The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1876-02-09
THE NEWEST THING IN GUNS.


yard OF MIR. J. II Haskell..o Passaic, yes
terday. st might be ali internal machine
said the many WHO had curiously eyed L
from time 10 time, and itmight be one Of
The most wonderful pieces Of ordnance
ever invented The owner aud inventor,
who has spent fifteen years aud Sl0O,OO0 ~
perfecting the guh. takes the latter view,
and asserts that his invention will re.
volutionize the system OF offensive arlia-
meDt. He calls itan accelerating gun
and it Is PLANNED bn the novel principle
Of boosting the projectile along by secon-
dary, tertiary and quaternary explosions
after it has received its first impetus by
the explosion at the breecll
The barrel il about twelve feet long, and
is made of steel, tapering from the muzzle.
that is two or three inches thick TO the
breech. which is round piece OF steel
three or four inches through. On the un>
der side Of the barrel at equal intervals are
small hrazen globes opening through har>
row necks into The bore Of The barrel.
These are designed to hold loose pow-
der, aud they are charged through small
holes in the bottom, into which brass
screws are tightly fitted The bore Is
made to nc :oinmudate ahtlf-incl, finely
tempered steel prajectie In firing tile
gun. tl,e chamber in the barrel is filled
with powder, aud thenthe steel missile,
which Ii about nine inches long. Is pres
sed firmly against the charge. The pock-
els are next charged and screws are re-
placed in their bases The nipple IL at the
base of the br-eeIl, and The first charge Is
fired 10y means of cap placed ON the
nipple. As the pfojectile is shot forwaid'
followed by stream Of fire, it ignites the
powder In each Of the pockets at the in
slant it passes over tile meek. IL receives
a new impulse by the explosion OF each
pocket Of powder. aud tits at length shot
from tie muzzle with an extraordinary
velocity aud power The amount pow
der that j. expended at asingle discharge.
Mr.. Haskell says. is sufficient, II ii were
all placed III the gun tube, to fili the gun
to the muzzle and 20 blow the barrels To
atoms. To utilize all the force of the
different explosions the packets are placed
ut such an angle with the barrel that little
OF the explosive impulses are wasted
against the upper surface of the barrel.
Mr. Haskell has worked hard and enthu-
siastically with his invention, and he A.
serts for it unlimited possibilities. he
says that with the litllelmperfect trial gun.
which has ouIy smooth bnre, that he can
throw steel prnjec,ile over twelve miles,
aud tlat ut moderate distance he can
pierce tile steel arniOr Of any ship ofwar'
With a weapon of greater weight, -ified
bore, and more powerful hall, the iniaglra-
tion of tile inventor shrinks from The con-
lecture Of wnat IL can achieve.
SIR. Haskell gathered a few OF his neigh
bors together on last Saturday. aud shoul-
dereI his gun, the, party repaired 10 The
stone quarry Of Mr.. Paulison in the SUI
burlis. The weupon was charged aud
everything was COTTON ready Mr. Has
kell advanced 10 discharge the cap, and
then the yalor of most ~ tile spectators
yielded TO discretion, ami they ran and hid
among the stones. Mr. Haskell with per-
feet confidence discharged tile piece seseial
times. aud With wonderful effect. The
first target, which had been placed but
frw feet from the gun, was solid piece ~
monitor iron, iour inches thick. The
steel missile passed through i as through
a piece Of pine board, and pinned II ton
hard wood block, which was also pierced
fol several inches 1'ne next target WIS
made of mis-. tllicknesses Of locomotive
boiler Iron securely bolted together, aud
the hall cut through this asthough u we're
pa-teInard. The explosion WAS but little
louder than tllat Of heavy rifle, aud the
recoll Was so light that Mr. Haskell s'id
that il would not produce severe shock 1t
the gun were held at The sholder Me.
Haskell has taken out patents tor his gun
In nearly every country Ia tie world, aud
lie SAYS that there are millions and mil"
lions' In IL. lie has constructed two
similar Weapons that are to be tested ~
the Government; one uf them has a j
inch bore. and the bore Of the other Is
about six inches. The latter piece, IL Is
thought, will throw ball from fifteen to
twenty miles. Mr. Z. p. Young, Of New
York, il Interested with Mr.. Haskell 10
the Invention.
Though Mr.. Haskell does not consider
that lie Is the Inventor of the gun, II Is,
however, his genius an ingenuity that
have brought it 10 the standard ofpracti-
cal utility. "A Mr.. Lyman, after whom
the weapon has been named, first dis
covered the principle on which Il iscon-
s,ructed. The puwerof tile gun may be
understood fron the assertion that II Will
send firth q ball at tlierate 0f 5000 feet
SECOND, while tile greatest velocity hitler.
to attained was tliat Of about 5W feet "
the second. A trial Of tie. gun was an-
uounce,l Cor Thursday at sandy Hook, "
Tie tlnyernnent yard, but through the
A ..4..s sassN