-
tracted with heat. The fumes Of the
solvents are condensed, collected and
stored for reuse After this process a
negligible amount of ether and alcohol
remaining is washed away with hot
| water. The powder is then of a translu-
| cent amber color, and has been reduced
Is per cent in size.
| Finally it is dried in hot air, blended
| in huge lots to insure product of great
uniformity, and packed in zinc-lined
cans which have been tested with pres
sure OF several atmospheres to show that
they are air and water tight.
| Vielle, Frenchman, in 1886 made
the first military smokeless powder of
the modern type, according to William
S. Button, who reviewed the history of
American poWdermaking in book last
year Even in 1886, Dutton states, the
secret Of mixing a stabilizing chemical
with the ingredients to render it safe
| to handle was known.
But II was not until 1916. on the very
| ont 20 i,,to ~, III.
! War, that America had a plant which
| produced the Observation-Disclosures
made from coal tar-in quantity. Pre-
| vlously, diphenylamine had come from
Belgium and Germany
! Even before our entrance into the
First World War smokeless powder was
propellant of the first magnitude. The
| production records of one firm which
supplied the Allies shows that less than
4 year after the start of hostilities in
Europe the firm received foreign orders
for 35,OO0000 pounds of smokeless DOW
| der. More than 100000 900 pounds a
year were being made by the end of 1915,
and when in April, 1917, the United
States entered the war, this figure had
scared to 357 100000 pounds. In one
more year the firms capacity was 455.-
| 900 pounds, or sd times the procluc-
| ton capacity of that firm three years
| earlier.
$4,000 Build Huge Plant
The spraWling Blue Ridge giant from
which the powder shown here came
Is an industrial miracle, Americas first
big wartime powder plant, operating on
an enormous site which two years before
had been wilderness. There the SHOWS
of 1910 and the record colds of 194l tor
tured construction gang of % 900 men
and boys.
About IS kinds Of powder are made
there, though not all of them can be
manufactured at one time. Some of
this explosive is destined to be deto-
mated on the other side of the world.
For testing the finished product there are
ranges for both rifle and cannon charges,
and delicate instruments whose precision
in measuring velocity is something posi-
| lively unCanny.
Operating every hour of the year, the
| plant has over it the sibilance of escap-
| ing steam and the constant whlr of
electric motors.
There the farmers and bookkeepers,