New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-09-03

D.. The gun made for the test, on the success of
which depended the contract for the Iaanufaetnre
of q heavy order. was cast Of bloomfield metal
the same used for some years in the manufacture
of colurnbiads. Though the interior was finished
with the usual care, the outside merely turned
to the prescribed dimensions and coarsely chipped
off, giving It decidedly rough appearance. The
gun weighs a57S pounds, and in dragging this enor-
nous weight over boggy ground and creek cross
ings, the wheels were frequently sunk until the
road rested on the surface twas a. Work or TWO
days and nights to reach the ground when the gun
was dropped by the wagon and dragged across ihe
field by pulleys distance Of several hundred
yards, to the triangle which it was proved.
The firing was carried on with extraordinary ra-
pidty the only full days work. on Friday, giving
two hundred and two rounds The labor OF firing
is very severe on the gunners, requiring them to
retreat nearly hundred feet at each discharge.
supply of cartridges in bags Of glazed muslin,
was kept in the bomb-propf. Bef0re Loading, the
gun was carefully swabbed out, and at every TWEEN
tieth round washed out and measured. Twenty
shells were strapped and placed in readiness in the
intervals of measuring, and no delay was necessary
in firing, except when SHE'LL buried in the hill at
some earlier discharge, was unearthed by succeed
ing shots, when it at once secured. The
measurements at every twentieth round were made
with extreme care, the star gauge used reading to
theusandths of an inch, and showing the slightest
enlargement OF the bore. An impression OF the
inner extremity Of the vent was taken at the same
time, and after the six hundredth round the first
vent was closed and the second drilled The fifty
impressions tilHa taken OF Inc venus are a curiosity
in themselves, as showing the gradual enlargement
Of the opening in certain directions from first to
last.
In finishing the bore Of the gun the finishing tool
accidentally split, enlarging the bore behind the
seat of the ball .O2G inch and scoring up the sur
face considerably. At the close OF the proof, one
thousand balls having been fred the greatest en-
iargement of the bore was found to be but .052
inch or .02e by f1ring-but little more than one
fifth Of an inch. The result proves that the mate
rial used in the casting Of the gun has never been
eQualled.
The firing was conducted under the supervision
of Commodore R. 3. Hitchcock, a gentleman who
has been in service over forty years and Mr.. VIM.
Netcalf, Of the Fort Pitt works, by Whom record
O. all the measurements was kept.
The proof charge of powder is ten pounds, and
in the test therefore, ten thousand pounds or five
| tons Of powder were expended. Many OF the balls
we're recovered and fired repeatedly, and about
five hundred were expended in the proof. The
shells weigh seventy-two pounds, making ag-
gregate of thrty-sx thousand pounds, or eighteen
tons Of iron fred. large portion OF it will be re-
| covered by digging. ,'
The result OF the test has been to prove conclu
| sivey that Dahgren gun can be made to stand
the severest of tests, without material damage OF
GGnger to those engaged in handling them.