New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-01-07


of a large portion Of their force by tesng made TO
glance upward The armament is as novel d. feature
az any other he,o1gue 10 tie ship. Iortholes ana
heavy bounb- tpoi c4sCmCI,s are opeute@ "i'N' aio
tie gnus Of immense caliber are to be- boldly placed
IN Iayletfe uron Che amer deck. Provision, how
ever IL to be MADE IL deemed cXpedent after actual
trials of the effect Of shot fired against guns IS
which they rrav lie protected by shicida Of wrought
irou. The guns arc : in nupber, Of Ii-ICh tor,,
ike the crea, Rodman gan a. Forte Monroe,
weighing 20 100 pounds each, and throwing hail Of
~ mounds veelt; and iO-inoh rtod cuts carrying
altogether 50 rer cent greater weight Of metal at
broadside than our heayi,s .-gln steam frg'tcs.
The weight ard thickness Of tlese Guns il ID SIP
posed will be suflceut TO insure them against
injury from shot llat may strike th'm; while novel
methods have been devised by when the men WHO
work them are al. except the gunner who AIMS
them. or. Of dancer. These were cxemplifed 10y
Actual experiments in tie afternoon in firing WIN
Two gun, tie one a ccum bad ct i0inch bore ana
the other a Parrot rfed gun Of 40 men pore
These gurs were placed upon temporary carriages "
heavy tinbers upon the edge 81 BANK tle muAAo
Of the colnmbiad projecting over al h'osed space
beneath, with covering representing the Geek upon
which the guns are to be Placed Berg
nearly balanced upon It's runnions, the mnzze
of the gun is easily caiaed downward
through an opening made in 'he deck for the pur-
nose. by means Of q tackle worked 10y the men be-
how. The bore is thre brought in line with
small cast-iron steam pipe in which If piston ter
uinating olt-de Of the pipe in a hammer andspcnge.
The bail, With its charge OF powder attached 10 1t,
ready placed in a little trough without ends under
tbe muzzlo Of the guu is raised up by lever, and
immediately rammed home AZ steam is admitted be-
hind the piston This is then admitted aganst the
other end, and the rammer is i,hdrawn; the gun
s instantly let back 10 ts place the whole operation
not necessarily occupying more than 80 seconds.
The lifting of the charge TO the puzzle might ob-
yiously also be very simply effected, II desirable,
by the sane steam power. A small boiler is sui
fcient for all the guns, with steam pipe and cast
iron cylinder with vayes for each one. On the ship,
however, no separate boiler would he needed. This
novel application Of steam struck us as OF great I'M
portance, and We have 10 question II VII prove So
even in the loading of the heaviest red-hot shells,
which may be rolled rom The furnaces, conveniently
placed into the trouehs and very readily transferred
into the guns Another valuable expedieut, which
appesrs srango that il not long ago introduced
into the service il tie Of ludl-uhber disks for
checking the reaction Of the gun, and reducing iis
backward ovenent to few inches Only, while by
their elasticity the gun If returned at once 10 rs
place Were the foi ward conclusion Is prevented by
shorter series Of dsks TIE carriages of tie guns
are to be protected by shoproof arnor and viii be
20 arranged thai they may re tanned - sny point
by the revolution Of vertical shaft corneecd with
steam machinery below. The result Of the firing
at the target from lbe coumJld was particularly
interesting IN demonstrating that he deck il 'front.'
Of the piece il in no danger from the effect Of lie
dbnharges-a fact which was gracefully admitted
sy Lieut.. Stiaeys o( the Naval Board Of LAamna-
lion, III he remarks at Nj. Stevens house in The
evening, The demonstFai ons III other re'Iecs added
noting new to what we already know Of the t''Si-
ill., penetrating power Of round and cylindrical shot
of 100 to l2l pounds weight. Actual service, or ,
experiments with several guns upon large ecale, {
will alone satisfdc oly demonstrate tie full batter
ing effect of iron pIoectes and, as these are OBJ
served to lie sometimes shattered IL pieces by the
eoncusson it might be well 70 vary the trials With
halls made Of strong metal tba, employed for
The best cast-iron guns, brought 20 its maximum
density 10y several remengs, and toughened 10y
lon annealing The use Of such shot yet un.
tried ia warfare, may lie found 70 produce more
marked effects upon plated ships, especially if several
be made 80 strike nearly together about the same
spot than have resulted rom any Of the famous ex-
perments yet made,
10 return 10 TIE chip. Ailusior hos been made 70
the proposed plan Of leiing down the ship N Tue
water in tine Of action by the admission Of talt
water into The tanks provided for reccivingit. The
otiec, Of this is TO place the lower and more uupIo
,eeed portion Of the Zip deeper urder the SUFFICE,
whore l,ss injury would ie-ut from the bale directed
sgsDs il. This can without question be readily ac- 4
complshed as was cxempied upon a small scale
by the Naugatuck a plated open gunboat con-
ttructed by Mr.. Stevens, which went through Va 4
riery Of eNoluions in the afternoon off tie shore,
view of the company turning upon her center in
pinu,es and 80 seconds, anf sinking . feet in Ia
ininuts and rsirg again by the act'on ~ steam
pumps IN minutes. Tie feasibility OF this AN, "a
proposed b. Mr.. Stevens, Wy which the ship il 10 be
seuled two feet il strongly questioned by TIE Naval
Board for several reasons; as, first, the ability oi
iie pumps to become chokcd with dust and paFtic,s
OF coal the plan being 70 let the water into the
tanks containing the coal, and into the bge Of tie
vessel, where refufe na'tcTs always collect among
tie floor tmbers. The pumps, however whicl.
Er. Stevens proposes 10 list, are Dot found liable
t. choke as employed upon the land for pump
ing muddy waters. ,. Tie coal ilzeli, being covered
win water might not be accessible for use when
wanted. s. Toe main deck on the load water line
fore and aft Of the o4ughou-e protected portion
of Tie clip, being thur brought two Feet below the
snrface OF the water. is liable 10 be inundated by