The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1861-05-11

made teri iblc breaches in the works, and no
fo LITIGATION could stand against them They
are however. not always to be cliei on for
accuracy and strength. Some have burst in
the most destructive manner, but whether il
was owing to their being too light for their
charge and weight of ball, OF to HE tendency
Fof the ball 10 go stIaleht iniwa,d, and thu S
wedge itself in attempting to pass the very
gradual curve Of the life bore is undctermined.
Que great objection to Them is their great
weight. which is serious lmpcdmrnt in the
transportation Of a siege or field gun and
another disadvantage rs the cost OF sustaining
them. for each charge costs at the lowest
calculation goo, or SlO0 The average cost
Ola Lancaster gun complete is about e. ,0U0
or $4,000. Among the other rihed guns
used In foreign service are the
CAyATLl AND wAnREND GUNS.
These pieces Of relied ordnance were tested
in 1916 and found 10 he p,actical. They are
brerch loading, but fo, long continued use
are not as safe as other heavy guns. Tia, of
CavallI is perhaps considered the best. and
was invented BY Col Cavalli, of the Sandman
army upon pretty mach the same prncipa |
as the Lancaster gun. consisting of AN oblons
form OF cast lion, pointed at the top, con,ex
ming len.thwise 10 correspond with grooves
in The gun. The Prussan Ordnance Depart-
ment have some few heavy riAcd guns,
tut as yet they have not been sufficiently
tested to prove a perfect success. We now
turn to the Ordnance Department of the
American army. and notice the great improve
ment our scientific officers have made in heavy
ordnance. The most celebrated gun used by
pnr in, 4 r
siege and garrison purposes is the
CoLULBIAD GUN.
The Columbad is a recently invented: gun
Of great range. combining the essential Qua |.
tes OF the ordinary Sca.coast gun, howlzer,
and mortar. They are Of eight and ten.inch
ca'lbre, and are capable of projecting solid
shot or shell with large charge of powder.
at an angle of from 5 deg. below. to 80 deg.
above the horzon. H. outer appearance the
Columbad is similar 20 the ordinary sea.
coast cannon. but in internal shape more like
the howlzer. Its full range is about two
miles, with an extra range of three miles. -
The eight-inch weighs about 5000 lbs, and
the charge of powder used is 10 lbs The
weight Of the solid shot is 46bS. the shell
81 lbs. The ten inch gun weighs Is 0U0 lbs
and the charge is 10 lbs, of powder, The sol id
shot weighing l2S lbs., and the shell lOOlhs.*
In 1853 there were . $40 eight aud ten.inch
Co!u:nbads and sea-coast howi,Zcrs in use in
our Publications., Of which over 600 were
CoInmbladS. and We were informed by an
officer OF the ordnance that up to the present
time there were over eco in use, and new ones
bong manufactured daily. Most of our heavy
iorIlhcatiuns, from Name TO Florida, have in
use these terrible guns.
THE DArLGREN GUN
is used for SLIP service and naval batteries.
and is the most perfect naval gun ever con-
slructCd. 1t was construed nv Commander
john a. Dahlsren, Of the United States navy.
to he used either for she'll or solid shot It's
merit consists of a reduction Of the proportion
OF meta between the muzzlc ard tiunnionS.
winch is found in guns of the common pattern
largely in excess The greater part Of metal
at the breech Of gun, instead of the muzzle.
mt only gives strength at the part where the
danger OF bursting is the greatest, but also
tends to diminish the force of the rccoi..-
The Dah'grrn guns are 8 and l0inch calibre
in the sh,i, guns, and are used for firing shells.
schrapnell. and canister shot. So satisfied
have been the Board of Ordnance with the
Dahlgren and lOlnch guns that all our
steam sloops and ganboats have been armed
with them. They are singular to the Column
biadS. and their weight, range, charge. and
weight OF shot are nealy similar. They have
stood severe tests of trial and proof aud are
undoubtedly the best naval guns in the world.
Riff d cannon for field service are now attract
ing much attention among military men
About three years since new model gun
was tested at Atncs's mandatory, in Cabot
VILE, Mass, called
TIE JAMES RIFLED CANNON.
The new invention was patented BY Gen.
James. Of Rhode ISLAND in 1858. and is a
brass field piece for light batteries. nilcd. an
".iptical bore. with a conic1l shot Of curious
construction. The great advantages claimed
by Gen. james in this invention are. that.
owning to the peculiar contraction Of the
ball. It's passage through the grooved cham
Der OF the pieces saves the winlage giving to
the shot greater rotation greater force, and
greater precision. Its range Is y to 3 miles.
and in the experiments tried by board of
officers convened fcr that purpose in 1859.
one shot was made with | ID. Of powder
which projected slug ball nearly miles. -
The pressure however, is tremendous, and it
is to be doubted whether it would answer the
purpose of firing shell without danger. 1t
has not been adopted by our Government. we
believe, and we learn that the invcnto, is APP
plying the principle TO brecch- loading gun
OF six pounds calbre. The ball is conica in
shape, like the Minnie ball, hollowc cd at the
base, with an air chamber. in which are
grooves, which presses air by the force of the
powder on to u lead and canvass covering
forcing the sheet lead into the rifed grooves
Of the chamber and smuggling the ball, thus
saving the windage and producing the eff cts
as above described. Whether it will be
brought INTO use by our Government remains
to lie seen.
MORTARS.
Nlortars are as ancient as cannon. and
were employed TO throw Ied-hot iron and
stones before the invention Of shells The
first shells used were in 1885, when Naples
was besiegcd by Charles VIII, at which
siege they were said to have made terrible
havoc among the enemy. They are manu-
facutcd OF iron and brass. The iron are
s, 10. and l3-inch calbre, and the brass s.!
and 4. As inches in bore. The l3.inch iron
require 8 pounds to the charge, the l0-inch
pounds, and the S-inch 2 pounds. The
largest mortar in the world was cast by NJ.
Maliet, for the British Government, to carry
II shell weighing l6 pounds. but it proved a
failure. 1t was So inch bore.
HowITZERs.
IIowitzcrs arc pieces of ordnance of medium
length between the cannon aud mortars,
used for throwing shells or large balls at
pont-blank range, or at small elevation.f-