The Consumption Of Gunpowder
It is generally stipposed ihat in lime of war there i- a vaat iuire;tse in the consuiiplioo of gnnpowd' r ; but this is not tbe case. lt is a curiouí fact tbat the arts of peaoe req'iire a niuch lurger use of the explosiva than ihe ;v ts of war, and that consequently France and Germany will burn loss unpowder froro inonth to month duiing thu coniest tlian thoy olherwiso woulJ if peaoe had coutiuued. Even in (he sevtrest end uaost protracted battles comparatively liitle is 1 baroed. One of the owne's of a large powder mili in t bis State informed us recently that he onuM rnake at h8 establislirneut befure breiikfaat any morning all the powder tint ws consumed ut Gettysburar. Geaeral Butler stored more powder ia h "l'omb-sbip." wUicli h explnded ngainst Fort Ifishepin North Caro'in i, than was uged in some of our most iuiportiint battl'S. War takea from niiues, manufiotorii'H, f'ann, &c, ter-sof thousauds of men ho lire cunstautly engnffld iu consuming giuipowder fir virioujs purpi'ses. In the army they pass iii'iiiiü!', pcrhaps ji-aro in idlenesn, and nu occhsion is afforded for its u?e except in salu:es, &c, so that thoy aclually consume lesa in cervice ihan out Tbere wüs, during our contíst, e6peciilly dur ing the first part oi it, increased ac'ivity among podèr makers, and the mataríais ■i .i.n.,i(iUr rose in prico, but a very fmall part ( F that mnnuiaun.. . j „ ever cousumed. The Governmeut bas now on hand, iu its magazines and ursenals, prodifious quantities ; enuugh probably to carry us tlirough two euoh wurs ai the last. It may be furthtr observad that probably not one ounce of gunpowder in twenty used in luttle does any execution. lts explosión cervts to increuse the "noiíe and confusión," buf conjparalively very few are hurt
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Old News
Michigan Argus