Litchfield enquirer., 1849-08-09

where you meet all around you clean
mouths. 1t is pleasant to talk with per-
sons, from whose teeth you are not con-
strained in nausea to turn your eyes away.
No tobacco smoke is permitted to polute
the breezes which sweep over the beauti-
full esplanade. A visitor cannot pass over
the parade ground with segar, without
being informed that he is violating the
rules Of the place.
The instruction in science and mathe-
mates, and all those arts which are sup
posed to have bearing upon the militia
~ profession, is most admirable. The
examination in these branches was most
minute and rigorous. One after another
was called up and questioned with mill
tary inexorabilty. The trial must have
been very severe to the timid and dis
trustful. If the questions could not be
answered, there was no relenting what
ever, but question after question was
pressed upon the embarrassed and hest
tating pupil, that his knowledge or his ig.
norance might be thoroughly tested. One
young man, when brought before the COM
mittee, at the first question turned pale,
tainted and fell. The next morning he
appeared again, and acquitted himself
with distinguished honor. If student
does not bear good examination, his
name is striker from the list of cadets, or
in a polite phraseology Of the institution
his resignation is accepted" Many,
every year, thus leave the Academy
The scientific education thus secured,
must be very thorough. So far, howev-
er, as we could ascertain, the routine is
very irksome to the pupil. In such an
institution the rigor Of military discipline
it Indispensable. But military discipline
is incompatible with much personal lib
erty The chains which bind the soldier,
though painted in gorgeous colors, are
manacles and clogs.
We were exceedingly interested in the
exhibition Of gunnery. Twenty.four and
forty-two pound shot were thrown at a
target, about three feet in diameter, pla-
ced at distance, as we were informed,
of a mile and a half. The shot were
thrown with great precision, several of
them plunging through the target and
all striking in its near vicinity. The ef-
feet of one of these shells, thrown into a
dwelling or exploding in the midst Of a
body of men, must be awful in the ex-
IRENE. They can be thrown in point
blank range, distance of two miles or
more, and the moment of the explosion
timed with the utmost precision. They
are indeed terrible engines of destruction.
The next morning we took a boat and
crossed the bay, to see what effect the
shot had produced. The target was
completely riddled with the balls and the
fragments of the shells. Large stones
which had been struck by the balls, were
crushed and ground into powder. The
earth was plcughed up in deep burrows,
and fragments of shells were scattered
around at great distances.
The next evening there was firing from
the mortar battery upon the plain. did
not see it, but ana indebted to one of the
examining committee for the following
account
"There were Eve mortars. The dis
lance from the target was three hundred
and sixty yards. Very small charges
were used, for it would not be safe to I'll
the shells so as to have them burst. The
charge in the mortar was thirteen ounces,
full charge would be thirteen pounds.
The angle Of elevation was As deg, time
8 seconds. The height to which the
shells were thrown, according to hasty
calculation I have made, was about 1000
feet. The shots were very accurately
made"
You may be interested in having the
dimensions of these terrible missiles
Those used here weigh from 80 to 90
lbs., before being filed, and can be dis
tinctly seen as they are hurled through
the air. They are about ten inches in
diameter, and from 1-2 to 2 inches in
thickness, they can be thrown with full
charge over to the top Of the Crows
Nest-a horizontal distance Of from to
2 1-2 miles. One of these shells falling
into common earth and bursting will ex-
cavate q hole large enough to bury
horse and wagon, and fragments are
thrown more than half mile. The
space within the shell, not occupied with
the powder. is filed with nails, shot or
pieces of Old iron. The fuse is inserted
in plug of wood. the length regulated
by the distance of the object to be demo-
lished. The hole in the shell. into which
the plug is driven, is about Ia inch in
diameter. The only effect produced by
the explosion of the four ounces of pow
der used last evening was to blow out
the plug. Much powder is scattered
over thc shell after it is put in the NOR
tar, to insure the communication Of FIRE
TO the fuse.
When one thinks of raining Gown q
storm Il such engines as these upon the
dwellings, of o crowded city. the chivalry
Of soldiers life loses many Of its charms.
There seems 10 be. indeed, even Of West
Dasnt an suakinnkiwA faAl;ns. tkak III Aha