Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-03-21
WrouEht-Iron ana Steel sho,,

/ anu DAEGA SuoLa
In the next eight between the Merrimac
aud the Monitor a new kind of ball will be
used il our ship, which must add greatly
to her destructive power. We mentioned
some days ago that the Monitor had among
her ammOnitien a supply of Wrought-iron
shot. These lay idle In her action With the
Aerrimac, Captain Dahlgren fearing 10
have them used in battle before certain
trials had been made With them. All
doubts will be settled before the Monitor
goes into action again, and then we shall
discover IL the MsFrimAe'S sides are invul-
nerahle against this new bullet.
I Cast iron shot, fred against really
| shOt-proof iron side, are found to break
sometimes TO crumble away, A hundred.
pound ball, made from a piece Of forged
iron, turned to the proper shape in the
lathe, will not break, and its impact is, of
course, much more destructive. Wrought
iron shot are expensive, but If they will
sink the enemy's ships the expense is OF
little consequence. Those made for the
Monitor cost. We have heard, forty eight
dollars each. An iron founder OF PITTS.
6prgh has, we notice, just received pa
tent for steel shot, and u quantity of these
are now getting ready at Pittsburgh for
trial near Washington. Wrought-iron aud
steel shot, If our Monitors can use them,
will give them great advantage over their
anlagonists.-H. /. Post.
In connection with the foregoing, we
may mention that we we're shown yester-
day, dis.grams of steel proiectile, in-
tended to penetrate the iron-clad huIls of
such vessels as the Merrimac-the ball to
be long, conc.shaped like the Mimic: the
forward part to be solid aad composed of
tempered steel, the hinder part to have two
apartments, one filled with percussion pow
der and the other with missiles. The powder
apartment is designed to be in the centre,
to be reached by fuse like IN ordinary
shell. 1t is thought by the protector Of
the plan, that such ball, fired from a
powerful gun at close range, would peue-
trate the thicket armor, aad that it would
then explode within the vessel, and blow
everything in reach to atoms. The ball as
proposed is to be large enough to contain
sufficient explosive material to blow the
side of a ship to pieces; and the missiles
being thrown by the explosion chiefly
backwards, would tear of the covering Of
the vessel on the side next to its adversary.
We are not scientific enough to form an
opinion as to the merits of the suggestion.
We suppose the great consideration would
be whether a steel ball so formed would
penetrate better than iron, or enough bet.
ter to justify the experiment, OF course
the combination of shell and ball, could
such projeCtile be successfully planted
inside vessel, would make it terrible
destroyer. Whether such ball could be
made substantial enough to withstand
the shock of the collision, might be
question. We suppose however that
practical men could very soon satisfy them.
selves whether there is anything in the
suggestion. 1t appears to us on general
principles that steel is better for such a
purpose than iron; and as such balls would
only be used at short range, and the mum.
Der needed necessarily few, the expense
would not be worth considering ]; the more
especially where such important results
were to be attained.