Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-11-09


seven columns Of figures and declmsled bat.
taiions. One section relating to tho trials Of
Two lu-inch guns, one cast solid and cooled fiom
the exterior the other cast hollow and cooled
from the interior, is most valuable and goes
iar 70 lustify Captain ROdman's opinion in favor
OF hollow cast guns. Nor Is ANYTHING of The
kind with which am acquainted eousl In re.
search and value to his experiments On cannon
powder. and on the material for cannon. in
deed the papers are O monument of scientific
INDUSTRY, patient investigation - every step
marked by diagrams and illustrations of the
most finished character. The results of bis
labor may yet be undeveloped, but Recommend
Our engineers, artillery officers, and gunmakers
70 stuoy tnem' One result, however, Is the
hoaman gun: This piece OF ordnance, once
called tne "fioyd" gun, from the unsuccessful
retary Of War tsmpOre Buchanan, is one hun
dred and ninety inches long, has a marimun, al.
ameter Of lOrty-eight and one tenth. and
weighs forty-nine thousand and ninety nine
pounds. The star-guage does not show a va
Ration oil O00th OF an inch In the whole length
of bore Of fifteen inches.
The firing was commenced with 25 lb
charges OF powder, 6 in diameter each
gram, and shells weighing 800 10. and $40 Id =,
strapped to Cak sabots of III 10. The charpes
were increased by Id. increments Of large.
grained powder up to 40 lb., and trials we're aleo
made With peculiar powder called perforated
cake up to 90 ID At 20 deg. IS min. the per.
torated cake 81 ID. charge threw a 345 lb shell
5,200 yards; 4O 10. Of coarse powder, with more
than twice The maximum pressure of gas, threw
o $50 ID. shell, at the same elevation, 5,0S8
yards; 80 ID at deg. elevation, threw a 325
To- shell ,976 yards. The time of fight of the
first was 2643 Sec; of the second 1867 sec.;
OF the third 6s3 sec The gun is intended for
dlreet nre at short ranges. Horizontal Ere,
range l,765 yards, gave four richochets; mean
velocity, TAT feet per second; greatest recoil 80
inches. There are numerous experiments with
the gun and its effects, and the conclusion
seems to be that no construction on the water
could stand the impact of such masses of iron,
and that thick shells Zone third of exterior d.
ameter) would be more effective against mason
ry or iroD-clad ships than solid shot; for Can.
tain Rodman disbelieVes that perfectly eolid
sphere OF cast iron of even eight inches in d.
ameter, and of proper hardness, has ever been
made. AS soon as Captain Dahlgren has any
leisure he intends to try some of his heavy guns
against the strongest descriptions of iron plates
on sections Of shipping, and he ia quite confident
the large shell fred at low velocities, will de.
stroy them. Ia the qualities of iron the Amer.
leans soy our standard is much lover than
theirs, aud Captain Dshlgren informed me he
was surprised to find we were content with iron
In our guns of such inferior fibre.
October 9.--Having nothing more exciting to
do the other day, | sat down TO look over the
reports of General Mcclellan, Major Mordecsi,
and Colonel Delafeld, who were sent as mill.
tary commission to Europe, by Mr.. Jefferson
Davis, at the close of the Crimean war. Per-
haps the American people do not know that
their commission was treated with neglect, If
not with something worse, by the French author
tiles, and were not even permitted to see Mar.
shall Pellissier; while the English gave them
quarters in the Camp OF the Fourth Division,
near Cathcart's Hill, rations and passes, and
horses, and detached a staff officer to wait upon
them, and gave them passages in their steamers
whenever and wherever they required them
General, then Captain McClellan's report on the
Ctimea is contained in twenty-four uuarto
pages, we'll written, clear, and not destitute of
modest self-confdence. In many points the
General was misiDformed, but many of his OBJ.
servations, conceived though they may be in a
spirit slightly mOqueuT, as far as the allies, or
rather the English are concerned, chow consid.
ersble quickness and military knowledge
There were many things he could not have
known without great trouble, aud perhaps
Nu6Hs HNp w hn'O SiltlCl5euJ as lOE instance
his alleging that the English ought to have
taken Kazatch instead of Balakava. Wha
would have become of the South OF the plateau
on which we were encamped2
AS it was, Kazatch was in bad weather quite
unservlceaole, and Kazltch was nearly under
fire. We had joint occupation With the
French, just as the SIrdinlans we're ioiued with
US at one time in shares with Balaklaya. Ii
was not Neil, but Burgoyne, who first indicated
the Importance of the Malakhoff, and perhaps
it may be as well to add that on the 9th OF Sep
tember toe fail of the Redan would have deter
mined the enemy TO precipitate their retreat tc
the north side as effectually as the loss OF tbs
Malakhof, with the addition of causing then
very great loss, and possible surrender o.
masses OF men, from the command of the Re
dan over the bridge, which could not be touched
by the Malakhof. How little did the younl
ofhcer dream of his future destiny, or the event
In his country 80 near at hand, when he wrot,
his "Seeond Deduction from the Siege of Sc
bastopol"-that mere individual courage can
not suffice to overcome the forces, $780," bu
that it must be rendered manageable by dis
cipline, and directed by that consrmmate anC
mechanical military skill which can only be &C
quired by course of education instituted fo
the special purpose and by long habit, and earn
estly advocated the extension and improvement
OF militia and volunteer systems. The bulk o
his report relates to the organization Of Euro
pean armies, in the cavalry arm especially, an
does infinite credit to his industry, is we'll writ
ten and must prove valuable to the officers o
the regular army who read it. .s o..
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