The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-11-11
GREAT GUNS.
ouR GOVERNMENT AWAKENED TO THE
IMPROVEMENT IN ORDNANCE,
Results Of Experiments at Sandy Hook,

now beng made at Sandy Hook are likely
to have great influence upon, the general
character of the armament of this country,
they ought to be matters of the liveliest
interest to the public They are made at
late hour, indeed, but even the fact of tar
diness brings value to them. The officers
of the ordnance department who are max
ing them are, perhaps. the most efficient
artillerists in our service. Several OF them
have visited the places in Europe where
ordnance experiments have been in con-
tinuous course for the past ten years
Shoeburyness, in England; Krupps foun-
dry, in Germany, and the arsenal at st.
Petersburg-where they have noted care
fully all the valuable results. while the
younger officers have been devoted stu
dents of the science of guns and gunnery,
Although We have gained knowledge from
the experience Of others, with but slight
expense, during the past nine years, none
of it has been put to use in our army or
to cope with foe of late, our government
would have found that it had put us at a
disadvantage, through which we might not
only have deem crippled for time in the
fight, but have been totally overcome,
The old smooth bore Rodman guns have
kept an almost useless guard over our for
tifcations, for against the improved armor
plating of ships of war they would have
had but slight effect their balls would
have crushed and flattened themselves
against the impenetrable sides of the YES
sells, while the projectiles from improved
European rifed guns were demolishing
the structures they were hoped to protect
All the artillerists in the United States
service are convinced that the Rodman
smooth-bo guns have been out of date
for several years. They have condemned
them of late just as heartily as they hail
ed them at their invention, and they have
desired to try some method to improve
them. The government, however, has
PLEADED LACK OF MONEY
For experiments, through which, if sue
cess should follow them, the country could
soon be effectively armed at a compare
lively small cost, About 1900 of the
Rodman guns have looked through the
embrasures of our forts, threatening and
terrible to a civilian, but impotent and
valueless in the sight ofa scientific soldier,
A few months ago the war department,
moved at last by the reports Of the ord
nance department. ordered the appoint
ment of board of officers to make numer
Gus experiments with a view to increasing
the worth OF our armament. The officer:
chosen to constitute this board were Coils
Crispen, Baylor and Treadwell, Maj. Mackee
and Capt. Butler, 1t is believed that this
board, whose work is now planned for about
two years, will be permanently established
th mil he, 10
manent artillery testing station. Arrange
ments were begun last
SUMNER AT SANDY HOOK,
For the work of the board Frame build
ings were erected at the southeast of the
unfinished fort-one as an office for the
board, and the other, which was divided
into two compartments, as shelter for the
guns being tested. About 2l0 feet from
the latter shed butt, or target of planks
backed by sand, was put up; and in the |
space between the shed and the butt two
frames were built, the use of which will |
be explained further on. A short dis
lance diagonally from the rear of the firing
shed a bomb proof was made for the stor
age of powder during the daily expert
ments and for the shelter of the working
men
The board began its sessions on Friday
last and continued them on Saturday. The
shocks of the discharges racked the gun
sheds so that it was necessary to brace
them, and as the repairs occupied Monday,
the board did not convene again until Tues
day. Since then, however, it has expert
mented every day. The subject of Its first
experiments is former ten-inch Rodman |
gun, which has been made into an eight |
nv tA.,l L.
the recorder of the board, very kindly ex-
planned the new system of riAinr to the
writer. The smooth bore gun is bored out
ana ITS diameter increased by about an
inch to point within about a foot from the
bottom OF its tube Bars Of wrought iron
are then coled, as in making
a TWIST BARRELED SMALL RIFLE.
The coil is heated and then welded.
When the tube thus fornedis cold it is put
into the old gun and caught with a collar
at the mouth of the piece There is, of
course,a small space left between the sides
of the new tube and those of the old gun,
which the expansive pressure of the gases
must cause the inserted cylin Ter to fill On
Friday, the 2lst inst, only five shots were
hred from the new gun on Saturday seven
were discharged and on Tuesday last
WE'VE Since then there have been about
nifty additional discharges of the new gun.
The experiments were begun with charges
oftweDty pounds of powder, and l73 pounds
shot. The quantity of powder was gradu-
ally ircreased and on Tuesday the first
shots were fired with thirty-fve pounds of
powder. Sa far this has been the maxi
mum of powder used while the largest pro-
jectile fred has weighed lS6 pounds
Every day before the gun is fired it is star
guaged-that is, an instrument was inser-
ted into the weapon to determine the effect
OF the enormous pressure upon its inner sur
faces No inequalities have yet beer
caused In it In these experiments the
officers note every effect-the velocity of
the projectile, the pressure produced by
varying charges of powder, the recoil of the
gun, the kind Of powder and the projectile.
The methods of estimating the velocity of
the projectile and the pressure produced
on 1t and the walls of the cylinder are very
interesting; To discover the velocitytbere
is a very delicate magnetic instrument of
Belgian invention called
LIE BOULENGE CHRGNoGR.pu
The two frames, before spoken Of bo-
tween the butt and the gun, are strung
with wires, along which run currents Of
electricity from lie chronograph Those
structures are placed loo feet apart \.