Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1875-10-20
BIG Guns.

excite the Hvelisst interest. The great
arsenals are vieing with each other in
the production Of mighty cannon which
shall be able to send projectils weigh
ing many hundreds Of pounds through
iron obstacles of almost incredible thick
ness, or of iron targets which shall be
able to resist the heaviest bolts that can
be forged. A short time ago it was an
nounesd that Krupp, the great German
iron founder, had east = cannon superior
to any hitherto in existence, which was
destiped to solve 1t once and forever tho
vs1ed problem o. the relative powers OF
psnstration and resistance possessed by
modern artillery and ironclads. The
English, in their turn, are now rejoicing
over the successful trial OF their new
eighty ton gun, which can throw = pro-
isctile sixteen inches in diameter dis
lance of seven or eight miles, and pisrces
the sides Of the strongest man-of-wAr
afoat at closer range. Next We shall
probably hear Of the construction Of
some unwieldy floating battery specially
designed to carry srmor capable of re-
sisting the tremendous impetus OF shot
from thi. latest engine of war and thsn
the cannon foundries will glow with
floods Of molten metal, until a gun OF
still greater Dimensions and power il
produced. As there appears to be no
limit to the size of cannon, it seems
probable that the victory in the struggle
between guns and armor will finally de-
clare itself in favor OF the former, or
that it will, at all events. be Necessary to
construct vessels of the monitor typo
only, which present the smallest possible
target to the fire of the enemy. This il
a question, however, which must be left
to the Armstrong;. krupps and Whit
worths Of the future to answer. New
York journal, commenting upon the
effort 10 excel in the manufacture of i'm
msnse cannon, says it is interesting to
remsmber that the monster cannons now
in existence are simply Of the manner IN
which history repeats itself. -Four cen
turiss ago, in 147S, the Turks erected
battery of guns at Scutari, the largest of
which was capable of throwing stone
shot thirty-tvo inches in diameter, and
weighing l, GAO pounds, whereas the pro-
jectils of the English eighty ton gun
weighs only 1850 pounds. 1t is evident
moreover, that these enormous gus were
of practical service, for it is recorded
that 2. 534 rounds were fred from them
in thirty days. At the castle Of Asia, on
the Dardanelles, there still exists bat
terv of bronze esnnons, some Of which
have bore twenty-eisht inches i'll d.
annette. When the British Admiral Sir
John Duckvorth forced the passage Of
the Straits in March, 1907, one Of his
,hip. was struck by huge stone bullet
thrown from one of these guns, and it
is said that the missile made 80 large a
hole in the side of the vessel that the
captain, when he looked over the side to
SEQ the extent OF the injury, was sur
prised to see two of his sailors thrust
their heads through the aperture At the
same instant. The Royal George, whose
name il familiar to all readers Of Cow
per's poetry, WAS one of the ships in
iured in this encounter. The great gun
of Beejapore, with calibrs Of twenty
eight inches, is another instance of what
gun founders could accomplish more
than three centuries ago. This weapon
was last discharged, it is said, during
the eighteenth century, on the occasion
of a visit from the Rajsh of SttarA. The
shot weighed more than one thousand
pounds. The Tar Pooshkar. or great
gun of Moscow, has a bore thirty -fvs
inches in diameter, but has never been
fred with shotted charges, and We think
that few persons would be anxious to
make the experiment now. There are
MANY other great guns famous in history,
but those We have mentioned are suft-
Gent to prove that in the matter of CO.
pacity, at least, the guns of the present
are no more remarkable than the guns
of the past.
MAYOR CCRR1E of Virginia City deliv-