, 1873-12-27

- Know II, HalH tho FrcaNont 'lor, II we
constructed our cal,,ioll uoeordng 10 tlloao pro-
portionn, It woull only he 225 fcrt lnn:.'
"porfoctly ridiculous :" crioa ]. Y. Mnston.
" Yon might III vol taho pistol
Just no. nnswOrea tilu P:e9idenl, "nhu l0r
foot long"
Tha wns agreed to- md tho longtl1 ot the can.
moi, wAs Bottled. II WAS thcn Undermined thnt
tho alos allould bo nix fact tillcl.
"Ion will probably not mount 1t OIL u cur
liagol" naid ono Of tEio Committee:
''oh, that would bo grand" aaid j. Z. Mus
ton.
"But impracticablo," snil tho President. II
na , eHst lo g'n IN Tho gronM ana u Wy mus
1t was, subsequently, determined tO make tho
cannon Of cRst-lron, md It waa bnllevod tiat
such Il gun, perpe,Mlcnlarty mud solidiy set IN
the earsh, would not be likely 10 burst.
Tho Committee then wont to work to calculate
the weight Of d cast-irot cannon! nino hundred
foot long, will, bore nine foat in diamotor, autl
with s.cB six feet thick !; mud aoon aseorta'nod
that tho cannon would wcigh Gs.oao tons, ainl
would cost, nt two contB pound. ~, I'll ,800.
So tllis little nlattor ws.a also settled.
Tho ucxt thy The powder question wRH bof0ro
tho Committee. Ono Of the MONITORS, MINOR
Elplllutone, who had lad charge Of Government
thorcforo supposed to know all about
"Now," paid lo, "a twenty-fonr ponnd
ba'l is tlrod by sixtcen pounds Of powder. Tho
Armstrong cannon reqnros sovonsy-t!yo I'VE ,' pomh.s
Columbiad sontiH a half ton ball miles with 1G0
pounds OF powder: so, you aeo' lho necessary
proportion of powder dninishes US the si:e'of
tho bull incroaaes.'
~ uco thai" uaid J. 7. Matson. " and il YOU
only mao ycur bnl big enough wo won't want
any powder ut nil.
Tho Co,nmittoo smiled, md tho Major t,on
Rtnlol TINT ho Ind calculated That tho woight Of
powder necessary in their cannon would bo
equal to ouo.tonth tic weight Of tho ball. and
1t will therefore require 5a6.0o0 pounds OF
powder.
q Better lave 100000 pounds" cried ]. 7.
AIaytou.
Tho idoa of this enormous mnsB OF powder
'was 10 impressive ana awful. that tho Conf
mittce, for n few moments. nat in silence. but
they woro ntiil moro natonishcd when tho prcHi-
don't directly announced TINT III his opinion
sou, 0GU pounds WoultlnoL bo enough.
"Wo will want tho forco Of Twice rs much
POWDER" snid Ile
"Ihat will ncycr dol" criod J. 7. nfaston
"noyor do! 1,G00,uO0 pounds OF powder will
occupy space Of ~ 900 cubic feet and, ~ tho
ca,,lloa will only hold 54,O0o cubic feet, your
powder vii. ncarly half I'LL it, and thero WON'T bo
room enough loft 10 give Tho ball decent
Rtart."
II Know NIL tllat,r said tho Prosidont, "aud I
do not intend to uno tllat much powdcr-l only
want the force Of tint quantity, and no 1 pro-
pose that, nDtcad Of powder, We liso glln-cotton,
of which 100000 pounds will bo equal to
1,G00,000 pounds OF powder. and it 7ill occnpy
~ little space TINT tho ba} will lnye more thnsi
700 feet to r,!s befo.o tubing ita grand flight
towards tho Quoon Of Night"
AMI 10 tho powder question was Aott|ed.
Among tho l0,00600o inhabitants or tho
! United StateH tlioro was but nlio man who
tho Gun Club. ThiB man waa Capt. Nichol,
md ho lived in philadcipha. It was
natural for him to be an cnemy to tho
Gun Club, for ho was q manufacturer Of
armor-plates. During tie whole wAr, whenever
tho artillersts invented new prolettise, or a'1
unusually powerful cannon, Neliol invontcl Q
now arnioY-p!atc. Whenever Nichol dreamed,
President Darbicauo. of tho Gun Club. appeared
10 him in the form Of conieal ball, which
pierced him through arl through. And whom
shupa of all imnlonse irun-clad, against tho inl-
penetrablo aitlea Of which llo Was Obliged 10
baltor hlp unfortunate head. Nichol was OIL par
ticnlariy bad terms with Earbeauo beca,iac, on
tho worry day OH Which peace WAS declared, tho
former ind finished a plato Of au entirely now
kind Of stoel aunos, autl, though ho dared tie
President of tho Gun Club to tire al il his bcst
calluon aud his most perfect bail, tho proposi-
ton WAS DECLINED. Michel waxed extremely
angry Mt this, and oGferod Darblcano tho most
astounding advantagcS. lie proposed to act up
Ills plato 200 yards from tile canion, but this
was refused, as we'll az subsequent Offers of 100
yarln, 75 yalds, md 81 yards: At last tho Cap
tailt perfectly furious offered to plaeo Ills plato
IS ynrsls from tho cannon, aud to stand behind
it But Dnrbicnne answered Tint hs would not
make tho experiment. hot oven il Capt. Nlchol
stood before hH plste.
Then Capt. Michel attacked Barbicauo through
tho newspapers. Ho asserted thut tho plan wuB
MI NONSENSE, aud proposed series Of wagors,
NJ follows:
| Fiyst-That tho money would never be raiscd for
feonMTat ua e isy could not ea.t tc cannoa
T1;t- rhst ' thoy coie vi load thu cannoi,, and
that tho gur,;eoilon would 60 o'f Of 0 own re- nm
FoariH-Tlat thu cannon would burst ut the ,o.
5yHhrhai t!le iaii wo 10 nGoat six miles, ''''
aud would como tnn'hiug back III Il few Sec .o
onds. 3ooo
On tho 19ll, Of octubor, Nic],ol reeoiyod tho
| following note:
| B4L11MonE Oct. IL.
| Taken.
One question now remained to DO decidotl, and
| TINT W.la--Mhorr should tho experiment 10
| tried: Tho tsuu Ciub hold Il meeting to eoss-
| southern portions Of Texas and Ut Florida lay
! beyond tho twenty-olEhtll parallel ol inttudo,
as,l tl!at my place in those SECTIONS would An-
awer the purpose.
| aud the consequence WIS that thoro aroao
n, unpaya.ou rivalry between tho ctioa OF South
crn Toxaa and Florida. Tho whole country was
agitatel by tho controversy. Tho newspapers
anu 1GF1ut4ltaS tOoli II w GAcl pHOHEhkIolls III
tl.o Now yorl, Herald, tLo Philadelphia Post,
| aud tho Rrerside Mu9azi'se sustained Texas,
wili!o tho Washington Chronicle, The New FORK
YtiJ.:',e, aud tho Nown,ls ltcgisler stood np
boldly for Florida. -.
THO matter bccamo embarrassing. Il war bo-
awcer Finri,la and Toxas was threatened. At
last Bart,ica,iu nottletl the mnttor. s. Texas. u
naid lie, i,a3 ut loaat, oloyon cltios which will
all.,,ser orr pnrpo5o worry well. Nov, it We do
edo In favor Of Texas, tl,oso eloyon cities will
| In. f.l,J. far I'm rf n nnt Larry rf4a
There It, but ello town in Florida suitably stu.
utcd; 30, let us GO for Florida aud tho town q!
Iamm !" ,,,
Tho Texas party was diayuatod "a little
place like FIocidn." sal1 their priucipa! organ
almost al is!and, s1neozed botweon two seas
wifi nayo. bo ab!a 10 rcalsl tho tremendous cor
c,,ssnn, and wilt DO blown nway tho instant tic
cannon III iretl y
"All right" Haid tho Foridans. "let ho'
blowi"
II now became necessary to ralao the mono,
for this great work. and a.lbfcril l.tion-hooks WORE
opened il nll tho principal citioa .; tho Union