SIMPLE FIREWORKS—SHELL CLASS
We now come to a distinct class of fireworks, those whose functioning
depends on the propulsion of gunpowder. The first and parent of this
class is the shell or bomb.
The original name of the shell was “air balloon,” which is now
obsolete. Some writers have been misled by its appearance in old
amusement announcements into thinking a balloon ascent was referred
to, or that a balloon carrying fireworks was to be exhibited, at dates
considerably before the invention of gas or hot-air balloons.
In this connection it is interesting to note that Ruggieri claims that
his father was the first to release a balloon carrying fireworks in
1786.
As we have seen, the military use of shell dates from at least as early
as the middle of the sixteenth century.
Both Babington and Bate, writing in 1635, give instructions for
making shell, and although the book of the former is more advanced in
this particular matter, he is, generally speaking, considerably more
primitive.
Babington describes a hollow sphere of canvas, a part of which is
filled with a slow-burning composition, the remainder being filled
with stars and grain powder, the canvas is pierced to expose the slow
composition. The shell is fired from a mortar having a touch-hole. The
following are Babington’s instructions in the matter:
“Load your morter piece with one ounce of corne powder, putting
after a wadd and tampion, and put on your ball with the vent
towards the mouth of your piece: so elevating your piece to the
zenith, you may proceed to the firing of it, which must be after
this manner: provide two matches ready lighted, having one in each
hand, and first fire your ball with one hand and presently give
fire to your piece with the other, alwaies holding your head under
the horizontall line of your piece, for fear the blast annoy you:
this having done you shall see your ball mount very high with a
fair taile of fire, and when at its highest, shall break forth into
a goodly showre of starres.”
This somewhat unconvincing account gives one to wonder if the worthy
gunner had indeed fired a shell such as he describes, and if so,
whether he was not more than “annoyed” at the result. He gives the
lifting charge as exactly one ounce, but gives no indication of the
size of the shell or mortar. It seems probable that he had never seen a
shell of this nature, and was giving his idea of it without practical
experience; this is the more curious as, generally speaking, his
book is wonderfully advanced for the period, and indicates personal
experience of the matters under discussion.
John Bate, although less fluent, gives greater indication of practical
knowledge of the matter. His “balloone” is rather oblong in section,
and is made by rolling canvas on a former, using eight or nine turns.
The ends are choked in the same way as a rocket case, one end being
choked on to a “little cane rammed full of a slow composition.” The
shell is placed in the mortar with the fuse downwards, which is ignited
by the flash of the mortar charge. Bate takes the precaution of
having a time fuse at the touch-hole of the mortar, and concludes his
instructions for firing by saying, “and while that burneth, retreat out
of harms way.” Altogether a more practical and convincing description.
Frézier (1747) makes the following prefatory remarks to his chapter on
shells:
“The name of ‘balon’ is given to a firework which is thrown into the
air like artillery bombs for war, so that they are often given the
same name as bomb.
“The difference between this firework and a bomb is not only that
the former is to amuse and that the latter to destroy, and that the
one is made of iron, and the other of wood, linen, or cardboard, but
principally because the latter is made to burst and throw out its
garniture at the point of the highest elevation, while the war bombs
do so at the moment of their fall to the earth, also the war bombs
are thrown towards the horizon, while the firework bombs are thrown
vertically or nearly so.
“The fireworks differ also from the war bombs in shape, the former
being not always spherical, as the latter are.
“We must therefore understand by the name of shell a firework of which
the effect and principal beauty is that while going up in the air it
only shews a small stream of fire, which multiplies itself suddenly
into a great number of others at the moment of its highest elevation,
which causes a pleasant surprise.
“As this firework does not lift itself, but is thrown by impulsion
the same way as a bomb, it can, like the latter, only be fired from a
mortar.”
He describes two shapes of shell, the spherical and cylindrical, with
a hemispherical end, which shape is more convenient where the contents
are long in form, as rockets, Roman candles, etc. He attributes the
introduction of this shape to Siemienowitz, who, he says, made the
cases of wood. He himself, however, adopts the modern method, as he
does with the fuse, which he calls the port-fire. The lifting charge,
however, is placed in the mortar separately from the shell and ignited
at a touch-hole, in which, as will be seen, he differs from modern
practice.
He gives a list of garnitures or fillings, which are interesting as
showing the practice of the day:
“The first is the one which gives the effect of a waterfall or
head of hair. This is made of thin narrow tubes, or if possible,
of thin canes, cut to the length of the shell, and filled with a
slow-burning composition made of three parts of priming powder, two
of charcoal, and one of sulphur, damped with a little petroleum,
and capped with a paste made of powder crushed in distilled water
or spirit and afterwards dried. All these are put in the tube,
around the one which is used for the passage of the port-fire.
“When it is full the loaded port-fire is introduced, and pushed so
far that it reaches the frame, and when it is touching the lid,
this lid must be glued by the rough ends to that of the tube, and
the shell is finished.
“As it is rather heavy, it is advisable to adopt means for its
resisting the shock of the lifting charge of powder which drives
it out of the mortar, by strengthening it with a covering of linen
strips, which should be stuck on to the shell by means of a paste,
composed of two-thirds of flour paste, and one-third of glue.
“Unless this is done it often happens that the shell bursts before
it rises in the air.”
The second consists of serpents, the third of “saucissons volans,”
similar to the “fiz-gig” of Bate; the choke in the middle between the
composition and the bang being varied in position so as to produce a
succession of bangs. The vacant spaces left over in the shorter may be
filled with stars.
The fourth is of stars arranged in beds of grain powder; the
interstices being filled with a mixture of mealed powder and charcoal.
The fifth of “light balls,” and for the sixth he describes “the manner
of making figures and various shapes in fire appear in the air.”
These letters are made on a frame covered with composition, and are
consequently limited to a size to the internal diameter of the shell,
that is, less than eight inches. It seems improbable that they could
be distinguished satisfactorily at the height of a shell’s trajectory,
besides which the difficulties involved, as he himself explains, are
very great, which no doubt explains the fact that this idea is now
obsolete.
Under the heading “Double and Triple Balloons,” this writer describes
the method of placing shell of smaller size inside a larger. The
bursting of the first shell lights the short-time fuse of the contained
shell, which falls some distance and bursts. With the triple shell this
action is repeated.
Jones (1765) divides shell into four kinds, namely, “illuminated
balloons” filled with stars; “balloons of serpents,” “balloons of
reports, marrons and crackers,” and “compound balloons.” The last
description is misleading, as the balloon is not compound but the
contents are varied, as for example, the contents of one specified ten
crackers of six reports, twenty golden rains, sixteen two-ounce cases
charged half-inch with star composition and bounced, two ounces each
of brilliant, blue, coloured tailed, large string and rolled stars.
It is hard to believe that this writer had ever seen a shell fired
in this manner, the result would have been mere confusion. The star
compositions of that date were very rudimentary, the colours when seen
from the distance of a bursting shell were indistinguishable.
One interesting detail in Jones’s work is the classification of sizes.
The smallest shell mentioned by him is the “Coehorn Balloon”; he does
not give the size, but it is given in the “Military Encyclopedia” as
4⅔ inches. This corresponds to the 4½-inch of to-day. The name was
apparently derived from a Dutch military engineer of that name. The
next size is the royal 5½-inch, and above that 8-inch and 10-inch.
Ruggieri (1821) is the first writer on the subject to have the shell
and lifting charge in a unit as is the practice to-day, which indicates
constructionally a great advance over his predecessors, although the
fillings show little progress.
The modern shell is arranged with a “lighter” of quickmatch, long
enough to reach from the top of the shell when in position in the
mortar to a sufficient distance outside the mouth to enable it to be
ignited without danger. The lighter fires the time-fuse in the top of
the shell, and at the same time two pieces of quickmatch which run
round the shell in grooves worked in the paper shell case, and ignites
the lifting charge, which is contained in a flannel bag, or in the case
of small shell, a paper cone.
The lifting charge projects the shell into the air and the time fuse,
which is arranged to burn through at the top of the shell’s flight,
ignites the bursting charge which opens the shell and fires the
contents.
The modern varieties of shell are almost infinite. Colours have been
brought to a wonderful pitch of depth and brilliance, besides various
kinds of fire for stars, producing stars with tails of the same and
contrasting colours.
Another class of shell, which might be called the compound, consists of
shell filled with fireworks of other kinds—Roman candles, tourbillions,
wheel-turning cases, small shell, and what gives undoubtedly the most
dramatic aerial effect yet devised, with rockets. The “thunderbolt,” a
shell 16 inches in diameter, containing a hundred 4-ounce rockets, has
always been a popular feature of the Crystal Palace displays.
Another variation of the shell is the comet, which is in effect a small
shell (generally about three inches) with an exaggerated fuse of
brilliant fire, which leaves a heavy tail during the comet’s flight.
These are usually fired from either side of the firing-ground in rapid
succession, producing an aerial arch, and opening just after having
passed each other.
The aerial maroon consists of a maroon fitted with a lifting charge and
time fuse.