The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-10-19

the charger OF big guns wonld seem 70 have
been red-hot spikes or bars, which were in
troduced into the vent, and pair OF bellows
for heating the irons formed necessary
pess Of the artillery equipment Of the four
tecnth and hfteenth centuries. The ine0n-
veuience and danger attending this plan
became more conspicuous as the size and
power OF guns increased, and By tho middle
Of the hfteenth century IL had been almost
entirely suL erssded by the system OF priming
WITH loose powder, g small train Of which
vas laid up to and through the vent But
the red-hot priming irons were not at orce
got rid OF, for until the adoption ol match
made Tor the purpose, they were still used
to ignite the priming powder and Of this
inatch, or OK the linstock used for holding
it, We ind no mention until some time in the
sixtesnth century. About the beginning of
the seventeenth century the pruning powder
was in part superseded BY small piece Of
qaicknatch, which, being introduced into
the vent, acted like q weak tube To this
match the name P0Stfsu was applied-a
name which we still retain, although the
modern port6re," it need hardly De said,
is very different thing from the ancient
p0rtfe1- IL il remarkable that. although the
flint had been introduced atBdt this time,
or even earlier, as a means Of firing small
arms, no attempt seems to have been made
for about 200 years to extend Its employ
meDt to cannon. But the subject did not
stand still, and a great improvement was
efscted in the first half Of the eighteenth
century, when the quick or porfstea
w1s no longer used by itself, but was placed
in<ide o small tube, which could be dropped
into the vent, the head 0t the tube being
primed, and the train Of loose powder which
LED up to th event being done away with. IL
wAs not until the beginning of the present
ceotury that the simplitieation OF reducing
al Tubes to one uniform length was effected,
b4 BY this time the peculiar action of
tebe came to be understood. This action
10 due to the hole in the center of the CON-
position. the effect Of which is to expose a
large surface of composition to immediate
ignition, and the gas which IL thus generated
being subjected TO considerable pressure In
the cavity, necessarily rushes ia the only
direction In which an escape 40 open to it
viz through the tabe-with accommodating
force, causing an explosion, the effects OF
which are directed 10 the prolongation of
the tube. The adoption Of q safer and more
rapid means Of ignition 10 due 70 Sir Uhas.
Douglas, father Of Sir Howard Douglas, the
well-known writer on naval gunnery. Ia
ITS he formally submitted various pro
positions for improving, facilitating,
and quickening the service of naval
ordnance" including the introdp"tion OF
ffnt locks and quill tubes. HIS propositions
were not Immediately enter tained, and their
employment on land never became very gen
eral, and tubes igDited BY match or port
irs were generally used until l845 for land
service guns. The next great improvement
was the application Of the percussion prin-
ciple of ignition, an improvement 0f consi-
derable importance at sea, eiuce 1t made
the firing Of the gun more instantaneous,
and thus considerably increased the accu-
racy OF the practice made from the ever
moving platform Of shipboard. No tubes
of shis sort were mode for actual service un-
I'll about 1881. They were contrIved by
Marsh, OF the Royal Arsenal Surgery, and
improved upon in 1876 by Col. Dansey, X.
A. They consisted OF a quiz tube, with n
small cross-quin filed with decorating
composition, which was exploded by the
blow Of hammer fixed to the gun. For the
lsnd service, percussion tnbes do not seem
| y have been used until about the year 184t
when they may be considered to have been
established for both services, although their
| application to land guns was only partial.
Meanwhile attention mad been directed to a
.tabe which was brought to this country BY
| q German officer, which depended not upon
percussion but upon friction for its ignition
Id 1z51 Mr.. Tozer, of the Royal Laboratory,
succccded in perlecting copper friction
tube of the pattern nov In 0se, which was
adopted dor all land service arrliery in 1888.
1t was net..recommended for naval service OH
the ground that any mstaI tube would bs
dangerous and highly objectionable between
decks. But by 1855 quill friction tube bad
been and Adopted for naval servlce-she per-
cussion tube being retained, however, IN a
certain proportion, until last year, when IL
was formally prcnoupced obsolete. The in
troduetion of frictiO1 tubes was q great i'm
proEement for both lahd sDd SEA service; IN
the field they superseded ths comm on Tubes
and portfres, which had rendered the ser
vice Of the guns slow and imperfect, and th,
| use OF Which was attended with tue risk D
setting fre 20 ripe corn, dry corn. dIy grass
ETC., from the ignitsd ends Of por.ire whicI
| were cut of and thrown down. Fur sea
garrison, and siege services they got nd o.
thu hammer, making the firing Of the g2I
1 even .Uoee instantaneous aud convenient
These We the tubes now generally In use
Tesre remaias only to be noticed system
Of dring guns by el.s,sis Store TIE lndnc-
tive apparatus used with these tubes A.
tresneiy simple, portable and durable. Tn
electric tubes are used also for firing linn
gunso at Edinburgh, Glasgow. Sunderland
aad : rter northern towns, the current belnI
daily xsshed At neon along ordinary teie
graph wares from the Royal Observatory a
Greenwieh.-PaHM Null Gazette.
The Biterss Blt.
Some tine ago the story went the rOu6d
tosching nan who, having presented him
self In his shirt sleeves at the American Ma