The Placer herald., 1861-05-11
Big Guns.

IeCtuleT CoIilHeHceu Dy TeIldikliS tHal IL
was impossible to 90 much into the details Of
his subject in the brief time proper for
lecture; but he determined to avoid techni-
ca! terms, and in plain talk to give some
general ideas, leaving particulars to be sought
in books by those who wanted the facts
Heavy ordinance comprised tour kinds of
destructive means: guns howtzers, coum-
bians and morlars. Their respective spheres
of service were sea-coasts, field, garrison and
battery "Caibre' meant the diameter Of
the bore of a gun, and not the weight. A
ten inch mortar, charged with three and a
half pounds of powder, would throw shell
one mile in about nineteen seconds. There
was good deal cf uncertainty about the
fuses however, especially in water and much
attention was devoted by experienced gun
ners to insure the burning of the fuse, so
that it could be relied on in calculations Of
time and distance. Richochetng shots were
thrown at a slight elevation, and intended
by their irregular and bounding course to
break away opposing obstacles of the enemy.
Colunbians were the guns of the present
day. and were used both for solid shot and
shell. The various patterns and forces of
the gun were described Mortars were used
for reaching out of the way places. At the
siege of Monterey, the Mexicans gathered
within the city, in the plaza and one shell
thrown among them killed twenty six men.
The effective range of a twenty-five pound
gun was about mile The capacity of a
Gun to impe projectie three or four miles
did not make it serviceabe at that distance.
A mile was about the longest range 70: de
strucion. The Captain gave accounts of
attempts 10 east very large guns. The diff
Guilty was in casting the iron. Captains Rod
man and Daghlgreen, the very best Amer.
can gunnerS, were experimenting upon the
plan of cooling the inside part of the can
non first, which was done 10y casting it with
a core and letting water wash through the
opening, keeping the outside hot meanwhile.
The old mode, and which is yet followed, is
to cast the cannon solid, and bore it after
cooling. In casting very large guns in this
iron in cooling, to make them strong in pro
portion to the size. At Fort Munroe sue,
cessful experiments were being made with a
gun sixteen feet long, and weighing twenty.
five tons. 1t was i signed to carry ball
of from three hundred and five to four hun
dred and one pounds, requiring charge of
thirty five to forty pounds Of powder. 1t
was found that such a quantity of owGcr
was too powerful for the iron, but very large
grained and easily compressed powder, which
would create gas les nstantaneousIy than
the fine material, acted satisfactorily. BY
this means the projec;le was moved and
hel ped OH its journey through the bore, in
stead of the shock being all expended in one
prodigious blast that would tear away what
ever opposed it and was not strong enough
to resist its stupendous power. He gave an
idea of the caibre of shells by stating thai,
lO-inch one would weigh one thousand
pounds, and 2O,inch one three or four
thousand pounds, or sufficiently large to
crush large ship so badly as to sink it at
once. After referring to the power Of the
Armstrong gun, he interested the audience
a good deal by describing the effect Of shot.
A shot did not make hole of lis own size
through the wood, but indented it, the fbres
springng back after the shock Generally,
the course of shot could only be traced by a
wire, sometimes by a hole as large as a
mans finger. The damage most often hap
pened in the inside of a vessel in splinter
ing and breaking the wood, after the main
force of the shot was spent. Forts Hamil.
ton and Richmond, which are about mile
apart, with vessel lying between them,
could not with their guns send shot through,
two feet of its timber. There was rarely
an instance where a vessel was sunk by solid
shot Hot shot and shells did the mischief
the latter would sometimes make apertures
of several feet in extent through the sides
of vessels. lie mentioned several instances
where vessels had gone throu h hours of
cannonade and came off unsunk The latest
was that of the Agamemnon, which was
under the fire Of Russian battery, at the
distance of eight hundred yards for five
hours without being sunk or having her
engines or her batteries damaged, and lost
only twenty-nine men, although an enormous
quantity of shot was thrown into her. The
Emperor Napoleon had built war vessel
with sides covered with steel five inches thick.
The speaker believed this vessel would prove
20 be invulnerable to the present class of
guns, as Armstrong, whose guns had carried
shot five and half miles, had been unable
to drive shot through the steel coating at
greater distance than two hundred yards.
lie thought that against such vessels the
guns about our harbor could play away
without effective damage. The Fort Nun
roe big gun, however ght crush the steel
all up. He then gave considerable attention
to the weakness of the American service in
respect to arillelists. The remedy rests
with the people. In New York men could
readily be found to 90 into the forts for
service in case Of an emergency, but while
they would he getting ready TO fire, the
enemys yes els would get beyond reach OF
the guns. Raw men at the guns would take