The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-20

plished the catch is released the superior
weight of the counterweight brings it down
and raises the gun into the firing position,
whence, after delivering its fire. il again re-
treats. 1t will, perhaps be possible for our
readers TO gather from this rough general
de, cription a fair notion of the msn features
of the Invention. For fuller details they must
turn to other sources. Next to the bold but
simple conception of treating a huge gun as
though it were rifle, what is most to be
admired is the Ingenious way in which this
conception has been carried out. The end is
accomplished without having resOrted to
any new force or elaborate mechanical
contIivaDce. All that is done is to
utilize a force which had hitherto been not
only useless, but absolutely hurtful. The
force of recoil has always been great bug
bear with artlerists. 1t has been a destruo-
tive, troublesome force, to be got rid of some
hoW-to be checked by breaks, and buffers,
and friction surfaces, to be absorbed by great
weight in the gun, 10y great strength in the
carriage, and by stout piv0ts, and racers, aud
platforms. But always it has been an agent
potent for evil not for good-one of which
artillerymen would gladly be quit. This
force Captain MOnorieH has converted into a
useful ally, and cOaxed into doing invaluable
service. He makes it the muscle of his sys-
TEN. 1t carries down the gun after firing;
and, stored up in the counterweight, it raises
the gun after loading. No expression better
describes what Captain Moncrief has done
than one which he himself used in
lecture some years ago at the Royal
United Service Institution. He said that he
''set one elephant to tame another" There
is something exceedingly beautiful and philo-
sophical in this contrivance and none the less
credit is due to Captain Moncref because it
seems, now that it has been accomplished,
almost selfevident. Inventors out of work
must, one would think, be tearing their hair
at the thought of how great and obvious an
opportunity they have let slip But it has
been done at last, and that with so perfect and
careful an adjustment of constructive detail,
that the most complete and remarkable sue
cess has attended the first trials. Speaking
broadly, we may say that in the course of
the trials which have this summer and
autumn been made with a G5-ton gun,
mounted in this way, and giving, with ele-
vators, cOunterweight, and carriage total
moving mass of twenty y-two tOLs, no hitch
worth mentioning has occurred. The
working of the system has proved in
all respects admirably satisfactory, far more
so tLan its most saDguine supporters could
have expected. The gun has shot accurately;
the carriage has worked smoothly; it has
proved rapid in operation and surprisingly
easy to work, so easy, indeed, that on one Oc-
casion detachment of three men worked the
| gun and fired i've rounds at a moving object
| with fair rapidity. With larger detachments
| (ten men and a non commissioned oficer) and
little more experience, rate OF fire OF
one shot in minute and three seconds has
been attained. The carriage has been covered
with sand and dirt, and has still worked
| satisfactorily. The rejecting sight, by means
OF which the gun can be laid without expos
ing single man, has answered we'll. And
although the trials are not yet completed, but
little remains to be done, If anything,
to establish the invention as an accom-
IrN1t had % n1o,
| applications of the system and its remarkable
advantages would furnish matter for a sepa-
| rate article. But we must notice as briefly as
| possible the main advantages which will accrue
from its adoption. In the first place, the pro-
teciion which it affords seems all that is to be
! desired, and very much more than until lately
! appeared TO be attanabe. Not a man need be-
exposed, and the gun itself only appears above
tbs parapet for the few moments necessary to
enable it to be laid and deliver its fire. The
parapet may be as thick as is thought neees-
saIy, land that most efficient of all materials,
earth, can be employed. A thick earth para
pet may, indeed, be made practically inde-
stiuctible. We had tolerabe evidence of this
in the case of the parapets which formed the
landward defenses OF Sebastopol. The gun
derives also incidental protection from
the fact that, as it only appears for
moment and leaves no trace of its
whereabouts, nothing remains for an
| enemy TO nre at. But captain M0ncrleH pro-
poses to use, on occasion, no parapet at all.
He proposes to place his gun in "gun-pits,"
thus making the natural surface of the ground
his parspet. In these cases there is absolutely
nothing for an enemy to destroy. When a
parapet is used it becomes possible to mount
the guns on travelling carriage on rails, and
go TO run it along from one part OF the work
to another. And the uncertain, mementary
appearance OF gun over parapet would be
scarcely less embarrassing to an enemy than
its sudden and unexpected appearance out of
the ground where no defenses are known to
exist. The absence Of any horizontal strain
due to recoil removes the necessity for expen-
sive solid foundations for the platform, in ad-
dition to rendering practicable that sppliOa-
tion Of a carriage on rails of which We have
presents much advantages; costly iron
S ields or still cOstller cupolas will
in certain positions be no longer
needed. And, oviDgto the command and tree
lateral range of the guns mounted in this way,
one "MOncTietf' gun would be equal TO at
least three firing through embrasures. When
gun pits are used it would be unnecessary to
make them before the actual occasion arose,
and thus the plan of great part of our forti-
ficatiOns would be kept secret, and all the ex-
penses of repair avoided. All that would be
necessary would be to decide where guns
should be placed in case of need, and to keeu
a supply OF these carriages ready against any
emergency The invention promises to effect
& considerable and economical revolution il
the science OF defense-economical, whether
we consider it in regard to the nature OF the
parapet, the number of guns required, tn,
cost of the defensive and mechanical appH.
ances, and the saving OF life; while it mus
? add greatly to the efficiency OF the defense