THE SHELLY BAY EXPLOSION.

Evening Post, Volume XLI, Issue 112, 13 May 1891, Page 2

THE SHELLY BAY EXPLOSION.

MR. HULKK'S LECTURE. Mr. Charloa Hulko, headmaster of the Newtown School, who enjoys a very high reputation as a chomist, delivered a lecture in tho Opera House last night on " Guncotton," with special reforence to the late fatal explosion at Shelly Bay. Mr. Hulko began by eaying that no apology was needed for asking the publio to listen to a lecture on tho subjeot, because there were many things that thoy ought to learn, and they could not have gainod much information from the proceedings at the iuqueft, on aooount of the "mystification" carried on there. It was with a view to removing that mystification that he was about to speak, for he felt it to be the duty of any oitizen who had proofs at bis disposal to give the best information he oould to bis fellow citizens. It was not right that volunteers, for instance, should have bucu a false impression as they must have reoeived from the inquest — that gun-cotton was a wayward and treaohorons giant, which they c nld never trust. However brave thoy might lie, they oould not be expected to oxerciso tbeir bravory if there was tho least impression that they had a troacherona enemy in the rear. He hoped to sitisfy his audience that gun cotton was no more dangerous than gunpowder. Mr. Hulke then went fully and lucidly into the history of gun-cotton, traoing it from the discovery by two German chemists some 40 or 50 years ago tbat paper or cotton treated with nitric acid aoqnired explosive properties, dawn to the methods followed in tho modern prooessea of manufacture. He asserted that when properly made, gunootton was one of the most stable o£ oompounds, and one of the most harmless explosives ever invented. The bad name it had had in the past was due to the impurities which were formerly left in it. Coming to tho faots of the late inquoat, Mr. Hulke ridiculed the statement ot one of the witnesses that wet gun-cotton would burn, and ehowod that while wet it wonld not ignite under any oircnmitances. It was only because of having read of suoh "rot" being stated at the inquest that he volunteered to giva evidence as to the faots within his knowledge. Having demonstrated that when burned in the open gun-cotton simply blazed away harmlaaaly, Mr. Hulke explained the causes of its oxploaion when oonfinod qnd sat off by a proper detonator. Taking tho handbook of Major-General Wardell, so much quoted at tho inquest, he pointed out mo.nifoat inaoouraoies in its index, o.nd, asked the audience to judge from these what tho rest of tho book must be. In any case, the book did not purport to be an authority on gun cotton. It merely contained a few military regulations, and for a real authority General Wardell referred his readers to the book by Professor Bloxom, formerly Professor of Chemistry at the Woolwich Military Academy— who was also his (Mr. Hulke'e) authority. Bloxom said gun ootton should not ignite below 343 degroes Fah.— yet it was stated at tho inquest that it mnst go off at about 300 degrees. Some of tho Newtown membors of tho Naval Artillery had procured for him samples of the Shelly Bay gun cotton, and out of 30 experiments he found there was not a variation of more than from i to i a dogreo in the ignition temperature, and tbat was 343 degrees. Mr. Hulke considered that the Government were wise in prohibiting the use of the soldering iron upon primer tins— on the prinoiple that One man iv a thousand might be a fool, and ought not to risk the lives of the other 999— but he asserted that there was no danger in proporly soldering np dry gun cotton which had three inches of ashes on top of it. He ridionled the idea of crossexamining soldiers and sailors as to the process of soldering. What could they be expeoted to know about that ? In his own experiments be had taken harder solder than that in use at Shelly Bay, and still had not been able to make the gun-cotton cro off. But what was the real cause of the explosion P The statement that it was due to the gunaotton being dooomposod by tha effeot of the sun's rays on the iron roof of the Btore, waß simply nongsnse. The naval officers, again, were in error in attributing it to an overheated eoldering-bolt. He (Mr. Hulko) had tried hard by overheating the bolt to mako the puc-cotton in a tin explode. He had actually put match* heads and other h-'ghly inflammable matter amongst the aches, aud yet had been unable to bring about an explosion. If the disaster were due to the soldering-iron at all there mußt have been a thin film of gun ootton left on tho sides of tho tin— between the ashes and th 9 Bides— down which the flames would ran till they reaohed tbe ma3B of the explosive. That was the only conclusion he had been able to come to until this week, as to the probablo oause of the accident. No one could say positively what wag the real gause — but that it was not an overheated bolt he was perfectly satisfied. Most people thought it was the tin in the hands of Heighton and Cornwall that exploded first. But he was told that Cornwall, whose memory was coming back to him, now eaid that the first explosion came from one of the tins on the floor. When the Naval Commission sat he could not recollect which it was, and they wore perfeotly justified in bringing in the report they did, for believing the soldering iron to be the oause, they followed out the events in what would be their natural sequence. But if Cornwall's present statement waß correot, there could only be one cause for the explosion, and tbat must be the hot ashes taken from the forge. The leoture was freely illustrated by experiments, and was warmly reoeived throughout, the lecturer being loudly applauded at its conclusion.