Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1912 — UNCLE SAM'S SMOKELESS POWDER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UNCLE SAM'S SMOKELESS POWDER

THE tendency of modern warfare has been toward the adoption of those instruments which accomplish its purpose with as little risk to the users as possible. This is exemplified somewhat in the use of smokeless powder, the manufacture of which is attended with much less danger, and Its transfer from place to place results In fewer accidents as compared with the production of gunpowder. It can be handled with perfect safety and even set on fire in the open air without causing an explosion or occasioning the least anxiety. At Indian Head, which is also the navy proving ground, there is a plant for the manufacture of this powder which is owned and operated by the United States government and the entire output of the factory, which last year amounted to over a million and a half pounds, is used by our navy. Should occasion ever require, the powder will also be used at Uncle Sam’s many big fortifications, the accompanying illustration, showing a portion of one, Fort Wadsworth, near New York city. About 25 buildings are used in the prooess of its manufacture. They are situated in that portion of the government reservation farther from the river and scattered over a large area, being about 400 feet apart. Explosions will sometimes occur no matter how great the precautions used, for the materials which go to make up the' manufacture of powder are necessarily combustible, so the wisdom of this provision on the part of the government may be understood, for if one building should accidentally be blown up the others would not suffer thereby. The greatest secrecy is maintained as to some parts of the chemical process, and few of the three or four hundred men employed really know the entire combination of the chemical ingredients used in the smokeless powder making. The efforts of the powder board and the directors of the powder factory are constantly directed toward the improvement of the. quality of the output, and recently two special points have been aimed at: First, to insure the chemical stability of the powder for as long a period as possible; second, to secure a degree of Tenalf ormity -litteK’" what' iiF called “ballastlc stability” of the powder —that is to say, a permanence of velocities and pressure throughout prolonged periods under varying conditions of temperature, moisture, etc. In short, to have the powder work as well in any part of the world as it does on the proving grounds. There is a big laboratory attached to the factory standing some distance away from the other buildings, and here at least a dozen expert chemists are always at work and through their experiments a new stabilizer has been recently introduced into the powdermaking formula, and from the reports of the officers of our battleships in various parts of the world the results have been most satisfactory. The whole powder making plant is wonderfully Interesting even to a layman. Few people, however, are permitted to see its workings, for powder making, like gun testing, is conducted away from the public gaze. Smoking is not permitted op the grounds, and so carefully do the authorities guard against accidents that the workmen are not even permitted to carry matches. All the buildings are well ventilated, as the fumes of the chemicals used are apt to bring on heart trouble. Chimneys are arranged to carry oIT the poisonous gases, consequently there is little illness among the men. There are' facilities for a rapid output in case of necessity:—a matter which would be of vital importance In time of war. There Is also a reserve supply which is constantly on the increase as our navy grows larger. The cotton used is shipped to Indian Head in large bales and stored in a building erected for that purpose. It Is purchased in large quantities and must be of a special grade. The second stage of the work begins when the cotton goes to the picking room. Here colored men open up the bales and pick the fibers apart After the fibers are separated the cotton is ready for the drying room, where it Is kept for 24 hours. The temperature of the drying room is’2l2 degrees during the entire time and the workmen Of n only remain a few minutes at a time.. After, this process the cotton

is taken into the nitration building, where nitric acid and sulphuric acid are added. The mixture is whirled around in huge tub-like machines covered with a hood and a steam jet to carry off the acid fumes. When this Is completed the cotton is washed in fresh water and dried by a wringer, and unless this work is very thorough there is risk of spontaneous decomposition. It is now gun-cotton and. is placed In cars and pushed to the boiling vats where is undergoes another state of purification. The pulper, a machine very much like the one used in papermaking, next comes into play. Here the gun-cotton is chopped up by knives so as to give the fibers a thorough cleansing. From here it goes to the poaching house, which consists of * series or large tubs in which the pyrocellus, as the material is now called, goes through a further cleaning process of hot and cold washings. It is then dried by a wringer similar to a pointing machine and sent to the press house, where the water is squeezed out under great pressure. After a few minutes In the machine the mixture comes out resembling a huge white cheese. It is weighed and sent to the mixing house, where there are instruments such aa are used in making bread by machinery and which are known as kneading machines. The, pyrocellus is here mixed with a solvent, the name of which the government prefers to keep a secret. The resultant material is a thick, yellow gelatinous mass resembling taffy. The stage of smokeless powder has now been reached and the mixture is once more put through a machine by hydraulic pressure. It is then wrapped around reels and dried by steam so as to evaporate the solvent. It is pressed into the proper grain suitable to the different calibers of guns and at this stage it bears a striking resemblance to hoarhound candy, as it Is Identical with that both in shape and color. Then comes the cutting into proper lengths, and this is done by hand and the use of a sharp instrument very much like a meat chopper. Two men do this work and they are especially Cbreful to get the powder the exact length. The cut powder is carried to another table, where a man goes oyer each pleceland the defective pieces are thrown out. The inspector is particular that only perfect powder is sent out Recently a plant has been erected to work over this defective powder, and so successful has this process been that the powder which a few years ago would have been a total loss, is now remade in sich a manner as to be the equal of the best of the new product. The next step in the process is drying and the green powder is sent to the drying house in covered cans, being wheeled there on trucks pushed along the tracks which are laid between the buildings. A colored man furnishes the motive power. The drying house is a veritable mountain of explosives, for great stacks of powder are piled up everywhere. It must be protected even from the rays of the sun and the windows are covered with canvas. Here it is branded and prepared for shipment. The actual testing of the powder takes place when it is used to fire the big guns down in the valley on the proving grounds.