Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-12-12


tion myself"
Cannon, both Ancient and Modcrn--W hen
aud Where First Uscd--How Cannon are
Mndr nt Aiger's Foundry, South Boston.
Considering the many hdndrcd year, that have
passed since the cannon or artillery of any kind
were first used upon fields Of battle, it is rather
surprising that greater improvements have not
been discovered and adopted. Firearms have
out stripped ramon IN the race for supremacy
and destructyencss, and had the latter kept pace
with the former, the Crimcar war would have
been dcclded IN less than six months, and per-
haps thousands Of lives would have been pre-
served. simply through their iustrumeniality
Pdixhan guns aud the latest invention, the Dahl.
gren gun, are certainly great Improvements ov-
er the long thrty-two FOUNDERS. which caused so
much damage when used by privateersmen, dur
inn the war of1sl2 with England; but contras,
the flint musket OF those days with the repeating
and Mimic rifle of the present, ald it will be
seen that more attention has been paid by in
vcntors and scientific men TO the latter arm of
defence than The former. Many inv nlions MP
on plan similar to Colfs revnlvcrs. have been
attempted. but rome OF them appear to have ex-
cited much attention. and after a brief inspcc-
lion by engineers and arlilArsts, they have
either been found deficient or else neglected aud
Land aside
Ancient historians tell US that the first piece
Of cannon of which there is any arrounl, was in
vented hy G rnau namrd S'hwtrtz. This
WAS in 1880, soon after the invention of gun
powder. The Moors celebrated ior their IN tlii-
z 'nce and refinement, b fore cDuqucred by the
ruthless Spanlar,ls used artillery at the sege
Of Algrsiras IN 1871, and English writer's tell
us that Edward Ill gained the battle of Cressy
from the French in 1916 through the instrument
taily of four small pieces Of cannon. The We
nrtians claim lhil they first employed artillery
upon the sea in 1877, when an expedition was
undertaken in Genoa.
Wooden cannon, bound together with i'm
mcnsc hands Of iron, have bee 4 us,pl in all coun
tries, hut they have only been employed when
iron or brass artillery could not BE- obtained;
an overchargc Of p0wder has generally ended,
not only the career Of the wooden gun, but those
who happened TO be near at the time when lis
services were required. Even AS late as l7SS.
a leather cannon was made in Srotlin1, and was
fired several times, hu; leather was not equal to
the pr Ssure and it was discarded.
The largest piece ui cannon in the world WAS
east in India in 1S5. but there are no accounts
ofils ever having been used. AT Ehr.nbreilstrin
Castle, on the Rhine, TO which Byyon makes 50
beautiful an illusion in his Chile Harold. can
non of mammoth dimensions used tn be shown
to tourists 1t vas Ell ,htcen feet long, a Il OF
md half in diameter at the muzzls. aud three
feet four inches at the breech Ninety five
pounds of powder were required for a single dis.
charge, and ball weighln. $50 pounds was
used.
At Dover Castle, England, is gun which
was presented to Queen Elizabeth by The State
Of Holland. 1t is 81 feet long and made OF
brass 1t is covered with ORNAMENTS, aud is per-
,I..I. a.. IL 1
and simply because two lines of doggerel, in
Dutch, are engraved upon it. The lines trans
lated read as follows
Charge we'll and sponge me clean,
I'll throw ball to Calais Green"
Many people religiously believe that the boast
has been perfnrmed, but during the wars between
England and France there are no accounts of the
inhabitants of Calais passing sleepl. IS nights
through fear OF the effects OF discharge fom
the Queens Arm," as it is 81 called
The Arabs of Africa, and indeed other migra-
tory tribes, still clinI 10 the expeditions manner
of their iorriathcrs for the transportation of ar
tillery Where camels exist the patient animal
performs the part of a Gun carriage. and small
pieces are discharged from their backs with re-
markahle rapdiry, the poor hrutes in each case
kneelng to facilitate lnadnI and sighting
The urks possess numbrr OF large pieces
at their ports on the DaTdanclies, but they are
intended 1or throwing marble balls aud are d. IN.
gerous only 10 those who are unfortunate enough
to be called upon to work them. There is one
case on record where the L Irks by some acc-
dent, never explained, managed TO hit an object
with Their huge missile. 1t was at the battle of
Navarino, when the naval forces of Russia
France and England, were arrayed against the
Turks. During the hottest of the ighi marble
ball, as large as the cad of flour barrel, struck
the Asia, an eighty gun ship belonging to the
British force. and knocked three OF her midship
ports into one. Nine or ten men were killed
and large number wounded at that one dis
charge. The Turks were not aware of their
success or it is probable they would have con-
unued the fight short time longer, and killed
twice as many cf their own men in a second at
tempt 10 mjnrc Uic enemy.
Even in eur own day novel use Of an ami
nal to gain battle has been rcsorted to- At
San Jacinio, where Gen. Houston gained his
laures and dIove Santa Anna to tree for re-
iugc, the enthusiastic Texans di not disain to
employ the services Of iackass, and IN the stur-
/ dy animals back was lashed swivel that at each
discharge lhinncd the ranks of the Mexicans.
and caused them to wonder where the deuce
Houston got his artillery OF course the poor
bin'e was knocked sprawling more than once,
but before its recovery the gunners would have
the piece loaded and as the ass struggled to its
feet another discharge would astonish the army
Of invasion.
1t is interesting TO contrast the expeditions
manner OF casting AMI finishing gun at the
present day with the slow process OF past ayes
and there is no place in the country where sew
eral hours can be passed 10 more advantage than
at Ayers foundry, SoIth Boston. We select
hs establishment because the largest guns used
by The United States government are IN ide there