The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-10 00:00:00

iron, and it renders the piece considerably stronger
than the cast-iron gun of the srme calibre,
though only one-half the weight of metal is used
Of the effects produced by this wonderful weapon
the public have already been partially made ac-
quainted ; but it may not be out of place here to
advert to them again. The iron 92-pounder,
Armstrong's gun, tried at Shoeburyness, was found
capable of throwing its projectile, with perfect
accuracy of aim, a distance of five miles with 5 lbs.
of powder, one-half the charge of an ordinary 32-
pounder, which carries but 11 mile. At a distance
of 3,000 yards (the extreme range of a long 32-
pounder), of 25 shots fired at a target 10 feet square
by an ordinary gunner, every one struck the mark.
Looking at the gun as a piece of mechanism, it is a
perfect weapon. Yet, notwithstanding the severe
tests to which it has been subjected, there are many'
who think that the delicacy of its construction will
materially impair its effectiveness in actual warfare.
This is a question which cannot be decided until
the gun has been tried in the field, but, looking at
the simplicity and strength of its construction it
does not appear at all more likely to get out.of
order or to be injured than the ordinary artillery
now in use. An order has already been issued for
the supply of these guns during the present year,
but as their advantages become more generally
appreciated, and the artillery men are more accus-
tomed to their use, they will doubtless in a great
measure supersede the ordinary artillery. It is but
a few years ago that the Government were entirely
dependant for the supply of shot and shell upon
private contractors ; but it having been suggested
that the Government, by taking the manu-
facture into their own hands, could produce at
the rate of £6 per ton that class of shot for which
they were paying £l3 per ton, a small experimental
factory was erected, which, being considered suc-
cessful, was enlarged. At the present time the
laboratory department are producing from 26,000
to 28,000 shot and shell per week, or between 70
and 80 tons per day. Working day and night it
would be possible, in case of an emergency, to pro-
duce at the rate of 36,000 per week. As abstract
numbers of production give no idea of the quantities
of materials expended in actual warfare, it may be
mentioned that during the siege of Sebastopol,
which must be considered one of the most stupen-
dous sieges of modern times, the English never had
more than 209 pieces of artillery employed at once
throughout the whole siege, extending over twelve
months. The shot and shell expended was not
more than could be now turned out by Woolwich
in six or seven weeks. Thus, with the present
stock of guns in store, and the various foundries in
full operation, Woolwich alone could supply war
material sufficient for carrying on perpetually two
such sieges as that of the great Russian stronghold.
In the small arm department the supply is on an
equal scale ; the present machines, if kept con-
stantly at work, will produce 2,000,000 Minie
bullets per week. Notwithstanding that the pro-
duction of shot and shell is carried on at the rate
of 80 tons per day, so great has the demand been
lately for arming the navy and storing the maga-
zines of our various fortresses and defences, that
the shipments from the wharf have exceeded the
production, and great inroads have been made in
the apparently inexhaustible piles with which the
various quadrangles of the Arsenal are covered.

THE IMP.ROVEMENT O F OUR COINAGE.

There are at present circulating in the British
four distinct kinds of pence, with their satellite
halfpence or farthings. In the first place there are
the heavy pieces, popularly known from the broad
band surrounding both obverse and reverse as " ring'
pence. Of these, which were strurk at the old Soho
Mint by Messrs. Boulton and Watt, between the
years 1797-1799,16 go to the lb. avoirdupois, and they
have certainly worn remarkably well, although they
must have worn out a vast number of pockets in the
sixty years of their existence. At the close of
1799, pence, halfpence, and farthings of respectively
18, 36, and 72 to the lb. were struck by the same
firm, and these circulated alone with their weighter
brethren until 1805, when a further improvement,
as it was deemed, took place. In that year,
24 pence, 48 halfpence, and 96 farthings
to the lb. weight were considered fair pro-
portions for the copper coinage, and new
dies having been got up for the purpose,
Boulton and Watt again set to work in producing
these comparatively light coins. It will be seen
thus that within a space of eight years three kinds
of inferior coins were stamped into vitality and
became current. This was not, however, con-
sidered sufficient, and an Irish coinage of great
extent, and in which the one pound weight was
divided into 26, 52, and 104 pence, halfpence, and
farthings respectively, took place in 1806, and
continued to go on simultaneously with the last-
named English variety up to 1823. In that year
the Irish coinage was. abandoned, and although
there have been distinctive copper tokens struck
since for the Isle of Man and for the States of
Jersey, of like proportions to those for Ireland, yet
it may be said that the arrangement of 24 pence,
48 half pence, and 06 farthings to the pound lb.
weight has prevailed throughout Great Britain ever
since 1823, and is that of the present day.
It will be admitted from this record of facts in
connection With the copper coinage that there is
sufficient medley of recognised and legal pieces of
money in circulation among us ; but there is in ad-
dition to these, as most know to their cost, a very
large percentage of non recognised and illegal
discs of copper, of which the public can
" make neitlier head nor tail," and which are
altogether discreditable to an enlightened com-
munity. Is it not high time, then, we ask,
that, whether the decimal system be adopted or not,
the whole confused jumble of copper coins, nearly
6,000 tons in weight, should be sent once more into
the foundry, there to be united with some-more
spiritual, or at least more valuable metal, and then
reissued in a uniform and handsome shape ?
By judicious combinations of metals, lightness,
beauty, and value may be attained; and these are
the desiderata for a new coinage. In the United
States Mint experimental pieces have been issued
of nickel and copper. How these will stand wear
time will reveal, but their dull grey colour is not
pleasing to the eye, and they are of dumpy form, too
thick for their small diameters. The bronze coins
of the Napoleon -111. and those of the Victoria
Canada Mintages are, indeed, models in this last
respect. For ourselves, we believe that the nevi
clay metal aluminium, which promised to revolu-
tionise in other respects the world of metals, will
be found a most excellent material for admixture
with copper for the purpose in question. It is true
that its properties are not vet fully developed, but
enough is known to augur for aluminium a brilliant
and useful future. Melted with copper in different
proportions, any shade of colour between those
of zinc and fine gold may be obtaihed, and we
look forward to the day when Dr. Gra-
ham of the Mint, and some of his scientific
confreres, shall arrive, by experiment or other-
wise, at an amalgamation of aluminium and copper,
from which may be cast a new coinage—decimal or
deiuopai
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in introducing it may be said to be begun
Mechanics' Magazine.