MILITARY PYROTECHNICS THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY PYROTECHNICS BY HENRY B. FABER DEAN OF THE PYROTECHNIC SCHOOLS ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT U. S. A. ILLUSTRATED WITH AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION BY MARVIN DANA IN THREE VOLUMES VOLUME 1 WASHINGTON GO VERM ENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 P latb I. No. 1. The Artificers (from an old French wood-cut) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. P reface__________________________________________________________ 11 P ast I. General Survey________________________________________ 13 Chapter I. Introductory________________________________ 15 Chapter II. Fire in religion and myths_________________ * 17 Chapter III. Priestcraft and pyrotechny_________________ 26 Chapter IV. Arts of magic and alchemy..----------------------- 30 Chapter V. Outlines of history---------------------------------------- 38 Chapter VI. Greek fire------------------------------------------------------- 48 Chapter VII. Fire mirrors--------------------------------------------------- 51 Chapter VIII. Rockets---------------------------------------------------------- 57 Chapter IX. Curious war devices________________________ 66 Chapter X. Naval devices_______________________________ 71 Chapter XI. Various details______________________________ 75 • Part II. Details of Manufacture_____________________________ 79 Chapter I. Introductory________________________________ 81 Chapter II. M aterials------------------------------------------------------- 83 Chapter III. The making of rockets______________________ 102 Chapter IV. Serpents and other garnitures---------------------- 115 Chapter V. Pots & aigrettes____________________________ 122 . Chapter VI. Fixed fires__________________________________ 131 Chapter VII. Fires for water display-------------------------------- 143 Part III. Modern Methods______________________________________ 151 Chapter I. M aterials____________________________________ 153 Chapter II. Color formulas______________________________ 158 Chapter III. Garnitures----------------------------------------------------- 162 Chapter IV. Fixed fires___________________________________ 164 Chapter V. Afirial fireworks____________________________ 173 Chapter VI. Spectacular effects----------------------------------------- 179 Cluster VII. Pyrotechny in the World War--------------------- 181 Appendix A. Ordnance Manual o f 1849________________________ 205 Appendix B. Ordnance Manual o f 1861_______________________ 210 Appendix C. Italian types________________________________________ 212 Appendix D. Additional formulas________________________________ 219 Appendix E. M iscellany_________________________________________ 222 5 . > LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. , Page. 'Plate I. The Artificers (from an old French wood-cut)__ Frontispiece Table of powder tests_________________________________________ 22 P late I I ______________________________________________________ 43 Formulas for Chinese flowers_________________________________ 63 P late I I I _____________________________________________________ 87 P late IV ______________________________________________________ 107 P late V ______________________________________________________ 119 Plate V I _____________________________________________________ 136 Plate V I I ____________________________________________________ 147 P late V III____________________________________________________ 159 P late I X _____________________________________________________ 176 Plato X ____________________________________ 196 P late X I ______________ i __________________________ ^__________ 208 Plate X II_______________________________________________ 217 6 I INTRODUCTION. This publication has been prepared under the direction of the Ordnance Department to be used as a basis for the in­ struction of officers and civilians in the art of manufacturing military pyrotechnics. Such a publication was found necessary, due to the lack of any written information on the subject and the inability to secure men trained in the art. These volumes—Volume I, History and Development of Pyrotechnics; Volume II, Manufacture of Pyrotechnics; and Volume III, A Study of the Chemicals Used in the Manu­ facture of Pyrotechnics—were compiled under the direction of Henry B. Faber, dean of the pyrotechnic schools estab­ lished during the World War, with an historical introduc­ tion by Marvin Dana. Acknowledgment is made to the various ordnance officers and civilians, teachers and students of the Pyrotechnic School, as well as the manufacture of pyrotechnics, all of whom contributed to a greater or less degree in the furnishing of the necessary information and scientific data on which these works are based. 7 W a r D e p a r t m e n t , O f f i c e o f t h e C h i e f o f O r d n a n c e , Washington, May 31, 1919. No. O.O. 461/3341. From: Chief, Trench Warfare Division. T o: The Chief of Ordnance. Subject: Textbook on Military Pyrotechnics. 1. During the period of participation of the United States in the World War, the requirements for military pyrotech­ nics increased at a more rapid rate than productive capacity. This condition was foreseen but could not be immediately remedied by the creation of new manufacturing facilities. Pyrotechnics remains as one of the few “ crafts ” of our in­ dustrial life. No literature exists. Knowledge of the art has been handed down from generation to generation, and is confined to but a handful of skilled operators. The pre­ war industry had been expanded to the limit. Withdrawal of skilled operators from producing plants in order to form a nucleus for newer organizations would have been disas­ trous. The only remaining solution was to proceed immedi­ ately with the education of new operators. 2. With this end in view, an Ordnance School of Military Pyrotechnics was authorized. The services of Mr. Henry B. Faber as dean of the school were secured. Some 45 students taken from various walks of life were then ap­ prenticed to the various manufacturing plants. Each stu­ dent confined his activities to some one or more specific phases of the work. From the technical diaries of these students, Mr. Faber and his assistants extracted such data as would make a complete and well-correlated textbook for the use of the organizations of the additional plant facilities to be created. 3. The manuscript of this work was practically com­ pleted at the signing of the armistice, but was not published owing to the immediate reduction of requirements. Time no longer being pressing, Mr. Faber was authorized to in- 9 10 MILITARY PYROTECHNIC8. crease the scope of the work so as to make its usefulness broader than was originally intended. The manuscript as it stands to-day covers the entire field of pyrotechnics and opens promising lines of research and development. It is recommended that this work be published by the Ordnance Department with funds still remaining from the allotment made to cover the cost of the Ordnance School of Military Pyrotechnics. The necessary authority has been obtained from the Office of the Chief of Staff ( 0 .0 .461/2997 Miscl.). Should an emergency again arise, this book would be of priceless value. 4. It is not, however, solely with this end in view that pub­ lication is suggested. Present conditions do not indicate that material improvements in the art may be expected from within the fireworks industry. It is therefore believed that interest in the subject must be stimulated in other di­ rections and that a judicious distribution of this work among libraries and technical institutions would open up fields of research from which much good might reasonably bo ex­ pected. E . J . W . R agsdale, Lieut. Col. Ord/nomce Department, 27. 8 . A . C h i e f, Trench 'Warfare Division. [First Indorsement.] O. O. 461/3841. Office, Chief of Ordnance, June 2,1919. T o: Chief, Trench Warfare Division. 1. The publication by the Ordnance Department of the Textbook on Military Pyrotechnics as above referred to is approved. C. C. W illiams, Maj. Gen., Chief of Ordnanre, 27. 8. A. PREFACE. No adequate history of pyrotechny has been written. Such a volume would indeed require the work of a lifetime on the part of its author; not for the actual writing, but for the gathering of materials. These would have to be sought very painstakingly in libraries scattered here and there through­ out the world—passages of cursory reference in old texts of Latin and Greek and the Oriental tongues. For the ancients gave no place to pyrotechny as a theme apart. Their narratives that have to do with the art are only haphazard obiter dicta. In the pages that follow an attempt has been made to pre­ sent the subject briefly, yet with due attention to its origins, its historical progress, and its present-day importance. De­ velopments due to the World War have aroused a new ap­ preciation of the vast possibilities here offered to achieve­ ment; not merely for purposes of spectacular entertainment, or the grim needs of battle, but also for vital attainments in the industrial activities of our complex civilization. And the first preparation for the work of the future is a knowledge of what has already been accomplished in the past. 11 PART I GENERAL SURVEY. \ CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Pyrotechny is the art of fire. This is the literal meaning; a definition so broad that it relates the art to almost every variety of human activity. It might even be applied justly to describe the operations of the Creator throughout His cosmos. For, in that sacrament which we call fire, flame is the outward and visible sign of an inner grace—heat. And the universe has