The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-13 00:00:00

A New Gun,

Mr. James Mackay, timber merchant) of Liver-
pool, has recently invented a new principle of
gunnery, which promises to be a dangerous rival to
all systems extant. The principle in all rifled cannon
appears to have been to allow as little windage as
possible, and to make the shot At the grooves of the
piece, taking from them a totation in its flight. Mr.
Mackay, on the other hand, has conceived the plan
of having the grooves so arranged that, while the
shot fits closely to their outer edge, the grooves are
left open for windage. By this arrangement the gas
has to travel some feet further than the shot, and in
doing this imparts a rapid and perfect " spin" to it.
The shot are of cylindrical form, perfectly smooth,
with conical heads, and cupped at the other end in
proportion, so that each shot is perfectly balanced
from the centre of its length. Mr. Mackay in his
patent also claims a peculiarity in the wadding,
which is of sawdust, by which at the movement of
the first ignition of the powder the elasticity of the
wadding moves forward the shot slightly ; the effect
is that the whole of the powder is burnt, and the
shock on the breech of the gun considerably
lessened. Mr. Mackay has had a gun made upon this
principle by the Mersey Steel and Iron Works Com-
pany. It is of wrought iron, weighs nine tons, has
a bore of 8.12 inches, and in other respects corre-
sponds with the general features of the ordinary 68
pounders. There arc 12 grooves, and as the shot do
not enter these grooves, it allows of a much sharper
twist than in ordinary rifled guns. The velocity
has been found to be 1,640 ft. a second; the utmost
range has not yet been tested. Messrs. Laird and
Co., of Birkenhead, are now building an armour
plated vessel called the Agincourt, for the Govern-
ment, and it was agreed to test the gun against a
section of the side of that vessel. It was intended

to make the trial last Saturday, but unfavourable
weather prevented it. Yeeterday morning, how-
ever, was fine and clear, and the gun was fired
against the target, resulting in a complete triumph
of the gun. The target consisted of an outer plate,
7ft. square and 51in. thick of rolled iron ; next came
9in. of teak, then an inner plate or skin tin. thick,
then angle iron and ribbing, and finally a backing
up with timber balks and supports 18in. thick. The
plates were stated on competent authority to be the
best that can be made of rolled iron. Messrs. Laird
supplied the whole, and expressed confidence in the
strength of the target. The gu❑ was fired in the
presence of Mr. James Mackay, Mr. D. Mackay,
Mr. Bouek, and other gentlemen, shortly after 8
a.m. The gun was charged with 301 b. of powder
and a cast steel shot, weighing 1671 b., made by
Messrs. Thomas Firth and Son, of Sheffield. The
range was 200 yards. The shot struck the target
with a dull thud a little below the bull's eye on the
right, and in the very strongest part, where it was
backed up by the rib of the ship's side, the angle
iron, and the timber balk. At the point of impact

a perfectly circular hole was cut. The shot then
powdered the teak, passed through the inner
skin and the angle iron, shattered the
timber balk into fragments, and was picked up
82 yards beyond the target, together with a circu-
lar piece of the iron armour, about 801 b. weight,
it had carried with it through the back supports.
The sand showed that it had spun to the last
About 70 fragments of iron, bolts, and fragments of
the inner skin and angle-iron were picked up 100
yards from the target. The shot when found was
reduced from 13 inches to 11 inches in length, and
increased about an inch and a half in diameter at
the end which struck the target. The other end
was uninjured. The whole target was forced back
about six inches, and so much deranged that more
shots were not fired. Sir John Jones, Captain
Fisher, R.N., Captain White, R.N., Mr. Nicholson
(civil engineer), Captain Inman and many other
gentlemen, inspected the gun and targets during
the morning; and all expressed the greatest aston-
ishment at the performances of the gun. The shot
fired and the portions of the target torn away will
be exhibited at the Liverpool Exchange to day, and
the target will remain on view for some time. No
further experiments are intended at present.

RAILWAY INTEL LIGENCE.

.

GREAT NORTHERN.
An extraordinary general meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the station, King's. cross, Mr, E. Benison
in the chair.
Mr. Oakley, the secretary, having read the notice con-
vening the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN explained that the object of the meeting
was to authorise the directors to raise £1,046,300. He said
the auditors had examined the money powers in the various
Acts, and had found that the total sum would not exceed
the amount he had mentioned. For some considerable time
past they had gone on raising additional capital by the issue
of preference shares, bat the directors thought the additional
capital should now be raised as a part of the ordinary capi-
tal stock. The original capital stock of the company now
amounted to £1795,737, which added to the various pre-
ference stocks made a total share capital of £9,244,818. It
appeared to them that it was undesirable to add any more
at present to the preference capital, and that by raising the
additional capital as part of the original stock the public
would consider the property more stable and valuable.
Mr, V. KNIGHT wished to know whether the proposed
new capital included the £300,000 proposed to be lent to the
Chatham Company for making the coal line across Ludgate
hill.

The CHAIRMAN said the proposed capital was for other
lines, and did not imilude any portion of the £300,000 pro-
posed to be lent to the Chatham and Dover Company. It
was entirely for the shareholders to decide on what terms
the new capital should be issued. He concluded by moving
the following resolution :
That such an amount of ordinary stock be created as will
produce £1,046,300, that being the amount of capital autho-
rised to be raised by the following acts, viz., the West Che-
shire, the Edgware, Highgate, and London, and the Hat-
field and St. Albans Railway Acts, 1862, and by the Great
Northern (Cheshire lines and Spalding to March) Acts,
1863.

The motion was seconded and carried unanimously,
After some conversation the following resolution was
also carried unanimously
:
That the said stock be allotted rateably to the proprietors
of all descriptions of consolidated and preference shares and
stocks of the company, and of the Leeds, Bradford, and
Halifax Company, at the rate of X 125 for each £lOO of stock;
not less than £lO to be allotted to any one proprietor ; and
and that the amount to be paid for the same be divided into
five equal instalments, payable at intervals of not less than
three months each, the first payment to be made on the 2d
of May next, and any stock not taken up may be disposed
of at the discretion of the directors for the benefit of the
company.
The CHAIRMAN said the third resolution was to the effect
that interest would be allowed on calls paid in advance at
the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, which was agreed to.
The fourth resolution, which was carried unanimously,
entitled the holders of the new stock to receive the same
rate of dividend on the several instalments as might from
time to time be declared upon the consolidated original
stock of the company, and when fully paid up the new stock
would be incorporated with and form part of the consoli-
dated original stock of the company.
The proceedings then terminated.

AWFUL EXPLOSION.—On Monday night an ex-
plosion occurred in the schoolroom below the chapel
used by the Free Methodists, Park-row, Nottingham. On
the above evening a prayer meeting was being conducted by
Mather, recently a prize fighter, known by the name of the
Runcorn Novice, 500 or 600 people being present. The
proceedings were most excited, at times rising into frenzied
fanaticism. Mr. Mather entranced his audience to an ex-
traordinary degree, and exhibited a beautiful Bible, which
had that day been presented to him, remarking that that
was his boxingglove now he had thrown aside the unsightly
appliances of the ring. His congregation were in raptures,
and the feelings of all were in the highest state of frenzy,
when suddenly a tremendous explosion was heard which
shook the entire building and could be felt some distance
away. Instantly all was confusion; the women screamed
and cried, the men raved and shouted in the most terrible
manner, and the mass of people, panio•stricken, made a
simultaneous rush for the doors and windows. Hats were
lost, coats were torn, and skirts were ripped into shreds and
tatters. In vain one or two of the calmer spirits endea-
voured, with voices pitched in the highest tone, to still the
tumult which prevailed. All reason was useless. Women
were pitched through the windows, frames were broken in
all directions, and as a proof of the eagerness of the crowd to
escape from the place, some iron railings outside, an inch
and a half square, were broken. Eventually the school-
room was cleared, the gas meter having in the meantime
been turned off. An examination of the building was then
made, and it was discovered that a portion of the roof of
the schoolroom had been completely blown down. Shortly
before the explosion a smell of gas was perceived, and the
chapel keeper took a lighted candle into the chapel, and
placed it to a nick in the floor, with the intention of finding
out where the gas escaped, when in a moment the explosion
occurred. He was knocked down insensible, and many
other persons were severely scratched and bruised in at-
tempting to escape. Dr. Marsh, on hearing of the explo-
sion, went to the spot and rendered all possible assistance
to the sufferers. The fire brigade and engines were in im-
mediate attendance, but their services were not much
required.