SIR ALEXANDER GODLEY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2300, 6 November 1914, Page 6

SIR ALEXANDER GODLEY

(Rec. November 5, 8.30 p.m.) London, November 4. Sir Alexander Godley, C.8., K.C.M.G., Commandant of the- New', Zealand Defence Forces, and at present in command of the New Zealand Expeditiously Force, lias been gazetted Major- ' General. , Sir Alexander Godley was given the local rank of major-general on taking up his present appointment in New Zea-land,-but this gave him no new status in the British Army List, in which lie ranked as Colonel. -Now that ho has been gazetted major-general he will duly appear in the British Army List amongst the officers holding that rank in the Imperial Army. ' GERMAN MINES - A NEW EXPLOSIVE. - The terrible effect of submarine mine explosion has been exemplified in a number of • instances during this, war. When His Majesty's ship Amphion was destroyed, the official report, spoke of the terrific shock and the sheet of flame which gnsued when the mine exploded. The submarine mine has become much more formidable than it was ten years ago.. The mines used by the Russians and Japanese were filled, as a rule, with wet guncotton. That is, of course, a very potent explosive, but in many respects it is quite outclassed by. the compound used in German mines, and known as Trinitrotoluene, * but abbreviated to "T.N.T." in Britain and to "Trotyl" in Germany. . "T.N.T." is an explosive of comparatively recent invention. It is eminently safe to handle, and cannot lie exploded by flame, but requires to bo detonated by means of mercury fulminate. Experiments have demonssmed that large quantities of this mixture wiii burn away quietly, and also will not explode even under the impact of a rifle bullet. It is not quite as powerful; its. picric acid, but for military-pur-poses, this is an advantage. A shell; torpedo, or mine loaded with, "T.N.T." bursts with great violence into large fragments, whereas if loaded with picno acid the splinters are very small, and cannot, therefore, do as much'damage. It is a curious fact that although wet guncottou is more powerful locally— i.e., if exploded in close proximity to the target—the effect of "T.N.T. . is much greater when tho explosion takes place some distance away. This accounts for its'popularity as a bursting charge for naval mines and torpedoes. , Some twelve months ago it became known that "T.N.T." had been adopted by the German Navy for high-explosive shells, torpedoes, and sea-mines. This decision was reached after a long series of experiments had • demonstrated . its marked superiority over other explosives. The new explosive is not, of course, unknown in England, nor is there, any reason to suppose that our authorities are in ignorance of its properties. The rumours regarding the existeuce of an entirely new explosive, the secret of which is exclusively Germany's, should be taken with a good deal of reserve. It is a matter of common knowledge ; (says the "Manchester Guardian") that • explosives of much greater power than any now in_ military use can be produced, but their use is entirely impracticable owing to the extreme difficulty of handling them with reasonable safety. What has caused so much • surprise in some quarters is no doubt the "T.N:T."