The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-28 00:00:00

GUNS V. PLATES.

The Times this morning publishes a letter from
Mr. James Mackay, of Liverpool, opening up another con-
sideration in the above controversy. Mr. James Mackay
explains that the " windage" of a gun is no lean important
than the grooves of the bore, the weight of the charge, or
the material of the projectile. He says that the effect of I
• shot depends greatly "on the manner in which it is
propelled from the gun to the mark," or, in other words,
on the character given to its flight or motion in the a'
between the target and the cannon's month. A projectile
should, above all things, be shot straight, and should go
with such a regulated velocity, and strike the mark in
such a manner, as to lose no proportion of its proper force.
These conditions are to be secured by a skilful control and
employment of the windage of the gun, and he asserts
that by virtue of his attention to this point he has pro-
duced a gun which will excel other specimens not only in
the effect but in the cheapness of its performances. "It
will scarcely be credited," gays he, "bow easy a matter it
is to penetrate armour plates when the manner of doing it
is properly understood." He says that one of his guns,
weighing even less then the new Wools :eh gun, would
have pierrd the Shochury target at every shot.
The Daily News urges that the trial of the chilled cast iron
projectiles which have been found to render our strongest
plates permeable—a novelty which is actually cheaper than
either steel or wrought iron—should be now pushed for-
ward to completeness without a day's intermission, and
when a sufficient number of rounds have been fired to
establish the superiority of the new material in all condi-
tions of service, it ought to be instantly issued to every
ship in commission, and replace all our existing stores in
our arsenals. This is as plain and as needful a duty ss it
is to provide our infantry with breech-loaders, when it is
proved that they are more effective than muzzle-loaders.
But as to ship building, it is preposterous to say that
the power to penetrate iron reduces it to a level with
wood, when the fact remains that wood is inflammable
I and iron is not. Nor does the new charge give the guns
in broadside porta the same advantage as the turret. We
must still build our new vessels almost, if not quite, of
iron, and regard our existing wooden vessels as only so
many slaughter-houses. The turret system combines both
the methods of protection which are necessary. It allows
the whole of the men to be kept below the water line,
except the few needed to point and load the guns, and it
allows these to be protected by any conceivable thickness
of iron. It offers the further advantage of presenting the
smallest possible target to the enemy's fire, whilst it pos-
sesses the largest possible means of keeping him, in what-
ever position he may place himself, under the fire of the
heaviest possible guns and the moat destructive possible
missiles. Eves/thing, therefore, in the late experi-
ment strengthens the urgency with which the turre.
system is demanded in substitution for the broedsidet
I Attention should also be directed to the providing of
means, already partly known, for readily plugging holes.
But above all, the method of building in watertight com-
partments and with liner aria is called for. The vessel
which can have ten compartments filled with water with-
out going down has evidently twice the life of the vessel
which is sunk by having five holes pierced 'n her aides.