Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1874-03-07

'sThe Sutcliff gun, recently cast at
the West Point Foundry, weighed in
the rough state a, 900 pounds, and is the
largest gun ever made. The gun is
made of iron, standing pull of 10000
pounds, and is now nineteen feet long.
1t is to have steel barrel four inches
thick at the breech and three at the
muzzle, with rifle bore, and weighing
A 900 pounds. The shot will be nine
inches in diameter, and will weigh 250
pounds. 1t will require eight days to
cool the monster by the Rodman pro-
cess, water being run through the bore
during all that time. The gun is made
for Government experiments.
The statement that this is the largest
gun ever made, appears to be very de-
cided mistake.
Robert Mallet, Esq, G. E., F. R. S.,
in speaking of cannon divides the sub
ject into four parts, corresponding to
the different epOchs of improvements,
and says:
s'The firstor earliest was that of stone
balls-the stone Of the ancient catapult
transferred to new agent of propul-
sion. The artillery prepared for throw
ing these was of great calibre. some
times as much as two feet, and was
either formed Of forged iron slaves, and
FluSS SHIuuk Oli bllcu uOl, DIS III tIIc
Bombard of Ghent, Mons-Meg at Edin-
burgh, etc.. or cast in bronze as in the
kammerlichs of the Dardanelles.''
AS early as 1852, Mohammed ii, estab-
lished a foundry at Adrianople, for the
express purpose of casting "a cannon
capable of throwing a ball of stone of
sufficient size to batter the walls of Con-
stantinople." Such cannon was then
cast of brass, by one Urban, a Dacian or
Hungarian, who had deserted from the
Greek army. In speaking of this mon
ster cannon, Gibbon says that it was
of such enormous size that in order to
transport it, it was necessary to link to-
gether thirty wagons and team of six
ty was required to draw it.
According to Leonardus Chiensis, the
ball for this cannon weighed twelve
hundred pounds. but this statement is
hardly to be believed. especially in view
of the fact that other authorities place
the weight at six hundred pounds
GiDbon tells us that ''the explosion was
felt or heard for a distance of twelve
miles, and the ball was driven above a
mile: and on the spot where it fell it
buried itself a fathom deep. The cali
bre of the gun was twenty-five inches,
and unless the stone, of which the ball
was made, was exceedingly heavy for
stone, it would be impossible for a bal
of twenty-five inches diameter, to weigh
twelve hundred pounds.
We are also told by Gibbon and 9TH
ers, that cannon more enormous than
that of Mohammed, just mentioned,
still guards the Dardenelles. This can
non has calibre of twenty-eight inch
es, and if the report of its trial few
years since be true, ''the effect was far
from contemplate GA stone bullet of
eleven hundred pounds weight, was
once discharged with three hundred and
thirty pounds of powder: at distance
of six hundred yards it shivered into
three rocky fragments, traversed the
strait. and leaving the water in a foam,
again rose and bounded against the op-
posite HILL"
Phillips tells us that the largest can
non ever made was cast in India, in
the year 1855, of brass; but we are un-
able to find any account which will tell
what part of India, Or the dimensions of
the cannon.
He also states that at Ehrenbreitstein
Castle, one of the strongest forts in
Germany, is a prodigious cannon, near
ly eighteen feet and a half long, foot
and half in diameter in the bore, and
three feet four inches in the breeeh. The
ball made for it weighs one hundred and
eighty pounds, and its charge of powder
is ninety-four pounds. The inscription
on it shows that it was made by one ST.
mon, in 1929.
In Dover Castle is brass gun called
Queen EliZabeth's Pocket Pistol, which
was presented to her by the States of
Holland; this piece is twenty-four feet
long, and is beautifully ornamented,
having on it the arms of the States, and
motto in Dutch, importing thus:
"Charge me well, and sponge me clean.
I'll throw ball to Calais Green"
The largest. though not the heaviest,
gun of which we have any accurate de-
scription, is the Great kremlin Gun of
Moscow. An inscription on it shows
that it was made ut "Moscow, by An
drew Tchohofl, in the year 1854, being
the third year of the reign of Theodore
Ivanowitch," which corresponds to the
year 1886, of the Christian era. The di-
mensions are: Total length, eighteen
feet; exterior diameter, about forty-five
inches; and calihre, thirty-siX inches.
The weight of the cannon is $1,000
pounds, All the cannon mentioned so
far, were originally intended for throw
ing stone balls; and after the idea was
conceived of casting metal balls, they
were tried in the old cannon, many of
which were thus destroyed.
In 1856, 4 mortar was constructed at
Woolwich Arsenal, with calibre of SO
inches. 1t was designed by Mr.. Mair,
of Blackwall, near London, and weigh