Deadly Cotton

1916

It takes 400 pounds of cotton to make the powder for one shot from the Queen Elizabeth's guns, or from one of the German 17-inch guns. The same quantity of cotton would provide ammunition for 400 shots from a field gun, or 80,000 rounds from a rifle.

Some idea of the consumption of cotton in the war may be had from the fact that 1,000 tons a day are required to supply the German and Austrian armies with powder.

The British cordite consists of two-thirds guncotton. The raw material is dipped into nitric acid, washed and dried, and the material thus supplied becomes the base of the explosive.

Guncotton can only be made from raw cotton. Woven cotton is of no use, and any attempt to use it would be dangerous. — Tid Bits.