A NEW GUN POWDER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2046, 20 July 1885, Page 2

A NEW GUN POWDER.

(From the Melbourne "Argus,") Another report on the now combustiblo commonly known as "cocoa powder" has been furnishedbyMajor-General Steward, and forwarded to the Minister of Defence by the Agent-General. The new powder was recently tested in the Imperial service, and the trials must have been considered satisfactory, as 30,000 caseß of I'wefo instantly qrtjered. Major-General Steward 'is of opinion tliat it ib in many respects superior to the ordinary black gunpowder. The combustion is rapid and complete, and after the discharge very little scouring is left in the bore of the gun, The pressure rarely exceeds 17.2 tons per inch, while the acertained velocities range from 1950 feet to 2000 feet per second. Invfiring teats made with the 110-ton 'gun,' a velocity of 2320 feet , per second was obtained. Another advantage claimed for the new powder is that on account of the carbonate of potash in it the, smoke it dissipates rapidly instead of forming into a thick bank when drifting. .The object under fire is thus less likely to be obscured, and more accurate work is the result. At Shoeburyness, in- a

•reoent trial, 70 charges of coco;* powder were fired from a nine-inch gun, and the report of the experts witnessing it was . th t there, was "scarcely a scratch in the bore." The powder.ignitesJtlowly, but b unsrapidly, sothut lessMp powder. i 3 wasted than is'often with a charge of ordinary powder. Pebble powder, for example, is prepared in nearly inch cubes, in order that the irregular contact of edges and corners may promote rapid burning, but somo of the works on artillery give diagrams i of half-cubes of powdertliat have been picked up after bar:ing been blijw'nfrom the gunsandin which combußtion'hadnofriakenjAace. In order to remedy the slow ignition of the new powder,'arid to prevent anything resemordinary black powder is pla/d in the base of the cartridge,' Accompanying. the report on the powdor is an estimate, of the extra cost likely to be incurred, should the Government substitute "cocoa powder" for the ordinary material in orders recently given. This estimate shows:that if in ordering ammunition for the six-inch guna 501b of cocoa powder • .is" substituted for 401b of prismatic powder as a battering charge, and 341b of cocoa powder for 241b nf pebble powder as a service charge, the extra charge on the contract would be £129. Estimates , are also given for 10inch and 8-incli.' ■lf 150 rounds of cocoa powder for e&ifcof these guns were, substituted for ; the same number ofv rounds of prisifiiitic the- extra s. cost Would W s2Oll- lj& necessity of obtaining-.mqtal-Jined cajsc-a In whioll tfl store the cocoa ''powder, accounts iqp ft good deal of -thisjextra expenditure.. Thp Agent-General : has taken the. respond: bility of altering the order fo>ammi)i)i> tionfor the Gin guns, so. tlufcggcoa" powder, .may,-he used, but fill not tafa. any action, with regard to Jja supplies for the larger gunß, unless flftstructed to do so by cable, - a