Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-08-30

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[forlrem Monroe (Aug, 23) CORES. MY. Tribune.
I,t,s Trial Of the Great Union Gun.
l.. Yesterday took place the .frst expert "a ents
firing with the great gun "Union. y Il was con
Quoted by, Lieut. Baylor, of the Ordnance De
lpartment, Apd was Witnessed by Major @ en- er
ale Wool and Butlers and concoufse of off
lcers, soldiers and others..s The carriage of .b
gpa Vas tutnedeo as 70 throw the shot into th
nsy.ths desiep beng solely to test the gun
which bad never before been fred, and to ascer
tain its range Before going fnrtber, It may b.
4 well 70 fecapi ulate 10 regard TO the gun itself
n lnEeight is $40 pounds;i extreme Ieo 18th.
ID feet; Leigh Of bore. - tees III inches; di
ameter of. bore ~ inches, rifled ,laItis mount
| Cd en An iron carriage, placed on platform o
solid % maposFys. Like all ri1ed projeotiles. IN,
shot are. conical, the solii shot weighing 42J
pounds, and the sbelL 1852 pounds, with burst
ing charge Of IS pouDds. The charge Of pow.
DEF used varies according TO circumstance nces
iroms Az 10 IS ponnds. The powder used on
.lhis isoecasion--and which no doubt will be uni
formly y used was the Rodman grain powder, tb,
separate gFaips Of which varied from the siz,
OF walnut to hens egg. All things beipa
ready, the process OF loading the gun was com
meDced. Sergeant Welch, at the head Of bll
oiack battalion OF gunners, had already cleared
cue decks, wheeled the monster so that bis gage
was over the waters, and arranged The platform
or staging on which the men could stsud and be
up even with the muzzel. First, the sssb,
winch two men Insert, cleans the interior: then
Gomez q man with red flannel bag, filed with
powder, on bis shoulder; it is the Cartridge: and
the ramrod, worked by four men, sends il home.
Then comes the process OF getting the shot to
Its place, mass of metal that four men oarry
with difficulty, II is first rolled into an iron
cradle or vide strap, looped with rope, through b
which piece of strong wood, several feet Ion 2,
ls inserted. Thus slung, the men tug the shot
| up the steps OF the platform, come ten feet
high, to the mouth Of the gun Another lift
orings II on level, and it IL slid into the mug
z!e and pushed to its place. The gun is then
elevated by means Of an iron bar, the gun be-
| Ing nicely balanced on Its trunnions. The prim
ing WIRE performs its Office, the fuse 10 inserted
and the lanyard Is attached. Then Lieut.. Bay.
lor, who, though everything has been done un.
ger hs minutest inspection, has moved about
more u ke modest spectator than the respon.
sloie director, gives warning that the gun has
never before been fred, and moves q short dist.
| ance to the rear, In which he is Initiated by the
Others. The men who are to calculate the
hight OF the shot are ct their table. The q AZ
islup' The man with the lanyard retires to its
extreme length. Ready" says Sersean,
Wslch. Lieut. Baylor gives the word, Ready
-nre' A terrific crash, sheet of fame, and
the trembling of the earth follow. Atthe same
time there is scTeech end a scream caused BY
the shot, black mass which you can see in lis
flight, yelling like an iniuriated devil let loose
from the internal regions. We count the Sec
o1ds and watch to see the shot strike. A col
rmn OF water away OF on the bay shoots up to
the height OF ships mast. The elevation of
the gun was but tea degrees, little more than
blank shot, consequently the distance was not
great, say two miles, the time Of flight fifteen
seconds. The terrible engine, the echoes of
whose thundefs have scarcely yet died away
over the waters and along the shores, whose
breath, dark sulpburous cloud, floats before
the wind-the thing which we would naturally
associate with the idea Of a glowing fiery mons,
ter, the embodiment ofs6li che furies, is next
the object OF attention. II ID ss passive as any
thing Can be. The sergeant pats familiarly its
massive smooth breech, the smoke cnrIs slowly
from the mouth of the cha Der from which the
42U pound shot has just been vomited, and for
the instant IL is difficult to reconcile the crash,
the tame, the trembling earth and the ecreech
with the thing that neither trembles nor glows,
nor makes other signs Of it's truly awful aud al
most supernatural endo ments. The next tiuie,
4 shell Is fired, at the same range, but Il fails
to explode. And here let me remark that both
shot and shell seemed to be not the thing for
the gu The soft metal with which they we're
coated stripped and flew in all drect lions when
only q few hundred feet from the gun, 60 that
one might mistake the pieces for charge of
grape isom ahowitzer.' The idea OF filling the
grooves and thereby obtaining rotary motion,
most have been but imperiectly realized. 81
Tne gun was again loaded with q solid shot,
and elevated twenty-eight degrees. This and
the next shot, which was &C the same elevation,
we're very fine features of the experiment As
youwatched the progress of the shot, which in
tts circuit atsined an elevation probably OF not
less than SOO to 1000 feet, you might easily CON.
vince sourself that IL was wild, screaming.
roaring monster, dasbiDg through the ,kits.
mad at the sun, or an affrighted spirit from the
bowels ofthe earth seeking safety in the clouds.
The range was about three and q halt rniles,
the time, thirty seconds Two shells With Der.
cussionl fuse were then fred into q sand bank
not more thanitwenty Eve feet from the Ruu.
The result gave some idea Of what the gun
would do against saud batteties. The sand was
thrown In every direction and the experiment.
seemedt 70 provethat the shell accurately fred
would undermined and destroy sand battery
quite as rapidly as q battalion of men with
shovels. The shell burst into great number
OF pieces, the parts found weighing but few
pounds The following Is an analysis of the
firing, for which am indebted to Lieutenant
Baylor. II will be read with interest, not less
by the public who have heard 60 much of the
Big Gun, than by those who watch such expert.
ments with professional interest:
b MOL Elevation 10 degrees; solid sbot.
Weight s23 10; cartridge 42 10. flight =; range
35l2 yards 20 t
No. . Elevation 10 degrees, ohell, weigh,
So2 10; cartridge IS 10; Hght IL seconds; range
296O yards. 't7 lo4 80 - ~ o.
No. 8. Elevation 2s degrees; solid shot.
weight 493 ID; cartridge 42 ID; flight 80 seconds
range 5s77 yards. -
No. Elevation % degrees; shell. WEIGHT
3ol ID; cartridge IS ID; flight 291S seconds; |;
range 5040 yards. 2, 1I1a ~ -
No 5. Elevation O; shell, weight 35l ID:
cartridge 80 ID; fred into sand bank.
a. No.s6D Elevation o; solid shot 423 lb; car
fridge AZ ID; the same. sa roC
From The Boston Courier
A Free Press and Free speech.
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