Explosive

“ The Princess smiled. “I didn’t know that powder was an explosive?”
“Everything is an explosive . . . if you treat it properly. You yourself——”
“What?”
“Nothing. A latent explosion. You are terribly explosive.” ”

“ To trust yourself two thousand feet in mid-air with your feet on one piano wire, and one hand clutching another, while with the other hand you grope blindly for a bomb charged with high explosive, is an experience for which few men would yearn. ”

“ The bomb, not being pointed, does not sink into the ground, and hence upon exploding exerts the full force of high explosive upon the surroundings, whether bombs, pill boxes, barbed wire or trenches, to say nothing of personnel. ”

“ For this reason it is easy to tell from the character of the fragments of a projectile whether or not a high explosive or an explosive of inferior power was employed, that is to say, whether or not the explosion was of high order or of low order.
There is one false belief about the action of high explosives that has been about the hardest of any to kill, and the cost of killing it has been very expensive. Furthermore, it possesses more lives than the proverbial nine-lived cat. ”

“ Under this earthen plate, your honor, is more gunpowder. When the explosives on top are burnt out this plate, which has become red-hot, explodes the powder and bursts the bomb—that is the whole secret of the infernal machine. ”

“ The contained explosive naturally ignited, and the plunger was blown out like a shot from a cannon. The cylinder itself was blown downward, demolishing the forge, passing through the [179] plank floor, and burying itself in the ground, while the plunger whizzed upward through the roof, and disappeared in the direction of Scotland.
[180]
THE WRONG TAP
The worker among high explosive materials must never relax his ceaseless vigilance. Not only his own life, but also the lives of those working at his side, hang upon the thread of infinite care. ”

“ For a bomb, falling from a height of two miles, acquires enough momentum to penetrate far into the earth, so that much of the resultant explosive force is expended in a downward direction, and little damage is done to the fortifications. ”

“ As I rode I could hear the long whistling and heavy crump of high explosives that the enemy were dropping into (p. 175) a village about a mile to the left, and could see the flame and smoke of the explosion. Our own guns soon began to chime in. It was quite a cheerful little show, what with the long-drawn whining of approaching Boche shells, the crash of explosions, the thud of our guns replying, and the weird, fluttering noise of our shells going over. Presently the gun duel became more and more violent. ”

“ The rending effect of an explosive depends, in a great measure, on the rapidity with which combustion takes place. The force suddenly developed by the decomposition of the chemical compounds acts like a blow, and it is a well-known fact that the same force, when applied in this way, will produce a greater effect than when it is applied as a gradually increasing pressure. ”

“ The bomb is about the size of a lemon, and is made to break into small fragments. It contains enough of the high explosive to kill a whole group of men. The boy advances and grasps the bomb; he draws out the pin and holds down the lever. ”

“ In an explosion there is usually something anterior to, or apart from, the explosive compound, that pulls the trigger, or touches the match, or completes the circuit, but in the slow and gentle explosions that keep the life machinery going, we cannot make such a distinction. ”

“ The effect of these combinations will produce an explosive especially suitable for certain blast­ing purposes—for example, in crevice rock—and greatly superior either to gunpowder or gun-cotton in explosive force, and quite readily exploded, so that it may be fired and exploded by means of a match or electric spark in like manner as gunpowder or gun-cotton alone. ”

“ Bombs are well behaved if you treat them right. It’s all in being thoughtful and considerate of them!” Meanwhile, he was jerking at some kind of a patent fuse set in a shell of high explosive. “This is a poor kind, sir. ”

“ There is great increase in the number, variety, and potential energy of explosives, and they are causing a startling number of disasters; and these involve not only the proprietors who have the control, and the hands who do the work of the magazine, mine, quarry, factory, steam-ship, locomotive, in which the explosion occurs, but also the general public—by-standers, persons walking, riding, or lodging near, passengers by train or steamboat, carriers or purchasers of dangerous goods improperly packed, and many others. ”

“ Many igniting compositions are examples of the last type, consisting of a high explosive diluted with a neutral substance, and frequently containing in addition a composition which is inflamed by the explosion of the diluted high explosive, the flame in turn igniting the actual propellant. ”

“ Flashes of fire, the metallic crack of high explosives, the awful explosions that dug holes fifteen and twenty feet in diameter, the utter and complete pandemonium and the stench of hell, your friends blown to bits, the pieces dropping near—even striking you. ”

“ What are called fulminating bombs are similar balls, but of the size of hazel nuts. No one should attempt to explode these by crushing them with the shoe, as their explosive effect is so violent as sometimes to prove injurious. ”

“ THE FORGOTTEN BIT OF FULMINATE
In experimenting with high explosives and in their manufacture, a little absent-mindedness, a very slight lack of exact caution, a seemingly insignificant inadvertence for a moment, may cost one a limb or his life. The incident that cost me my left hand is a case in point.
On the day preceding that accident, I had had a gold cap put on a tooth. In consequence, the tooth ached and kept me awake the greater part of the night. Next morning I rose early and went down to my factory at Maxim, New Jersey. ”

“ Then, when face, hands, and knees can endure no more, and the inevitable convulsive wriggle occurs, they rise in a vociferous swarm, only to settle again when the victim becomes quiescent. To these, high-explosives are a welcome relief. ”

“ There is a class of explosive projectiles now used, the discontinuance of which is not demanded by humanity, and the use of which may be considered legitimate. These are the projectiles which can only be exploded by contact with hard, resisting substances, and which are generally used for destroying ships, caissons, or light fortifications, and not directly against men or animals in the opposing ranks. ”

“ Schwarmer. Every mature individual knows that all kinds of explosives are more [Pg 44] or less dangerous. There is a lurking devil in them that it will not do to play with. They should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary and then only by experienced hands. Surely, it would be very easy for you to withhold your gifts to the boys, or make them of a non-explosive character. You might try it next year and note the results in the death and accident list. ”

“ And still dropping their horrid explosives
Below to the shattered plain,
They seek by quick aerial manœuvres
Advantageous positions to gain.
And thus rising, poising, and advancing,
Pausing in close column and line,
The strange scene was awesome and wonderful,
And immeasurably sublime.
Fiercely on each other with quick-fire guns
Destruction they now madly pour,
And infernal machines and magazines
Add their terrible, deadly roar. ”

“ This fact is all the more emphasized in the present world war, in which the rifle fire is employed principally in trench warfare at near-by ranges, and where all the wounds which involve the resistant structures of the body show the characteristic features usually described as those of explosive effects. ”

“ High-explosives, shrapnel, grenades, bombs, bullets were rending, piercing, and shattering the living flesh and muscle and bone. Towns and villages were being turned into heaps of brick and wreckage. Hordes of old men, women, and children were thronging the roads, and fleeing from approaching disaster. ”

“ Both explosive and incendiary shells were used, while aeroplane bombs, darts and asphyxiating gas were resorted to occasionally. Public holidays were the occasion of the fiercest bombardments, in the hope of increasing the number of victims. ”

“ LOMAX [lecturing to the company generally] You know, these high explosives don't go off like gunpowder, except when they're in a gun. When they're spread loose, you can put a match to them without the least risk: they just burn quietly like a bit of paper. ”

“ It is with them as with explosives: where they lie unprotected on the surface, they may be easily ‘set off,’ but they do little mischief; whereas when they lie deeper and more concealed, they are perhaps less easily kindled, but when once they take fire the explosion is far more violent and destructive, and the greater the weight that is piled upon them, the greater havoc do they work. ”

“ Do you know that a newspaper writer came to interview me about that explosion? Those reporters imagine that scientific men know everything! I told the one who called on me that it would be very kind of him to enlighten me as to what powder was employed. And, by the way, I am giving a lesson on explosives at my laboratory to-morrow. There will be just a few persons present. You might come as well, Pierre, so as to give an account of it to Guillaume ”

“ Combine the same elements in different proportions, and you have the deadliest explosives!'
"'My God!—you mean to say——'
"'That every human being is a potential living bomb!'
"The effect of my words was electrical. The man who would have faced a hostile House without a tremor now sank into his chair, deathly white and unnerved. It did not need more explanation to enable his keen, far-seeing brain to visualize the awful possibilities of my discovery. ”

“ When all is ready they should fire the blasts, keeping accurate count of the explosions to ensure that no holes have missed fire, and should call the workmen back when all danger is over. In case any hole has missed fire it should be marked by a red lamp or flag.
Nature of Explosions. —When the explosives are ignited a sudden development of gases results, producing a sudden and violent increase of pressure, usually accompanied by a loud report. ”

“ But it is probable that in all cases in which an attack is made upon buildings of permanent character, such as in the destruction of an arms or ammunition factory, or of a dockyard, the petrol bomb will be used to complete the job by firing the wreckage remaining after high explosives have done their work. ”

“ They read with interest, if not with avidity, of their new guns, of their immense and still more immense ironclads, of their incredible and still more incredible explosives, but just what these tremendous engines of destruction might mean for their personal lives never entered their heads. ”

“ That an unlimited amount of explosives distributed in blast-holes in moderate charges, proportioned to the work to be done, thoroughly confined in the rock, and tamped with water, may be fired without damage to surrounding objects. ”

“ We were in one of the finest bomb-proofs in that entire sector. After more than three years the direct hits of high explosives had not penetrated it. To its original thickness and strength had been added [92] the tumbled-in walls of the glorious old building which once stood above it. Now and then shells bursting near the entrance to our shelter forced in the heavy curtains with the rush of air following the explosion.
The firing from our own guns became more intense and rapid. What did it mean? Were we under general attack? Was a raid to be received, or were our lads to deliver one? ”

“ Balloons also threw bombs from the very heavens, setting towns ablaze as they passed. Science had invented explosives and murderous engines which carried death over prodigious distances, and annihilated a whole community as suddenly as an earthquake might have done. ”

“ The same results come less frequently from fire-crackers and other explosives, and in addition many accidents which injure hands, eyes, and other parts of the body, are the result of the use of the heavier explosives. ”

“ THERE is something about fire which fascinates every one, yet the action of explosives arouses even a livelier interest, since the accompanying fiery phenomena are more intense and are attended with a shocking report and a violent destruction of the surrounding material, while this train of events, with all its marked
Gun-Cotton Factory. ”

“ We crouch behind every corner, behind every barrier of barbed wire, and hurl heaps of explosives at the feet of the advancing enemy before we run. The blast of the hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs ”

“ Explosives are substances which, by application of flame, heat, percussion, &c., suddenly assume the gaseous form, thus increasing their bulk many hundred times, usually in a small fraction of a second of time. ”

“ In moving cases containing explosives great care should be taken that they are not placed on anything or in such a position that they might topple over or be knocked over, or placed in such a position that other objects might fall on them. ”

“ Most useful high explosives, like ammonium nitrate, are enormously violent ... once they're triggered. But they will remain seemingly inert when beaten, burned, variously punished—until the particular shock required comes along.... ”

“ Explosions are the resultants of elemental gases, vaporization, comminution, contact of different substances, as well as of the specifically named explosives. With new processes in manufacture, involving chemical and mechanical transformations, and other uses of new substances and new uses of old substances, explosions increase. ”