New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-09-03
wyy DO CANNON BURST 2
Mr.. wizards BENSON Why.

SIR.
money and experiment which have been expended
bv our own ordnance officers OF the army and navy,
and the extensive and costly system of experiments
conducted o. lie ordnance departments OF England,
IrauDe nd Prussia, with view 10 the production
of ours Of tie LARGEST possible caber, rihed and
smooth bore on~ IG-inch solid shot COlumbiad and
;och hollow shot u are the largest guns that have
vet been made and introduced into actual service.
It's true thai O. a. Ro}man has succeeded i'll pro-
dueiur by o ,ec. ~ method of hollow casting, cast
iran INNS Of Ijipch smooth bore and rihed guns OF
l2nch ca iber; that IS to say, he has made one gun
Of each Of thete hcrs. 'other Of which has ever
been brought into Jal service though submitted to
te.t At Fortress Monroe which some have deemed
sufficient. Ia Eu land, the 6S-pounder smooth
bore s,hd-shot Cuu Is co ,ldered tie largest and
most elective, safe cfsi-ifon gun IN mat service
This 6S.pouudcr has been adopted by the EngiisI
Government after long experiment, the largest
size of gun from which excessive charges of powder
can be Il ed. and with it they have attained the
greatest penetration ever made on iron plates while
our Koduen gun has OILY been fred under peculiarly
faVOI able circumstances, IN the hot sun, Ortrcs5
Monroe, with considerable intervals between TIC
firing, wltl sl0wbuIliug powder, as though cheini-
cally sduela ,ed aud alt4 hollow shot; 0slfwe bad
CHOSEN 30 depud rather uuon the moral eject o
IOnderOgs enaine- o was than the mechanical elect
of the crushing anl penetration o. iron plates. After
numerous trials by loadwell, Crunp Armstrong
Whtworlh, Blakey, Dablgren Rodman, Parrot
aud others. il mas been found impossible to make d
ONLY safe gun, forged cast OF any material
20 project even soId shot, either rihed or smooth
bore weiglln, 10 pounds.
Tue great changes tnat have been introduced into
naval architecture by the Introduction ot IRON Tor
The framework AID covering OF the iron hnls OF
ships aud the sheatuing OF these iron hul!s WIZ
impcnetrable ormOr, thus making them safe
against the most sOrOus assault even from cOnctn-
-. Of II
etrated The necessity for guns Of lar greater oal0er
constructed 20 lie absolutely safe from bursting
when ueod in confined turrels and casemaies.
Hitherto in tits country and 10 great extent
elsewhere, il has been sought 10 shrond the manu-
facture OF large guns In mystery anu the knowledge
obained the expense of the people has been hePl
as belonging only 10 lew ordnance officers OF tEe
aro.y aud navy, while every encouragement has
been thrown in tie way Of the so-deemed outslde
interference oinye tors and manufacturers VIII new
ideas Yet It stested fact that nearly every val
liable Improvement IL large and small guns and pro
eCtIiut fOr many yeais lGst, has been TIE lnNeLloh
o. sug csrOn Of outside The Ordnance Depart
mert, aud has only been adopted indirectly or
by tue re- slles. force Oi circumstances.
No little AMOUNT Of surprise Is expressed by mex
peri persons TIA. the Acknowledged difficulty o.
m.kius re guns Is not overcome Oy usES stronger
material; ~, ior instance wrought IRON or steel 10
til place Of t-iTon. Ordnance officers excuse TILE
discrepancy The plea OF the impossbility OF weld
ing iarg- masses perfectly and often speak OF tie
mysterious force ii guEpond DER Prof III, az we'll o.
Hayvarj College Slows distinctly how large guns
nav be maze CI these strong materials, and tn
unvhantly pOnts out by calculations which cannot
be dsproyed, that Inc pressure Of the powder can be
resisted by guns made upon lis plan; yet BIS miIa
tors, IN carrying out his theory have failed
as often others bad done before
Captain Roduian says, p 131 OF his Reports,
that Iair OF S-Iach guns, cast III 1872 bust al
The eghty-ifth fire. This very low eudarInc-
was attributed to The inferior quality Of he Iron
from which they were made. Two ycots We're
spent III searching after Deter quaiiy Oi lr)n,
~tich 'cGs uadoulteiy tJaHd, and Ia Sol another
pair of Siach gus clet. The iron il these bad
tenacity OF nearly 5000 lbs., while thai o. NE
iron in tie first pair Was only between = oOJ ana
- 06O los. Nevertheless, the Lew gons burst
At the seveniy-;iii.d fire, She suleFio. iron
giving the Inferior gun. Another pair o.
lO.inch guns was Iuade from The metal, with a
tcnaci.y Of 81 900 lbs., and tGe gun bnrst 10 TIE
twentieth ire. Tie result weakened cJnLdcnce ~
strong iron and Ic tenac.ty was reduced, no duct
contradict oH 50 he &te0Iy rfc' accounted JJf L'
teory IT the barlns .ftlr guns.
Anthc Ell er AeDt in the exclusive school OF Gov
erImeut Ordnance Dc ailments, both n ,LIs country
AMI In Europe, tfys be hitherto conducted, as We
have said, upon the assumption that tue bursting OF The
gun wac due alone the expansive fore oil gun
powder while in combustion III The chanuor Of the
gun and that this itcu.y was alone TO he provided
against; thus no laI change has been made Ol
proposed III the shape, proportions aud relative
weight OF shot and gua. Nevertheless, elaborate
anG costly lllusla.sd works have teen Published
from time 70 tue, and very recently, ~ The
ouv own country, in which are 70 Dee foulI
fe,sIOts Cf ignorance like tLese: lsee Egduans lie-
porte 0: Experiments on Metals, p. 5Jl
ProbftHi'y bows yer is not IN rcfge, but + tae Ho
u. ca low 30 offered a. wei r.oa ts Che cd-eree So
tue endIrfnCs oi gnrs g. and cco"0 IN The
Ls-s loaI ~ as other points Of
We d. Lot ig Tor e1sup e. wat qua tiles n iron ere
n,cr.sary -A- the if did. d.
hos hoa say o. It, ores coHstaDJ.y to prodsce Iron which
" MT kaaL whether glas should BE- cost hollow Or
st. no tie .olef rte q. coolt To- either ~ de ssfirg
VcIcf those i1is@ cateT should be fzde wIt1 wiz
Ne d. k.7 he eaec,s # time upon te eudu4sce Of
=, .wh-lneI tIrg better when stef they have
- , ausco ivel ."rc b OF iiinc.
W d. aot ha0r tbe i.s0imum sta,iCs pressure due 10
,;,-, -. -At Of aLd much Che
,o,-,ti5 the tie rate al application OF
fo cses ne blftils tendency 10 lcl Tie. o.. DE Uni
nof In. the difference in endurance due % given
dfel,nco in burn tnesncy a. each diseharge what
~csnt q PfJ 'e.ae v6 ,Ea sie.- ~ ''DL's a.
70 ~ .iy,n' 40 r. ~. ina Il fr mess OF nIe,sL
We do not nou the DIFF ence IN bursting tendency due
10 wen derrucc az tempe azure Oi tie same charge Of
powder At The nSneDt 81 gnit0De ,'.-,
70 produce given velocity Of prrcl.e VII" INC i'ui
bprsting tendrncy upon toe gun.
di is believed interests Of the country
wouI be- promoted military point Of yie'' % IIIns
eas peh practicable upon sei;e' o. M S
which would snpp, positive knowlrdse IN pace o. Ifoo
ay aud positive ignorance ~ many ohe nus o.
te u'go ineoi,s' e. t" the -'sio. oeie's, -. - S
u9ls should ended 10 tin o. ieses anu i4on
oyrowug Treasury, 'Aan tba iHse gun nou.a DN'S
in action"
When guur owder il fired from gun two prominent
phenomena are to be observed; the wonderful ex-
pnnsive force which elects the shot, and the beat
which results from the combustion OF the powder
As we have already said, the elect OF the hrst has
alone been considered hitherto by ordnance officers
IN all is bearings; while in reality. In large guns, the
effect o. the second though Of more consequence, has