Smoke Rocket Things Learned while reading “A Scandal in Bohemia - Sherlock Holmes"

Dr. Watson is asked to throw a smoke rocket into the house.


Not the same thing, but cool.


A video, taken with a mounted key chain camera, of my first flight of a Cosmodrome Nike Smoke Rocket.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aV_GplDyws




BOMBS AWAY!
Holmes has a very simple little task for Watson in this story: “When I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what I give you to throw.” And what does Holmes give Watson to throw?
“It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting.” Caps are something that seem to be moving further and further away from common usage. Toy cap-guns aren’t in the hands of boys everywhere anymore and blasting caps are for professionals. What kind of caps was Holmes using on his smoke-rocket, and what would use would these have normally been put to? Were such caps sensitive enough to trigger upon hitting a couch or some other object they might encounter, flying through a window?


From:
http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/OneMoreRead/SCAN/OneMoreReadSCAN.html