NEW ZEALAND'S EXPLOSIVE BULLET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17503, 20 December 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND'S EXPLOSIVE BULLET

MR POMEROY'S INVENTION,

A POWERFUL EXPLOSIVE.

In a recent cable message it was stated that an explosive bullet invented by Mr L'omeroy, a Now Zealander, had proved the principal factor in destroying Zeppelins when raiding England. The. following irticle, taken from the Dominion of the ,3th July, 1908, slmulcl prove interesting:— Tho old rifle range at Pollull GuUy was >n Friday the a trial of a new ixplosivo of great possibilities —one- that is xtlculated to bo of effective service in. warare, and that possesses properties einular, >r closoly allied, to tho great Japanese explosive " Shimose," which created such Ireadful havoc in the Russo-Japanese war. L'he invention is called the " Pomeroy iiocalosive," after its inventor, Mr J. Pomeroy, )f Invercargill, who intends to submit it ;o the Admiralty authorities at the first jpportunity. It is stated that already tho ;ecret agents of tho Chinese Government lave heard of the new explosive, and are iwaiting tho inventor's negotiations with ;ho British Admiralty before opening up legotiations. Yesterday's experiments were nado with a Martini-Henry cartridge (fired rom an ordinary Martini-Henry rifle), the Juliet being bored inwards from the noso 'or about half an inch for tho reception of ;ho charge, which consisted of 13 grains of red-coloured paste, tho ingredients of which ire, of course, a secret. To demonstrate its shattering force, a kerosene tin full of water, placed about 20 yards away, was [ired at by Mr Pomeroy. An ordinary Dullet would have passed! clean through such in obstacle; not so tho " faked"_ bullet. When struck, the water in the tin was ;hrown a height of 20ft in tho air, and, Dn examining the tin, it was found o bo . liberally riddled with small .••agged holes, and the whole tin was torn open at tho seams. A strong galvanised bucket filled with water was llso torn about in the same fashion. To demonstrate the little resistance required to pring about an explosion a zinc case closed in on one side with wire-netting was set jp as a target. The first bullet fired went ihrough the netting, without touching and 3xploded on piercing the back of the case, licking pieces out of tho, rock-face behind. Then v a piece of canvas was stretched over the wire and fired at, with, the result that the back of tho case was ridclled with, loles. There is no backward action about ;ho new explosive. The bullet, when shattered, describes a circle into an expanding forward action. This was very clearly shown when Mr Pomeroy fired at a long varnish tin laid endways on the ground, rhe bullet pierced tho bottom of the tin, md its shattered particles almost cut tho in in two nearly equal halves. Experiments were also made on two pieces of 5-inch white pine timber, nailed together [but the bullet only penetrated half-way Jirough), a bag of sand (in which it tore oig ugly holes), and an oil drum. When only 13 grains (less than half, a thimbleful) )f the explosive can rend an ordinary leaden jullet into a hundred tiny messengers of leath, one shudders to think what the effect would be when used with a six-pounder or jig naval guns. Every Snimose-charged shell during tho Etusso-Japanese war was effective, none ever laving been found unexplodod, and so far Mr Pomeroy's paste has never been known to fail. Ho has been working on his invention for six years, and goes as far as to ;ay that he thinks he has hit upon the same ingredients for his explosrvo as Shinose. The new explosive would be ineffective for blasting, but in shelling a town 3r fortress or in searching out a trenchlidden enemy its effects would surely be successful to a ghastly degree. It is Mr Pomeroy's intention to submit his explosive :a~ Vice-admiral Sir Richard Poore, of the Australasian Squadron, on his arrival in Auckland' during "fleet week"' next month. The commander and officers of H.M.S. En3onnter are manifesting a lively interest Ji the explosive, and are to attend a trial pn the warship's return to port. "I claim 'or my explosive shell," said Mr Pomeroy, "that in every effect it shows the new properties claimed by the Japanese for their :amous Shimose exploding shell. It is impossible to have a miss-fire, as my shell ivill explode on any object. If my shell ivere to hit a ship's deck or rigging, or my obstacle, it would mako the deck or jther places 'of observation untenable. A ;hell striking the armour plate would tear t open, and the fumes would drive the nen from tho guns. A torpedo, with a ull charge, would throw a battleship on ier beam-ends. I claim that my preparation is more effective than guncotton, and LOO per cent, more powerful than lyddite, md that it has not the backward hit that wcurs witb the latter explosive. One pound )f my stuff is equal to 10 pounds of black powder, and can be made just as cheaply is the latter. It will therefore be seen ;hat a 6-inch shell charged with my preparation would have as great an effect as in ordinary 12-inch shell. I have fired a :artridge after it has been charged for five 'ears, and got tho same result as from ono :harged a few minutes before a test, provng that there is no deterioration in the ixplosive, and, furthermore, that there is io chemical action set up to corrode steel >r iron shells as is the case with other explosives."