The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-27

mental frings. The first days operations were
against targets composed OF granite aud con
crete, with thin plate of iron in front. 1t
should hardly have been difhcult to progno5ti-
cate the result of practising against such tar
gets with the artillery there employed with
full charges. Very naturally, the targets were
knocked to pieces.
The second and third days practice, at
least as reported, excite similar reflections.
We are told that operations, on the former
day, "were not resumed till nearly noon, as
the Board were engaged in consultation upon
the results effected the day before" Tbs
stronger targets then fred at were also com
posed of stone-work, brick, and concrete, with
iron plates in front, strongly supported by
wrought-iron pillars. Did it require expert
ment to believe that such guns, with full
charges-or even the service artillery of other
powers-would break up these structures at
once, and render any guns behind them in
operstivei
We are told at length of the enormous de-
struction effected by each shot, smashing" I"
''demolishing," Cracking" or "ruiniug"
whatever it touched. We see one shot
'cIumbling the masonry for some two or three
feet in thickness entirely to pieces" aud
another "ploughing its way clean through the
stone-work, and knocking large pieces far to
the rear" Bolts are riven, embrasures
broken up, targets riddled like sieves.
But to what end What was this done to
prove9 What was the object to be accom-
plished And what is now known that was
not known before We are told that "the trial
was highly satisfactory to all parties" Bat,
how Satisfactory ?" AS being Just what all
had expected, and therefore not disagreeably
disappointing any one We May perhaps agree
that no different issue of the experiments
could have been looked for, and that therefore
nobody was disappointed. But in that case,
what becomes of the iron veneering devised
for our masonry forts
The practical value of ordnance experiments
undoubtedly depends on their relation to the
main point sought to be proved or disproved
by them. Was the object of these firings to
ascertain the power OF our guns, or the
strength of our forts 7 Ii both gun party
and a targetparty were present, contending,
as is customary, one against the other, the
result could hardly have equalled ths expee-
tations of both. We have been lately told by
the Chief of the Engineer Corps, that the pro-
lection of granite by iron plates should be
made the subject of deliberate investigation
and experiment II this be part Of the ex-
pertinent so alluded to, 1t eau hardly be salts
factory to those who had faith in those targets,
at least. AS to the guns, we cannot discover
that anything new has been demonstrated re-
garding them.
Usually the gun-men and the target-men, in
experiments with national ordnance are op-
posed, each in a friendly and fruitful ri
valry striving to outdo the other. But in the
experiments at Fortress Monroe there is nc
evidence of such prefes sional competition
The gun-men never put large charges into
their own guns so long as they can help 1t, il
we may fairly judge from experiments
hitherto, and that, Of course, suits the target
men exactly.
We write about this subject the more
plainly and seriously (though, of course from
the public, not the professional point of view
because the problem of national defense is a
very grave one with all powers, and We wish
to know exactly what We can rely upon. A.
to these experiments, as has already been in
timated, we do rot consider them to have
established ANYTHING nsuspected,