The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1860-1863, 1861-09-05
.TnaI Of the Gr,at UuIoo Cnn.

mental mug win the great gun "U ion
| Was conducted BY Li-ut. BAYLOR, 4
the Ofdaanc4 Department and was wit
messed by Major Generals Wool ani But.
ler, ahd coneourSs OF ofi .ers. soldiers
ard others. The carriage o the gun was
turned 70 as to throw the shot in'o the
hay. th4 design briug solely to test the
gun, which hal never before been fred.
and to ascertain its rang. Bel rs going
futher it may be well to r capuulars il
regard t. Ihs gun itself. Is wpight i.
52 0Oa pounds: * rems length, IG feer:
length Of bore, II feet I ! inrh 8. diana.
ier 0 bore, ! 2 inches. riHed. 1t is noun
It'd on ah Irpn carriage, placed on a plat
form Of solid masonry Like oil rtied
prolecties, the shot are cOnical The sol n
sh i wsighing 423 pounds and thu sh Il
! 352 pounds, with blr.ting chargD Of d
pounds. The ctarg Of ppwder nsei va
ries &C 'ording 10 circumstances from ~
to 81 pounds. The powIsr ussl on this
Occasion- and W ich no doubt will he
uniformly Use was the r .dman grain
powder. he separaf. grains o. which va
: ed from the lie of = walnut 10 hens
egg. Al tlhs benz really IT, process Of
loading the gun was conmenc-d Ser
geant 'Nslch az the head f his hlack
bAilalon Of gunnsrs, hid air adv cleared
the decks, wheeler the monster so lhat
his gags was overihe waters, and arranged
the platinr "a or staging on winch the men
coul!srand and be peven with the muz
! zlr. First, the swar, which Two men in
Sert, olesus the interior; then com-s a
man with a rcd fionel blg. filed with
p wd r. on his SHOULDER; it il the cart
ridge; and the ramrod, worked by four
men. sends it home Then com tie
process Of ct ing he shot 10 its place. a
mass Of meule hat four men carry with
d,fflc Try. Itis frs rolled into an iron
cradle or wide strap, loupei with rope.
through which a pi-;r # str Ins wood,
several Iset long, Is inserted. Thus
slung, the men tug the shot a., the steps
If the platform. some ten { ct high. to
toe mouth OF the gun. Anoihs, liz brings
ii 90 level, and tits slid into the muzzle
and pusrei to Its place. Tie gun is
then eevs ed by mans OF an iron bar.
the gun being nicely balanced on its
uunnlons The primlng wire performs
its offier, TIL fuse Is inserted. and The Ian
yard is attached Then Lieut. BAYLOR,
who, though everything has been done
under his ulnutest 10 ,pection. has moved
about more like mod. ST spectator than
the responsible director, give. warning
that the gun has never b .en 6rsi and
moves short distance 10 TIE rear, il
which be is imilaed By the Others TIL,
n-n who are to ca nIat- tie zig Of til,
shot are At their table. TIE a z is up
! The man with lhr Lanyard re Tres 10 il,
rx'rem. length. ar ady." says S-rgsan
Welsh: Lieu'. aylor gives the wor =
"Reai,-frr!' A terrible crush, she
Of fame, aud the trembling of tire earth
follow. At the same time there is a
'creech and scream cau,ed by The shot
- bark mass which you can .s7- in lis
| figh yelling like an infuristed devil lei
lOos- from the internal rrginns. We
count seconds and watch 10 see tie
-ho, strike. A column of water away of
~ the bay sLootI up TO the eigat OF
ships mast. The elevation Of the gun
was ut ten d-grees. liule more than blank
shot, consequently the ds ance WAS not
great, say two mi'-s, the time Of Gigh;
fifteen seconds. Th- terrible engine, the
echoes Of whose thundeis have scarcely
yet died away over the tiers and alon /!
the shore, DIRK sulphurous cloud,
/ fl ats bsfre the wind--the thing ich
we would naturally assoc'ae e wlih the
dea OF a glowing fiery monser, tbs EN-
bOlimeut Of all he furies. is next the OBJ
! ject OF attention. 1t Is as p SIS 70 IS a
nv hing can be. Tire Serg ant pats tamil
iarly its massive smno h brepch the
smoke curls 81 rwly from the chamber from
the cha,nb-r from which the 42J pound
shot had inst BEEN vomited, sud for the
instant it is diff .ul 10 reconcile the
crash, the fame, th- tremblin earth, aid
the scrpech. with the thing that ne thel
trembles nor glows nor makes OH or sign
Of its truly awfrl and ahnosl supern4tu.
raj endowmentS. The mex; time. >hrl
is fred at the same range. but it fills lC
explde. Aud here let me remark tha
both shot and shell seemed TO me not the
thing FIR the gun. The soft metal with
whi h they were coated s'rippe ard flew
IN all directions when only +, lew hundred
f.et from the gun, 81 that m might mis-
take the pie;es tor charge Of grape frou
a howtz r. The idea Uf filing tn,
grooves and thereby obtaining rotary
motion must have ben impereclIv real
lied. The gun was again loaded with {
solid shot, and eleva ell twenty.eigh! de
grres This aud the next shot, whir
was at the same elevation were VERY 6n
features OF the 4xpeI Imrut. AS you ~atc
the progress Of The shot, which in it, cir
cult attain d an elevation prob ,bly of 20
less than 800 to | 900 eel, you might eA
silly convince yourself t at it was viii
screaming. roaiiug munster, dashinj
, lhrou gh the skies. mad a the sun, or a
! atfr'ghted spirit from the bow Is Of II
J earth seeking safety in lee clouds. Th
range was abouj tnrea and a bal mi IS
0 the Iime thirty seconds. Two shells wit
. per ussion fus- wers tIr-n fred into
0 sand bank no more than 25 feet from tn
q gun. TIE result gave some id OF villa
the gun would do ag inst sand batteries
a Tue sand was thrown in every dlrecrDr
. aud The experiment seemed tc prove th'
the she'll nc uralely fired would unde
nine and destroy sand battery quito {
rapilly al bat slion Of men win sho,
. A.