The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-03-13
Emmett L. Ross & Co., Proprietors.
The Cannon or the Future.

The Cannon or the Future.
England is now building a ship t,
carry twenty-four inches of armor, ant
she is making gun which will be s.
tons in weight. It may be said here ii
proof enough of England's superiority
Unquestionably the ship is splendidly
designed. So also is the gun, which
we 'are TO have ready some tint
next July, and which will doubtless
turn out to be o wonderful weapon
Aftillerists speak of the coming monster
as an lawful gun" Crowds assemble
at the forge whenever one of the huge
coils is to ba-pummalad hV--thA-naz
steam hammer at Woolwich Arsenal.
Even in the making of the. 32 ten g4ns
masses OF iron weighing - tons, ~
welding heat, have to be laid under the
hammer. For theslrger gun an incau-
descent mass of forty-five tons has to
! be fetched out of the fra and duly ham
mered. The furnace has the capacity
of cottage, and the tongs by which
the glowing cylinder lie lifted out of it's
burning bed weighs no less than thirty
tons. A steam En&e -Dearsk thGa5o3e
|
proceeds without accident or hitch of
any kind. At night the sight js truly
grand, and well repsys thote spectators
who take the trouble to be present.
Other nstions are not likely to Be blind
TO the advantage which accrues from
the possession .0e41n sxkep 1fonAAy
powerful. Already it is known that
steel tubes are being made, having q
diameter six inches greater than that of
the tube of the 81-ton gun. These
tubes may be intended for the lining OF
the American smooth bore guns, which
are to be converted into rifles. Posi-
bly, they are for the use of the FIepch
government,eeo I,the Itsliah. y H
events, such masses of steel are being
made, and are destined to, play some
part in connection with foreign artillery.
Most certsinly the appearance of a 100,
ton muzzle-loading gun among foreign
ornaments is by no means q remote con-
tingency.
But what are we prepared to do? As
suredly the great 1k4m14WpF q
Woolwich arsenal can accomplish ONE
thing more for us than the making of
au 81 ton gun, big as that undoubtedly
in diameter, and twenty four feet in /
IouStu, uIluS PloyoCeho weighing
1000 pounds, propelled by 800 pounds
Of powder, the range of the weapon be-
ing seven miles. An thia-iS veEyfUS3
midable, but it is not by any fne4u6 an
that can be done. We may double the
weight of the gun, making it 100 tons,
having q caliber of 20 inches, and . |
bore Of at least 30-feet. This would be
q magnificent piece of ordnance but
even then there would be something
and why should we stop short
of that which must be- gained ct eone4
reried or other Eet@ us contend latS
the further step at once. Why not |
have gun with a bore of "a inches
simply two feet2 The weight would
be 275 tons, the charge would be ], 600
pounds, the weight of the projectile
nearly two tons and a half, and the
range eight or nine miles ! This is not
4 mere dream, but perfectly practical
BILE piece of work. The cost would |.
probably be a -tiiAS less Than E100 7
per ton, or about s25, 900 for the entire
piece. The weight of projectile of such
! gun would be something more than a
J, 600 FOUNDER. Perhaps when we had
made such a weapon we might think
We had gone far enough. As for the
.rmor, the projectile of the 275 ton gun
NOulQ possibly penetrate tnre0 IeeG
With corresponding packing. As We
showed some time ago, DIR. Coils
Brown has modelled a sh1p which shall
actually carry 8 feet of armor. This
,rmor would also be present at a slope,
70 that our 5,OO0-pounder would have
It's work to do. As for the cost, there
e the consideration that one such gun
will give results such as no number of
smaller guns could accomplish. The
IL flexible, sheathed in part with 2 feet
If armor, will carry four 8l-ton guns,
costing s8, 600 eac6. Her four guns,
will cost more than one 275-
ON gun. Yet how wonld such a vessel
- the Infexible be able to stand the
stack OF 80 tremendous weapon The
!. 900 pound pro;ectiles,. unless striking
With considerable obliqnity, would
eadily smash through the thickest part
= tAse.e@, aud Two sor-thsee aspch 1
kAdA 4xIns Rurs1ing ek1rsS ~
100 poundsof pd@def, might decide the
xte Uf~rns snfp:- surely the result r
would be cheap at the price.-London