ast week I have
received a cable from an old friend in England who has been selling
war munitions to the Allies. He asked me how quickly I could get a
million rifles made in the United States. The best bids I have been
able to obtain have guaranteed a first delivery at the end of one
year and final deliveries at the end of three years.

One of the chief developments in the matter of explosives has been the
fact that the United States has found it possible to teach Europe much
during this war in regard to smokeless powder. Several years ago the
du Pont Powder Company developed a smokeless rifle powder which
permits the firing of more than 20,000 rounds from an ordinary army
rifle without destroying its accuracy.

When the du Ponts developed their new rifle powder the best European
powder destroyed the rifling and accuracy of the gun at about 3,000
rounds. This American invention, therefore, has increased the life of
military rifles by sevenfold. Say that an equipment of military rifles
cost at the rate of, say, $20 each, and we will find that this means a
saving of, roughly, $100,000,000 in the equipment of a million men
with one rifle each, and, as they need four rifles each, it means a
saving of $400,000,000.

American smokeless powder for cannon also has its advantages. It
erodes the guns much less than any European powder except, possibly,
that of the Germans. They have a pure nitro-cellulose powder somewhat
similar in quality to that of the United States, but ours has an
advantage in being multi-perforated, whereby a higher velocity is
insured at a lower pressure with, in consequence, a lessened erosive
effect upon the guns.

In the early nineties I made the discovery that tri-nitro-cellulose,
when combined with pyro-nitro-cellulose, could be much more readily
gelatinated and made an excellent smokeless powder, while powder made
from pure nitro-cellulose would warp and crack all to pieces in
drying. The present German powder is made from such a compound of
tri-nitro-cellulose and soluble nitro-cellulose.

Nevertheless, this compound is a makeshift as compared with the
nitro-cellulose used by this Government. Ours is a far better
explosive, and is less erosive on the guns, because the gases which it
generates are not so hot. We have the best smokeless powder in the
world, and, after this war is over, our powder will be universally
used.

Thor!

By BEATRICE BARRY

I am the God of War--yea, God