Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-13
MnnnraAHrLA Hnnar-

ieit tho beautiful Forest City for THIS placki
dingy, smokey, but busy borough, where be
arrived ct this morning.
This afternoon, In company with some
friends, visited the famous Fort Pitt Works,
where Uncle Sam Is having manufactured
large number Of pocket pistols and huge
pins-such as Commodore Foote prescribed
out Of his ls inch nortarH, to the rebels at
Island No. 10. We SaW here tt0sHE siz i'm
msnls Is inch morsafs Dalghren and Rod.
man guns, from a ahiteen.ineh down to nine
inch, bore, all being turned in the latLss at
he tams hms-ths l5ineh gun Weighing
70, 600 poands in the rough, being trrNsd and
bored at he same operation Some ten or
twelve Of these pieces are eleven inch guns
7-the same size as those in use on the Noni-
tor--six are thirteen inch mortara one 3
fifteen inch RodmAn and the remainder are Of
nine and ten inch bore. It was q wonderful
sight to see such q number Of these t2emen-
dOul engines Of war being turned cut and
finished ct the same time. ss -.
The iron used In the manufacture Of these
pieces of Ordnance ia if such an extraordin-
sry hne quality, that 1t is nearly as hard and
Is tough Is steel. We saw two Workmen-
enc holding = huge cold chissl with both
hands and the other striking it with sledge
hammeE-.clipping Of the rough metal around
the trunions Of one Of these guns, and 60
hard was it that they could not clip OF any
larger pieces than single mschinist will
alone, clip Of from an ordinary piece Of
casting. -s-
The mode oteasting in use At these works
which was invented by Capt. R0dmsn, of
the regular serTice-.-givsS additional
strength to the guns. This mode differs
from the old fashioned method Of casting as
follows: Formerly when caRnons we're made
they were cast solid and then bored out. The
result was that the outside metal would cool
somuch more rapidly than the centre, as to
cause the metal to contract and thus Gre
ate Jaws. Hence there was q certain limit
to casting large sised ordnance owing to this
difficulty. Capt ROdman svercame this OBJ
stscle when be cast the fifteen inch Lincoln
gun, row ct Fortress Monroe, in this way
and in describing It will 60 through the
wholem modEs oPTGsd Of casting A pit was
dug in the foundry building about twenty
Eve feet deep and fifteen feet across and
bricksd up around like well. The pattern
Of the gun was inserted, breech downward.
The moulding sand was then packed tightly
around It and the pattern Withdrawn, leaE-
ing hollow iron core in the centre of the
model, covered on the outside with q mix
ture of sand and clay. The bottom Of this
hollow core or tube was water tight, Inside
of this tube was another and smaller tube
which was open at the bottom. This small
er tube was much longer and higher than
thslarger tube. After the thirgJsDs tORi Of
molten metal-(ths quantity necessary to
cast I5-inch gum was run into the mould,
8 constant stream of water was kept pasting
through the smaller tube to the bottom and
U5p En1 was conveyed on. By tins opera
ton the inside of the immense casting .was
cooled before the outside was, enabling the
outside metal to contract on its core without
tearing the grain Of the EOA apart, by the
inequality Of the contraction of the metal.
So successful has this mode Of casting been
that Capt. ROdman is now engaged in super
intending the casting Of tOOsny ilek glas-
which viii carry balls weighing 1890 pounds /
The Fort Pitt Works has contracted with
the Government to make number Of 20-inch
and fifty Of I5-inch guns. Large buildings
are being erected and added to the old sstab-
lishment for the purpose Of putting in extern
sive machinery for turning and finishing
these guns. Two immense cupola furnaces
have been finished Of capacity to melt ffty
tons Of metal. These, added to the old fur
naces, viii enable single casting to be made
requiring 80 tons Of molten mstaI the amount
necessary to cast a twenty-inch gun being
about 70 tons. This sized gun will weigh,
when finished, 100000 pounds, or City tons,
being just twice as heavy as the Lincoln
gun, which weighs $1,000 pounds. =
The capacity Of these works are such that
they turn out monthly between thirty and
SOrty 1s-inch nortsrs and guns Of ali sizes,
ranging from a nine inch to fifteen inch
When the new additions are furnished, they
will be able to turn out more than double
this number.
Its noteworthy fact that the large guns
Of the size of ten.inch bore and upwards,
which have safely stood the test are manu-
factured only in this country. The famous
gun which exploded on board the steamer
Princeton in 1874, killing two members of
President Tyler'S Cabinet Secretaries UpshUr
and .Gilmer, which was Of about the same
calibre Of the ll.inch gun, was made in
England, and Of course was q failure. Some
three years since the English made great
blustsr over what was called the trEersey
Gun" which had 12-inch bore. This gun
burst while being tested Since then no at
tempt has bean made By the English to make
guns larger thar Ti-inoh bore (tbs Arm.
strong gun carrying 100 lbs elongated shot)
till recently, WhsR Sir William Armstrong
succeeded in making lO3 3.inch smooth bora
gun, carrying bail weighing l5e lbs, over
which gun John Bull is exceedingly rejOiced,
thinking he has done something Wondsrfulin
making it. Our 1l-inch guuE carry round
balls weighing $50 lbs, and our government
has over hundred in use. The solitary lO}-
inch gun the English have succeeded in get
ting uP, carrying a bail weighing only lbs