, 1862-11-19
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The Ericsson battery Passaic made her
final trial trip Oh Saturday. Sac steamed
tight En;sts IN hoHr Gn her return up tie
river. Her departure Was taken from the D.l-
MISTER Iroa Works, where sle had c3ne to
have her boilers cleansed. A large nuHoer OF
scientific o1i.ers cor::zeEatesl at lie iron
works. The fcll5TicS gentlemen were On
board:
Admiral Gregory, general superintendent
Chief Engineer Sinners (tna only beleveri in
the great ides.(.
Chief Engineers La7ton aad Robic.
Capt. Uras ton, commander Of the Passaic.
Firing commenced 1t halt-past l.
Tie iirst shot struck about 800 yarilB from
the vessel in the water,. gla;iGeh o1f, and flew
brnke-lhe turrtS Was thers. as Rtrong AMI
Eoiid d rock. The co5cussion Was not felt
any more than the captain Of 32-pouG1er
feels it on board tEigate.
Che jirst fire resulted in 60 satol1: to speak
Of, no inconyenicnt conclusion. and iii; COM
charge consisted OF 20pounds Of powder, and
q hollow shot $3.50 polluds.) fired ont OF the
15-inch gl11. It recciled Il inches.
The scond shot was fred GU. OF the 1i.;uch
gun, there being really no need Of disciarsjag
the 11-lrca. The first shot having proved the
charge oi - Jos Of powder was now put in.
Notwithstanding the success Of the expert
mental fire, tbe titnld onrs still kept i.i the
background. Capt. Drayton pulled the trig-
ger. Once more thu ccnuss Of the Pals;d,s
Targ out. The re:oil aud SNAKE vera re-
hollow one-bulfed itself again in tile tealu.
Cheers we're 1oluiy given ior tha P-s5ai:. The
noise is only Troublesome outside the inT7es,
on deck, where 10 one has a2y business 10 be.
The rccoi1 WAS Il feH inches greater than as
drs:, owing 10 lAe con.Erc:ser5 not ocing prop
erly ti2hte1lul.
d, the third shot the compressers were
riEhied, and there was eTeu i:,as racoil than
81 first. ! tull thirty-aSe pound change was
put in, and the ::3'o-pound hobby shot. The
desire to elevate the gun, or to test any but
tie one great principle.
Ths facts established bJ the experiment are
Us follows,
LIST. A gun may be fred inside turret.
I'd. In order to appreciate the nature Of the
Armstrong guns in England have been con-
dernncd for use on shipooard, chiefly because
8 sufficient number OF meu could not be
placed in the'turret to work them. Twenty
Eve failed to do it satisfactorily, and the Arm
strong gun weighs but fourteen tons. Oa
Which weighs twenty tons. Next week Nj.
Whitney will put Il, ,0ca-pcuua qua on board
the He eokuk. which will require twenty nlen,
while the <, GOO pound Of the Passs;c is moved
by four.
Sd. The third result is very important one.
It is the inlmcbility Of the Passaic. Waves
bresk On the iron margin OF the craft aud
splash In harmless foars about the deck. They
have no hull to stIike-no high bulwarks :
even the tnrret presents an anglia at every
! side. So muen for the results.
! Tie folio ring is . tabular zacapitulation OF
| tho experiments:
:i;a1 Charge Of
F,st s,, wssS6so a.; 1s i,o,,ou, Rowsnass. E:coil
Second shot g, tos, {ho!low) s. ibs. ST. IL ia:5
| TEi1d shot $50 lbs. IS 1os. &c. Sinch
After tie trisl, Chief Engiaecr Siaer5 re
| ported the result to Captain Eerlesson, HI
| said:
"Cantai Ericsson, allow me to conrratu
late yon on the signal Service you have reu.
/ dtred to the government and to olr countrY.'
"Nhat2" asked the i1on-clad man, t-yiuE
TO CONCEAL curiosity aud anxiety that almost
changed his entire appearance.
''Tneexperimenti is thoroughly successful, u
This was said with smile
"You are joking"
mo, not joking; am about to telegraph
TO Washington what have seen. and that il
the grand success of your grand idea"
Ericsson Erasptd his band and retdened lik.
4 child II knew it all along, myself," b;
said, "but al save you, sinners, went agai1s
I me-"
The service pE:7asations Of this Vessel ar
nov begun. TIE experiment having demon
Etratcd The perfect success Of the arrangemen
in The turret, strong duty apparatus viii b.
made 10 eupersade that which Was temporar1
il got up 1o1 the trial trip.