The New York herald., 1876-09-22
A REVOLVING CANNON.

EXPERIMENTS ON NEW INSTRUMENT OF WAR
FARE AT SANDY HOOK YEsTERDAY-A TERRI
BILE ENGINE OF DEATH-ITs ADAPTABILITY
TO THE INDIAN wAR-YEsTERDAY's FIRING
AT SHORT RANGE.
SANDY Hook, Sept 21. 1870
The ofclal test OF the Hotchkiss revolving cannon
took place Sandy Hook to-day before tho Board Of
oncers charge Of the ordnance for tho United
States government The party lett New York at
quarter past eleven A. NJ the steamer Henry Smith,
and reached Sandy Hook half-past one p NJ. Among
those present i. B. Hotchkss, the inventor OF
the gun; Ex-Governor Winchester, of Connecticut;
Colonel Silas Crispin, Chief Of Ordnance Bureau;
Colonel Treadwcll Colonel Baylor and Major Mckee,
OF tho Testing Board; Mr. Knapp gunpowdcr manu-
facurer of Pittsburg; Mr.. Merchant. Mr. Dawson,
Colonel Johnson Of Saratoga, and representative of
the HERALD After short delay the party repaired
tho testing range, where they found the gun in
position The following Is description of the new
wcapon:-
1t consists OF ive barrels grouped around common
axis and revolved in front of solid brccch block
which has In part an opening for the introduction
of the cartridges and another through which to
trac. tho empty she'll Both operations are accom-
pishcd the time, and tho cartridges fed
to barrels the principles with the Gatling
gun the Gre be maintained tinuously at tho
OF eighty per minute II necessary The cabrc of
the barrels is and half inches and tho charge
weighs threo and half ounces with a shell weighing
about and quarter pounds The shcll Is exploded
by a percussion fuse and bursts Immediately ON
striking any object 1t meets The barrels are revovcd
by crank which controls all the mechanism OF tho
gun, that really stream OF Shells like from
fire hose be poured any given point with alb
solute accuracy and fcariuly destructive effect with
scarcely difficulty than playing on
A of tha
the barrels s that they stop discharge so that tho
accuracy of the fire is not In any way impaired by q
continuation OF the revolution at the moment the
firing pm strikes the exploding cap behind the charge
Tho weight Of the brecch block so great that
serbs the orcc OF the rccoil and by simply clampng
the wheels of the gun carriage the whole becomes
| movable, although continuous fire is maintained
Tho most delicate sighting OF tho piece Is not dis
turbed and tho range is obtained 1t bo pre-.
served unaltcred for the entire time the piece is in
ncton Besides the group of five barrels there only
thirteen parts to the gun, The whole beng compact
and easily taken apart and assembled without special
tools fow minutes. The shell q cast-iron cylin-
der ogival-shaped proJecte slightly rounded on Tho
rear and rcd stated with percussion Fuse 1t and
the charge connected by casing of soft BRASS OF
the same shape and capped in the same manner the
ordinary rlGe shell, and can be reloaded as many rs
twenty times, thus savinga great deal the
portaton OF liked ammunition for immediate service.
! THE CARRIAGE
is similar in shape to the ordinary Geld gun carriage,
but built oil wrought iron and Is boted strong
number Of boxes fitted IN tho hnow Of the trail,
which the necessary tools for
ting the parts together when In The seat Tor
made OF iron, and turns up, serving
shield against sharpshooers Tor The men serving the
piece.
laid for the trial 1000, 1000 and 2640 yards
scvcrally
are screens OF wood, placed vertically upon posts
Each range has four targets, placed one behind the
other test the effect OF the explosion OF the shells
surface, and also as to the depth from tho front
| into column OF men.
Tho dstapce apar, OF tho targets of each group is
sbou. l2S iee the our representing about the depth
| OF n battalion advancing along road. The surfaces
presented to the fire are 10 ieet by 26
|
limited TO the one thousand yard range. The day
was cloudy and the wind brisk from the eastward.
Seventy shots fred sIngly and voIieys of five,
ten and twenty All the shells burst within the group
OF targets, pcrorating the first for,y-fou times by
clean shots Tho second was hit in liz places by
direct shots and spinters The third thirty two,im
by shots aud spnters and the fourth eighteen times.
THIS shows that The principal execution took place
about the FIRST and second target oi the first group.
| In point OF accuracy the trial OF the gun most
satisfactory, and tho officers Of the Board expressed
their high approval OF tho gum far as tested. This
being lis FIRST trial in the United States much interest
attached to the test because Of the favorable reports
rendered by the ordnance officers the French Span
| .sh and Brazilian governments Judging OF the gun
after this preliminary trial, which conducted with
the utmost care by the ordnance officers the Hotch-
kiss revolving cannon takes a high rank among the
most terribly effective engines oi modern warfare.
battery OF such guns ably served could hold its
against DIVISION OF the best troops the world, be-
cause the pieces beng SO easily handled they be
turned in any direction. To resist flank attacks a
| lighter gun on the same plan has been built by Mr..
HotChkss Ior service with cavalry and is believed TO
| be even more elective than the heavier piece
In wars like that against the Sioux they would be
Invaluable Tor no horseman, civilized savage, could
withstand their fire. The trial to-day demonstrated
that infantry in column would melt away under tho
fire OF these guns like talow candle before furnace
| CRATE. continuous shower Of splintcrs seemed
rain on the ground all around tho targets while the
ventor Kept grinding out shells from his deadly mill
On account OF the lacness al the hour at which the
trial began to-day the ring at longer ranges
poncd until tomorrow morning. when the tost will be
continued TO Its conclusion.
q man nd tha In.
vcntors claims 20 TO show that the revolving cannon
shs efficient at three miles rangc at 1000 yards.
This being so u must be regarded the coming gun
for field service Mr.. Hochkiss, the inventor, was
manufacturer OF cartridges for the French govern
mont during the late His works being at vcrvers
Belgium, the government OF Marshal Mac Mahon has
dcrcd large number Of the guns Tor the French
vice The United States authorities havo ordered these