Magazine (explosives)

“ Neither blasting gelatine, dynamite nor gun-cotton fulfills all these conditions; but they satisfy many of them and are more powerful than other substances. For the destruction of walls, trees, rails, bridges, etc., it is simply necessary to attach to them small bags of explosive, which are ignited by means of blasters' fuse and a cap of fulminate of mercury, or by an electric fuse.
We now come to the application of high explosives to warfare in the shape of bursting charges for shells. ”

“ There were the women and girls who went to work in fireproof overalls, stopping before entering the shop to be inspected and to give up all jewelry, steel hairpins, and anything else which might cause an explosion of the munitions among which they worked. They might be seen often with their hair hanging in braids as they hurried to and fro between the different sheds, over the narrow wooden platforms, raised from the ground to prevent them from carrying in on the soles of their shoes any particles of grit, iron, steel, or glass, that might cause a spark among the high explosives. ”

“ Several of the high explosives congeal at a temperature above the freezing-point of water, and in this state are less sensitive to shock, and explode with difficulty if closely packed in cartridges as usually delivered from the factories. They explode more readily when in the form of a powder. When using them in cold weather, therefore, each fuse should be put in a cartridge loosely filled with the powdered explosive, or with some high explosive not affected by cold. ”

“ After the fuse factory we pass through the high-explosive factory, where 250 girls are at work in a number of isolated wooden sheds filling 18-pounder shell with high explosive. The brass cartridge-case is being filled with cordite, bundles of what look like thin brown sticks, and the shell itself, including its central gaine or tube, with the various deadly explosives we have seen prepared in the "danger buildings." ”

“ For the storage of explosives at mines, &c., proper magazines must be provided, situated in a safe place, not too near other buildings, and preferably of light though fireproof construction. Masonry magazines, though safer from some points of view, may be the cause of greater damage in event of an explosion, because the brick or stones act as projectiles. ”

“ The shell struck one of our ammunition dumps containing about 50,000 rounds of shells and other explosives, such as rifle grenades, Mills bombs, French mortar bombs, aerial torpedoes, high explosive shells, shrapnel shells, star and gas shells. The disaster resulting from this one single shell was almost inconceivable. It started a fire that gathered strength each second, for all the world like a prairie fire, and the scenic effect was that of a titanic fireworks exhibition. ”

“ A bullet accidentally fired from a high-power rifle into a dynamite factory even a mile distant might easily destroy the entire factory and destroy at the same time all life in and within hundreds of yards of the factory, because of the highly explosive nature of the dynamite. The same is true of factories in which other terrible explosives are being prepared for use on the battlefield. Such explosive materials in chests on the field of battle create, of course, enormous danger 90that thousands may be destroyed with their own ammunition. ”

“ To prevent fraud, endeavor is being made to restrict the use of the brand “Permissible Explosive, U. S. Testing Station, Pittsburg, Pa.,” to only such boxes or packages as contain listed permissible explosives.
As these tests clearly demonstrate, both in the records thereof and visually to such as follow them, that certain explosives, especially 205 those which are slow-burning like black powder, or produce high temperature in connection with comparative slow burning, will ignite mixtures of gas and air, or mixtures of coal dust and air, and cause explosions. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It was afternoon, and the sunlight streaming through the skylight fell upon the place wherein the bomb-makers worked in secret. The room contained several deal tables whereon stood many bottles containing explosive compounds, glass retorts, test-tubes, and glass apothecaries’ scales, with all sorts of other apparatus used in the delicate work of manufacturing and mixing high-explosives. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The exact opposite is the truth. When a mass of explosive is detonated, it is converted practically instantly into a ball of incandescent gases and vapors under very high pressure. When confined the gases act to disrupt their container.
When a large steel projectile is charged with a high explosive, like picric acid, and the explosive detonated, the walls of the pro [10] jectile are not only broken but they are also torn, twisted and shredded, and so quick is the action that the inner surface of the metal is compressed and densified against the outer metal. ”

“ There were in the place at the time perhaps a hundred rounds of Mauser rifle cartridges. These were exploding, one after another, from the heat. The neighbors who had run to witness the fire, were greatly [203] frightened, and did not dare to render any assistance in putting out the flames, especially while the cartridges were exploding.
I ran to a hydrant nearby, got out the fire-hose, and found, to my amazement, what one usually finds under such circumstances, that the nozzle of the hose had been taken off, and the hose disconnected from the hydrant, and that there was no wrench there. ”

“ In spite of every precaution at Government proving grounds, big projectiles do sometimes glance out of the butts or heaps of earth into which they are fired, or from the face of armorplates against which they are directed, and finally land in most unexpected quarters.
One day, while a thirteen-inch gun was being tested at Indian Head, a projectile glanced out of the butt, mounted high into the air, and then came down through the roof of a building, where there were engaged a number of officers and book-keepers. ”

“ But by the researches of Nobel, Professor Abel, and others, it has been discovered—and this is, perhaps, the most remarkable discovery in connection with explosives—that gun-cotton, nitro-glycerine, and other explosive bodies, are capable of producing explosions in a manner quite different from that which attends their ignition by heat. The violence of this kind of explosion is far greater than that due to ordinary ignition, for the action takes place with far greater rapidity throughout the mass, and is, indeed, practically instantaneous. ”

“ Gas-shells are mixed in with shrapnel and high explosives, and when thus employed are often very deadly. Fired alone, they are distinguishable because of their peculiar explosive sound; but, when they are sent over in a general bombardment, the only way to be sure of escaping them is to use the mask continuously. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For breaking up hard rock, blowing up strong masonry, and especially in demolitions where tamping is usually defective, this ratio does not hold; but the relative effect of the high explosive increases continually with the lack of tamping and the intensity of the local blow desired, until a point is reached at which the effect of gunpowder is almost imperceptible, while the high explosive does efficient work. This property of the high explosives renders them extremely valuable for 133 use in hasty demolitions, such as blowing up palisades or barriers, destroying guns, etc., etc. ”

“ A groove is cut around the stick about 8” from the handle end, to which is wired three pieces of cotton about 11⁄2” x 24” long. These act as streamers and tend to keep the business end of the bomb forward in its flight.
Note: The idea of the explosive being used in the dummy bombs is to accustom the men to handling explosives, the lighting of fuses and gauging of the time required per inch for a service fuse to burn, at the same time not sacrificing distance and accuracy in throwing. ”

“ Dynamite is used mostly for commercial blasting purposes, such as blasting rock in the construction of railways, and so forth. [2] Military high explosives are mostly employed for submarine mines, warheads for torpedoes, and as bursting charges for high explosive projectiles.
A high explosive is consumed almost instantly by what is called a detonative wave ”

“ A rifle bullet can be fired through a case of it without setting it off, and if lighted with a match it burns quietly. The amazing thing about these modern explosives, the organic nitrates, is the way they will stand banging about and burning, yet the terrific violence with which they blow up when shaken by an explosive wave of a particular velocity like that of a fulminating cap. Like picric acid, TNT stains the skin yellow and causes soreness and sometimes serious cases of poisoning among the employees, mostly girls, in the munition factories. ”

“ My assistant at the motorite laboratory was one of that American country type, absolutely honest, perfectly fearless, painstaking and diligent, of such timber as the great men of the earth are made. He was altogether a most lovable fellow. He had all his life worked with explosives, and was a veteran in the manufacture and use of nitroglycerin and dynamite. But, when doing pioneer work with explosives, there is always an unavoidable element of risk, even when the greatest care is taken. ”

“ They burst in the air, the high explosives detonating (p. 349) when they came in contact with the earth, and broke into fragments among a number of men before they could adjust their masks. Other troops were overcome by the fumes while asleep in their dugouts. The fumes lingered in the gassed area long after the shells had exploded, filling shell holes and other depressions, and incapacitating men who ventured to work in the vicinity. But the American guns exacted swift retribution. They leveled a heavy fire on the German minenwerfers, and in half an hour had razed the position. ”

“ When burned in a cannon, all of the surfaces of the material are practically instantly ignited by a small flash charge of black rifle powder used for the purpose of setting fire to the charge of smokeless powder. The combustion in the perforations causes them to become larger and larger until the grain is all consumed. This form of grain tends better to maintain the pressure behind the projectile in its flight through the gun, and enables the use of larger charges of powder with lower pressures than could otherwise be employed. ”

“ 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. ”

“ That the Premier Aluminium Casting Company, Ltd., ought not to have ordered the ammunition to be delivered to Knowles, c/o Yates & Co., Ltd., Tipton, for the purpose of breaking down without first seeing that the premises conformed to the instructions which they themselves had received from the Explosives Department of the Home Office. The Court will, on the completion of the formal investigation, report fully on the circumstances and causes of the explosion. ”