Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-06-15
CURIOsIrIKs OF WAR.

ualIy produce Oh Chlna and India and there
the knowledge Of gunpowder seems to be CO.
@Val with the most distant historic events
Among the Chinese it has been applied at all
times to useful purposes-such as blasting
rocks and removing Obstruction-and to those
OF amusement, in making q vast variety of FIRE
works They also used it as n means Of de-
tense, oy undermining the probable passage of
an enemy, and blowing him up. They con-
structed machines Of bamboo, from which they
projected fro balls into the ranks of an enemy
and also certain inhsmmabIe preparations
which adhered tenaciOusly to buildings against
which they were discharged, setting the build
1ngs on fire. But q destructive propellant
In nrinS balls from metal guns, they do not
seem To have used 1t until about the period
when zunpOwder became first known to Euro
pesAs. As pyrotechnists they were very ex-
Pert, but they had not advanced beyond that
art Mt the period referred to, though il has
been alleged that as early as 6l5, B. c., the
Chinese had made some progress in the con-
struetion Of artillery.
As soon as gunpOwder was known in Europe,
cannon were constructed; yet they proved of
20 uncertain advantage to their inventor, that
history has failed to record the precise time of
their being first used by Europeans. Until
about 1889, the use of artillery in Europe was
confined to Spain. In 1873 Richard II failed
TO reduce ST Malo, although he brought 400
cannon to the attack. Artillery was thus in
troduced into all the European armies The
Chinese and HindoOs kept pace with them
In 1892, when the former were besieged BY
the MoDgols, they had stone mortars, which
threw round stone shot against their enemies
The ancient Chinese jingalls which were loaded
at the breech, show that breech loading is not
q European idea. The HindOOs were also
familiar with gunpoHder beyond all periods of
investigation; and some years ago q colossal
breech- h-lOading cannon was discovered in the
bottom Of a river in Bengal, which carried a
Kali - IN
than the monster rided cannon Just finished at
Pitts6urg, which carries only u 12-inch ball.
The Bengal gun was 10 feet inches, or
inches longer than that Mt Pittsburg. In 1850
the walls Of Champanir were preached by
Mahmud Shah OF Guzerat, who at the same
time fired shells into the city. In l49S the
Portuguese found the Indians possessed of
artillery. In 1901 the Indians of Calicut op-
posed Albuquerque with feet Of so ships car
Iy'ng $50 cannon. Though the seven ancient
bells Of Pekin, each weighing go, 900 pounds,
attest the skill Of the Chinese in melting vast
quantities of metal, yet there is no record Of
any OF their earlier cannon having been made
by casting Indeed, the evidence is clear that
all artillery, for probably three centuries, was
made by building up the gun of longitudinal
wrOught-iTon bars held together by a success
SION OF rings, which were shrunk on while hot
These contriVances were necessarily very i'm
perfect, and consequently 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 CAR
tillery In the present day decides the fate of
nations, and he who knows how to bring a
mass OF this arm to act rapidly upon a partic-
ular point, unknown to the enemy, is sure to
carry ii" Acting on this formula, his artil-
lery became the most formidable of any then
known in Europe. He lost Marengo under the
IRE OF loo Austrian cannon, but recovered II
BY the skiilfull use Of only Is pieces unexpect-
etly brought up by MarInOnt. At Friediand,
80 guns, suddenly brought up, did more SER
vice than q, 900 men under Ney had done In
the pass tgs of the Danube at Wagram, he COW
cred the army with 500 guns. He was con-
stantly increasing bis artillery. He entered
Russia with l,372 pieces, and at the battle of
Borodino, $50 were srought into service, the
RUsslans having $40 IN use. At Lutzen. when
the French had all but lost the battle, so guns,
unexpectedly brought up, broke through the
Allied Russians and Prussians, aud a charge
by cavalry and the Imperial Guard secured
the victory. In the gigantic battle of Leipsic,
the Allies had ], $40 guns, and Napoleon 72O
These he discharged 23O 900 times. At Water.
loo, however, the usual superiority of Napo-
Icons artillery failed him. IN that &c ion he
had 2i6 guns, while the British had but I56.
II an extraordinary fact that during The
whole Peninsular War the quantity Of artillery
possessed by the British was much less than
uniformly victorious. 1t was when Napoleon
brought his batteries to play against the Allies
that his successes were secured
There are many curious facts in relation to
gunpoWder, which seldom reach the public
eye. The charcoal used in making it is obtain
ed from the poplar and willow, those branches
only being used which are Of about three years
growth The utmost care is taken In chsrrins
them IN iron cylinders. Powder does not in
hame lnstantaneously. 1fit did, no gun could
be made strong enough to resist its force. Its
Inflammation is gradual and progressive, and
IN gun the projectile begins to move Proba-
bly, before all the charge 10 ignitod. The devsl-
opment OF It's force is affected by the proper
tlon OF space which il Occupies, TO the space
around IL In the gun. II is found that as this
vacant space increases, the prcjecti!e force of
the powder greatly decreases, while its abso-
Lutte force or shock seems to increase. Thus
when ball is not ranmed home, IL is not
moved by the first portion of the gas evolved,
but II remains stationery until nearly the whole
force Of the charge is developed, when, acting
byits 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 musket whose muZzle
has been stopped with mud, or even snow, has
been known to burst just behind the obstruc-
tiOn. as gun is usually loaded, the ball NOV
ing with the gas frat generated, its inertia is
gradually overcome, it furnishes space by de-
grees as the development Of the gas requires it;
NJ shock is felt, and nearly the whole force OF
the powder is transferred TO the ball inside Of
the gun. As q general rule, and before coming
10 the limit of dust, the smaller the grain the
more rapid the combustion, and the greater the
bursting forces Of the powder This is the rea-
son that in small arms the small grained pow
der is used. 1t has but short distance in which
u act on the projectils, and being in small
quantity its bursting force is not such as to in
jure the gun, while In large pieces the charges
are ~ great that did they burn fast, DO metal
could withstand the shock. Hence cannon pow
der 10 composed Of coarse grains. lt isa char
scteristic Of gunporder that the greater the
opposition offered to the expansion Of its gases
while the p0Hder is burning, the greater be-
comes the force developed. Thus, for inssancs, !,
= gun is made smaller at the seat Of the charge
by making use Of a ehsmber, because the pow
der, is thereby more confined, and greater
force developed; and it is found that the form
Of chamber which delays the escape Of the
gas the longest is productive OK the greatest
force. Thus, in blasting rocks, the amount of
execution by Q small charge Of powtler is ap-
parently ont Of proportion to Its size, on ac-