East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1861-11-19
CURIOSITIEs on MAR.

China and India, and there tho kuowL
edge of gunpowder seems to be coeval
With that of the most distant historic
events. Among the Chinese it has been
applied at all times 10 useful purposes,
zach a. blasting rocks and removing
distractions, aud to thosc of amusement
ia making vast variety of fireworks.
They also used il AZ means at deicnse
hy undermining the probable passage oi
an enemy anil blowing him up. They
constructed machines of bamboo, from
which they projected fire balls into the
ranks U! an enemy, and also certain in
fiamnablc preparations Nhich adhered
consciously to,buildings against which
they were discharged, setting tlr build
ings on fire. But rs a destructive pro.
pellant in firing balls from metal guns,
they do not seem To have used it till
about the period whom gunpowdcr be-
came first known to Europeans. AS
pytOtechnists they were very expert,
but they had not advanced beyond that
art ut the period referred to, though it
has been alleged that as early ~ . l6 Il.
C., the Chinese had made some progress
IN the construction of artillery.
As soon as eunpowder was knonnin
Europe, cannon was constructed; yet
they proved of SO uncertain an adyan.
tsyc to their inventor, that history has
fallcl To record the precise time Of their
first being used 10y Europeans. Until
about 1899, the use of artillery in Eu
rope was confined TO Spain. In 1873,
R,..Lar1 f..,l.1 10 ,al,,cr - NaIa
although he brought four hundred can.
non to she attack. Artillery was thus
introduced into all the European armies.
The Chinese and lliudoos kept pace
with them. In 1882, when the former
was besieged by the Mongols, they hai
Stone mortars which threw round stone
shot against their enemies. The ancient
CHINESE jiDgalis, which were loaded at
tho breech, show that brecch loading is
We're also familiar with gunpowder be.
yond all periods of investigation; aud
some years ago a colossal breechload.
ing cannon was discovered at the bottom
of n river ia Bengal, which carried a
ball eighteen and halt inches in diam.
ster. This is larger than the monster
ritied cannon just finished at Pittsburg,
which carries only twelve inch ball.
The Bengal gun was sixteen feet four
inches longer than that at Pittsburg. In
t+s0 the walls of Chanpanir were
preached by Mahmud Shah of Gaseret.
who at the same time fired shells into
the city. In 1893, the Portuguese found
the Indians possessed with artillery. In
1901, the Indians of Calicut opposed
those of Albuquerque, with fleet of
so ships, carrying $50 cannon. Though
tho seven ancient bells of Pekin, each
weighing 620,000 pounds, attest the
skill of the Chinese in meltiog great
quantities of metal, yet there is no rec.
ord Of any Of their earlier cannon having
been made by casting Indeed the evi.
dence is clear, that all artillery, for
probably three centuries, were made by
building up the guns as.u Of tYt l9qgjsud Hy
succession of rings which were shrunk
on while hot. These conirivanccs were
necessarily very imperfect and conse.
quently, very inefficient Yet their use.
fulness in battle was SO decided, that all
nations FASTENED to supply themselves
with cannon.
Napoleon declared at st. Helena -
Artillery, at the present day, decides
the fate of nations; and he who knows
how to bring a mass at his arm to act
rapidly upon particular point un
known to the enemy, is sure to carry it,"
Acting on this formula hir artillery
became the most formidable of any
then known in Europe. He ksst Ma.
reDgo under the fire of one hundred
Austrian cannon, but recovered it 10y
the skillful use Of only fifteen picccs,
unexpectedly brought up by Nsrmont.
At Friedland, 80 guns suddenly bro't
up, did more service than 10000 men
under Ney had done. In the passage
Of the Danube at Wagram, he covered
the army with three hundred guns. He
was constantly increasing his artillery.
He entered Russia with ,372 pieces,
and at the battle Of Borodino 500 were
brought into service, while the Russians
bad $40 in use.
AT Lutzen, where the French had all
but lost the battle, so guns were sud
denly brought up, broke through the
allied Russians and Prussians, and
charge by cavalry and tho Imperia!
Guard, secured the victory. In the gi.
gantic battle of Leipsic, the allies had
1870 guns, and Napoleon had 100 =
These he discharged $4,000 times At
Waterloo, however, the utmost superi.
ority Of Napoleon's cannon failed him.
In that action be bad 246 guns while
the British had but sc. It's an extra.
ordinary fact that during the whole Pc.
ninsular war the quantity of artillery
possessed by the British Was much less
than that Of the French, yet the former
were almost uniformly successful. 1t
Was when Napoleon brought his bat
teries into play against the Allies that
his successes were secured.
There are many curious facts 10 rela.
ton to guDpow der, which seldom reach
the public eye. The charcoal used in
making it 10 obtained from the poplar
and willow, and those branches Only are
used which are of about three years
growth, and the utmost care is taken in
charing them in iron cylinders. Powder