Modern high explosives are again bringing the principle of the old gunpowder engine into prominence. Col. Barker, superintendent of the British small arms factory at Sparkbrook, in recently speaking of the subject, made the point that while one pound of gunpowder was capable of developing over 170,000 foot pounds of energy, the new smokeless powders were capable of still more, and at the same time left no solid residue, as ordinary gunpowder did, on combustion. The latter, too, developed in combustion only about 280 volumes of permanent gases, while the new powders gave off nearly 1,000 volumes. With this encouragement, it is not at all unlikely that the gunpowder engine inventor will set to work with renewed enthusiasm.–Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
[tags]Ann Arbor Register, October, 1895[/tags]