The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-11-13
CURIOslTlES OF W Ar.

AoSChoiey. Out uitcI ~ tLe udtutal kLQ UaiIk
produce Of China and India, and there IT,.
knowledge OF gunpO~ der seems to be coeva
with that OF the most dis,aLt historic events
Among the Chinese it has teen sppli, d at all
times 10 useful purposes, such as blasting rock.
aud removing distractions, and TO those Oi
amusement, in making Vast variety Of frsw ork.
T.ey also used it AS u means of deience, by un-
dermining the probable passage OF an enemy,
aud blowing him up. They constructed ma
chimes Of bamboo. .frow which they Projected fire
balls Into the rauks OF ali enemy, aud q So Ger.
tain ihhammabie PREPARATIONS, which adhered
tenaciOusly to holdings against which they were
discharged, setting the building on fire. But as
a destructive prOpellanI, in 6ribg balls from met
al guns, they do not seem to have used it until
about the period when gunpow der became frs,
known TO Europeans. As pyrOtechuists they
we're very expert, but they had not advanced
beyond that art at the period referred to, though
ii has been alleged that early as 6i5, Il. e.,
the Chinese hac made some progress in the con.
structiOn OF artillery.
As soon as guupowder was known in Europe,
cannon were constructed; yet they proved Of 50
uncertain advantage to their inventor, that his.
tory has failed to record the precise time ot then
being hrst used by Europeans. Until about 3:9
the use of artillery in Europe was confined 10
i. t..
Malo, although he brought 40 cannon to the
attack. Artillery was thus introduced into all
the European armies. The Chinese and Hindoos
kept pace With them. In 1882, when the former
were beseiged by the Mongols, they had stone
mortars, which threw rouud stone shot against
their euemies. The ancient Chinese jipgaIs,
which were loaded ut the breech, show thai.
6reech loading is not . European idea. The
hlndoos were also familiar with gun powder be
yOnd all periods OF investigation and some
years ago colossal breech loading cannon was
discovered in the bottom of q river in Bengal
which carried a ball 8 l-2 inches in diameter
Ihls is larger than the monster rihed cannon Just
finished al Pittsburgh, which carries only a 22
inch oa'l. The Bengal gun was IL feet inches
long, or Inches longer than that at Pitts
buIgh In l4sO the walls of Champanir were
preached by Mahmud Shah OF Guzerat. who
at the same time fired shells in,o the city.
In l4sS the Portuguese found the Indians poss
essed OF artillery. In 1901 the Indians of Cali
cut opposed Albuquerque with feet of so ships
carrying $50 cannon. Though the seven ancient
bells OF Pekin, each weighing go, 900 pounds
attest the skill Of the Chinese in melting vast
quantities CT metal, yet there is no record of any
ut their earlier cannon having been made by
casting. Indeed, the evidence ia clear that ar
tlllery, for probably three centuries, were made
by building up the gun of longitudinal wrought
iron bars, held together by succession of rings,
which we're shrunk on while hot. These conlIi
vances were necessarily very imperfect, and con
seQuently very Inefficient. Yet their usefulness
in battle was SO decided, that all the nations
made haste to supply themselves with cannon.
Napoleon declared at St Helena, that ''Artil
lery in the present day decides the fate of ma
tions. and he who knows how to bring mass OF
this III IN to act rapidly upon a particular point,
unknown 10 the enemy, is sure to carry it," Ac
ting on this formula, his artillery became tn
most formidable Of any then known in Europe
lie lost NarengO under the fire OF 100 Austrian
cannon, but recovered it by the skilful use OF
only Is pieces unexpectedly brought up by Mar
mont. At Friedland, SO guns, suddenly brought
up, did more service than 90. 900 men under Ney
had done. In the passage of the Danube a,
Wagram, he covered tho army -ith 500 guns
He was constantly increasing his artillery. Il.
entered Russia with 1872 pieces. and at the
battle ef Borodno, $50 were brought into Ser
vice, the Russians having GAO in use. At Lut
Zen, when the French had all but lost the battle,
80 guns, unexpectedly brought up, broke thro'
the Allied Russians and Pru-sians, ard charge
oy cavalry and the Imperial Guard secured the
victory. In the gigantic battle of Leipsic, the
he discharged 100000 times. AT Waterloo,
however, the usual superiority of Nspoeon's ar.
tillery failed him. In that action he had 246
guns, while the British had but l56. 1t is an ex-
traordinary fact that during the whole Peninsu.
lar War the quantity of artillery possessed b,
the British was much less than that of the French,
yet the former we're almost uniformly victorious
1t was when Napoleon brought his batteries 70
play against the Allies that his successes were
secured.
There are manv curious facts in relation to
gunpOwder. which seldom reach the public eye
The charcoal used in maAing it is obtained from
the poplar and willow, those branches only being
used which are of about three years growth.
The utmost care is taken in charrirg them in
iron cylinders. Powder does not infame instan.
taneously. If it did, no gun could be made
strong enough to resist its force. Its infamma
ton is gradual and progressive, and in gun the
prGjectlle begins to move, probably, before ali
the charge is ignited. The development of its
force is affected by the proportion Of space which
il occupies, to the space around it in the gun,
Il is found that as this vacant space increases
the projectile force of the powder greatly de-
creases, while its absolute force or shock seems
to increase. Thus, when a ball is not rammed
home, it is not moved by the first portion of the
gas evolved, but it remains stationary until near
ly the whole force Of the charge is developed
when, acting by its inertia against the immense
shock Of this force, the violent reaction of the
fluid takes effect before the ball moves, and
bursts the gun. In the same way, a musket
whose muzzle has been stopped with mud. or
even snow, has been known to burst just behind
the obstruction. As a gun is usually loaded, the
ball moving with the gas first generated, its in
erfa ia prxdusllv OyercOme II fnrnShaa eooco
by degrees as the development of the gas re-
quires it; no shock is felt, and nearly the Who'll.
force Of the powder is transferred to the ball in
etead of the gun. As general rule, and before
coming to the limit of dust, the smaller the
grain the more rapid the combustion, and
the greater the bursting force of the powder.
This is the reason that in small arms the small
grained powder is used. 1t has but short dis
lance in which to act on the projectile and being
in small quantity its bursting force is not such
As to injure the gun; while in large pieces the
charges are 80 great that did they burn fast, no
metal could Withstand the shock. Hence can
non powder is composed Of coarse grains 1t
is q characteristic Of gun powder that the
greater the opposition offered to the expansion
Of its gases while the powder is burning, the
greater becomes the force developed. Thus, for
instance, gun is made smaller at the seat of the
charge by making use of a chamber, because
the powder is thereby more combined, and a
greater force developed; and it is found that the
torn Of chamber which delays the escape of the
gas the longest is productive Of the creates,
force. Thus, in blasting rocks, the amount oil
execution by a small charge of powder is appa
rently out OF proportion to its size, on account
Of the manner in which the powder is confined
The volume OF gas generated By an explosion oi