THE POWDER MAGAZINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 637, 27 November 1865, Page 5

THE POWDER MAGAZINES.

Some time previously to our article of the other day, our readers will remember that we drew attention to the imminent danger to which the people of this city are exposed by the storing in . their midst of a vast quantity of gunpowder for the use of the regular and colonial forces Attracted by our remarks on that occasion, the Olago Daily Times has the following sensible »nd instructive article :— A very 'hort time ago the inhabitants of Auckland wire much alarmed at the possibility of the explosion of a Urge quantity of gunpowder stored within the city. No doubt the terrible consequences ihat re suited from the blowing-up of a ship a few y-a's ago gt Liverpool, and still m"re recently a magazine at Erith, were present in their minds ; and although »very precaution that human forethought could devise, might be adopted to prevent such a catastrophe x combination of circumstances might arise that ■would produce the explosion they feared. T e alarm it reasonable. There is something ter rible in inch an event. In war, men are pre pared for it. It is one of the chances of a liege, or an attack upon a city The very necesiity for hauag ready ac .-ess to a. 1 irgr store of gunpowder, and the progress of the contest render such an accident not only possible but probu blej and, however deplorable its effects, it i; ODe of the contingencies that must be calculated upon- Bui it is impossible to contemplate with calmness, tlnconsequences of such an explosion in a time of perfect peace. Men, women, and children are going about their daily and hourly avocations, with not a thought of harm, crossing their minds. In perfect security, the everyday transactions of life are in course of being conducted. Buying and selling go on, calls of friendship and business are made, walks for pleasure or profit are being taken. There is not a warning in the sky, nor on the earth, that tn another moment destruction is about to visit the per.-ons and property of those who are within the area of the doomed circle. But with a suddenness and intensity even more startling than that of an earthquake, the shock is felt, and terror and astonishment spread far and vide. So many of these occurrences have taken place since Friar Bacon first made public the composition of gunpowder in his Dc JS'ullitate Magirt, between five and six hundred years since, that it is surprising science has not long ago devised means for storing it in perfect safety. The attention of many talented men has undoubtedly been turned in that direction, though without success. It was, in fact, beginning to be almost a libel upon the modern school of chemistry that simple and inexpensive means should not have been discovered to guard against the risk of gunpowder exploding when stored in masses. Perhaps it may have been that the means hare been sought in a wrong direction, and that_ chemical, rather than mechanical preTentive agents, may have been attempted. Man processes of this class are known, but none that ■would not deteriorate the quality of the powder. But at length a method has b-<en discovered, it is said by Mr. Gale, of Plymouth; and the news arrived shortly before the alarm of the inhabitants of Auckland wai excited by observing the quantity of powder stored within their city. The Rome Xletct, of August 26th, has an article on the subject, headed " Mr. Gale's non-explosive gunpowder." The title sounded strange, for one of the very essentials of gunpowder is that it shall explode •when required; but the explanation was satisfdcrory. although the process has its drawbacks. The history of the invention is, that Mr. Gale has been long impressed with the desirability of discovering a means Dy which gunpowder may be transported from place to place, or stored in quantity, without dinger of explosion. In order to effect this he sought how to render it non-combußtible, and to this end tried mix">B " with several materials, but for some time did not succeed in finding one that did not injure the powder, or was difficult to separate from 't At length he tried finely pulverised glass, and found it answer the purpose. He describes the properties of the glass powder to be, that it is not damp, it does not adhere to the gunpowder, it completely isolates the g'nins, and is a non-conductor of lieit. The effect of tarh a substance being mixed with gunpowder ii, therefore, to render it non-explosive, and ■"hen separated its explosive qualities are re,orei»- The separation is effected by means °f & sieve fine enough to retain the grains Of powder, and coarse enough to allow the glMa to pass through its meshes. We learn from the Moms Jtevis that Mr. Gale performed a series of exP er TOents before his Royal Highness the Commander 10 Chief, and in the presence of several well known scientific men, by whom great interest was manifested. The details of the experiments show how completely Mr. Gale succeeded. In the first instance e nixed th.s gunpowder and the " protective "in parts, when the powder burnt but did not explode. On increasing the " protective " in the proportion 2 to 1, the grains of gunpowder burnt separately and harmlessly. " Gradually and by sucwsnre experiments, the proportions were increased ° 1, when the powder became perfectly incomit and a red hot poker thrust into a barrel of produced not the slightest symptom of explosion." j Ttr 7 fv-t of euch an experiment being tried, evinced tfca perfect confidence of the operator in hiß personal safety, and more convincing evidence of the ttjth of his discovery could not have been given, th ? e ,J raw ' ) acks to the value of the proceHu are, that j mixture will be inconveniently great, fiji! Co!t transit will be thereby increased; and. Sv. > that there will be a risk of explosion both H v ?i powder is being mixed with the " protec•o. during the process of restoring it to its ccn<^i°n - These, we are told, were the lent ( ■ )eetion9 . taken. The first is, however, equivato a premium of safety; and the increased bulk rate f Com .P eDßa^ in a great degree by the lower risk f ar " tt & e on an article not involving any extra that le sec °nd objection, it was considered / mv B ' m ple appliances would effectually whi'pt, ° a £ a ' ns t ei plosion; " and that the advantages Mid ii secure d, of perfect safety in storage ,11 _. u ' m S transit, were so great as entirely to put minor objections out of court."