GUNPOWDER. 377 GUNPOWDER PLOT. nally did not iliU'er from ordinary powder, it was found necessary to make a less expensive substance, and accordingly it was found by L. Dupont of Wilniingtcjn in 1857 that sodium ni- trate or Chilean saltpetre could be substituted fur the far more costly potassium nitrate or India saltpetre. As a result of this discovery the icanufactnre of blasting-powder has attained con- siilcraldc importance, and in 11100 there were 37 different establishments in 1.3 different States engaged in this industry. These factories repre- sented .$4,900.48.5 capital, and their output in 1900 was 97.744,237 pounds of blasting-powder, valued at .-l;3,88O,!)10. Giuipowder, when of good quality, should have a specific gravity between 1.50 and 1.85. It ex- plodes at about 313° C. (595° F.). and when ignited on a piece of white paper should burn aw:iy rapidly, leaving no residue. If black spots are found they indicate on excess of charcoal, or imperfect mixture, while yellow spots show excess of sulphur. Alany studies have been made of the products of combus- tion of gimpowder. and the results obtained seem to show that the gases formed are. in proportions varying according to the quality of the powder, as follows: Carbon monoxide, cai'- bon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide, marsh gas, hydrogen, and oxygen. The temperature pro- duced by the explosion of gunpowder is estimated at from" 2100" to 2200° C. (3812° to 3092° F.), according to the quality of the powder: and the quantity of heat evolved in gram-degree units ranges from 837 down to 51S.8. The production and value of gunpowder, in- eluding blasting-powder, produced in the United States is given by decades in the following table from the Twelfth United States Census: accession he was extremelj' severe in enforcing against them the existing penal laws. Disap- pointed and angered by this policy, a few' des- perate Catiiolics banded together to remedy the evil by overthrowing the Government. The origi- nator of the scheme was Robert Catcsby, a man of good birth, who had plotted against IClizabuth. P'irst he took ,)olin Wright and Thomas Winter into his secret. After trying in vain to gain toleration for the Cstholics through the media- tion of Spain, these three men proceeded to their desperate task. They drew into the plot Guy Fawkes (q.v.), a soldier of fortune, who had made a re])Utation in war, and whose character was determined and fearless, and Thomas Percy, a relative of the Earl of Northumberland. They began to undermine Parliament House from an adjoining tenement which they had hired. One day after thin' had laboriously pierced the wall, three yards thick, they were alarmed by a. noise, which as Fawkes discovered came from a vault under the House of Lords. Finding that this cellar was soon to be vacant, they hired it, and stored in it barrels of gimpowder, which they covered with stones and billets of wood. Their object was not only to conceal the powder, but also to supply an abundance of destructive mis- siles. While tliis work was progressing a brother of Wright, a brother of Winter, and a few other oiiscure persons were added to the conspirators. But the}' needed money; and to supply it three others were induced to join the plot — Sir Everard Digby of Gatehurst in Buckinghamshire, a young gentleman of large estates: Francis Tresham, a follower of Es.sex. like C'atesby and Percy, but unlike them ,a cold, selfish man little suited to a, conspiracy of the kind: and Ambrose Rnokwood, also a wealthy gentleman residing in the coun- Number of establish- nieiita Capital Avera^rp inimber of wage-earners Product Pounds Value 1840 137 54 68 33 33 37 47 S87B.875 l,179.-2'23 2.305,7(10 4.060.400 4,983,560 9.609,975 8,297.773 496 579 747 939 1.011 1,622 1,708 8,977.348 lyso $1 590 332 1860 3 223 090 1870 4 Oil H39 1880 3,348.941 1890 95,019,174 123,314,103 1900 5,3I0,351»
- Of the 1900 production 97.744.237 pounds, valued at *3.880.910. were blasting-powder, and 25.038,804 pounds,
valued at $1,452,377, were black powder produced by 10 different establishments. BiRLiocRAPHT. Consult the article on "Gun- powder" in L're, Dictionary of Arts, Manufac- ttires, and Mina (London, 1878): Spon. Encij- clopcedia of the Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and Commercial Products (London, 1879-82) ; Thorne. Dictionary of Applied Chemistry (Lon- don. 1890-93) ; and especially the Manufacture of Eiplosires: A theorrlieal and practical treatise on the history, the physical and chemical prop- erties, and the manufacture of explosives, with a full bihliofiraphy. in two volumes, by Oscar fiutt- mann (Xew York. 1895). See Artillery: Bal- listics ; Explosives : CIrxs, Naval ; Ordmance ; etc. GUNPOWDER PLOT, The. A project for destroying the King. Lords, and Commons at the opening of Parliament on November 5. 1005. While .Tames I. (then .James VI. of Scotland I was an aspirant to the English throne, he had given the Roman Catholics reason for believing that he intended to favor them; but after his try. In the final arrangement for tlie execution of their plot at the assembling of Parliament on November 5thj Fawkes was to set fire to the gun- powder in the cellar, and then flee to Flanders in a ship provided from Tresham's money, and wait- ing read.v on the Thames. Although they agreed to warn their Roman Catholic friends in Parlia- ment of the impending -danger, in this matter they hit upon no common plan of action. The in- discretion (if not treachery) of one of their num- ber accordingly exposed their whole scheme. Ten days before the opening of Parliament Lord Montcagle. a brother-in-law of Tresham. was at supjier in liis country house at Hoxton. when a page handed him a letter received from a stran- ger, advising him "to devise some excuse to shift off your attendance at this Parliament, for God and man hath concurred to punish the wicked- ness of this time." That this letter was written t)y or for Tresham there can be little doubt, thoiigh Tresham himself when accused by Cates- by positively denied it. That he desired to save
