The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-03-28
AWFUL ORDNANCE.
Power oi the WooIu icI,
"nd hrupp uns--ProIecuIes
That are 90 weigh
Five Tons.

- N.
Our British cousins feel that thev are
Iulte IN the very midst OF the mp.
preaching fray, and they throw "A
glahcs upon the best meaAs Invented
oy naval men FOR killing each other.
ABOUT twenty years ago an officer OF
the Royal Artillery predicted that the
tllhe was approaching when rltled
guns could be made able to throw
smells OF a ton weight (2,24O pounds)
toa range OF 5000 yards, and Capable
OF oombarding Portsmouth from snch
distance that the vessels carrying
them could scarcely be seen from the
shore" He further predicted that
THESE monsters would be loaded and
worked by hydraulic machinery, and
recorded his firm conviction that with
inns ala cannon could be manufactured
large enough and strong enough To
throw shells of five tons Ave miles,
Az this time the largest gun in the
British service, mounted on hoard
snip, weighed less than six tons, aud
fired q
SPHERICAL PRoJECrILE
OF sixty-eight pounds, with charge of
twenty pounds. Although the first
haii OF the present century had teen
characterized by remarkable and
steady increase In the size of all the
great instruments of human industry,
corresponding development had not
oeeh erected IN gunnery. We had
succeeded In doubling the dimensions
OF our ships, and year after year we
turned out steam engines OF eyer.in-
creasing power but, although the
want was fully acknowledged, our
guns OF 1900 were not much more
powerful than those used in the DAYS
OF Nelson. Coal, iron and water had
been brought into thorough subection,
but gunpowder was as yet beyond our
! control. About the year 1885, how
ever the possibility of constructing
large ordnance came to be recognized
among scientific engineers as one of
the leading problems of the day, and
the history Of the past twenty years
has shown that the question has now
assumed the character of great Nm.
tional competition, and that the proph-
ecy above alluded to is IL Il fair way of
being fulfilled. 1t has become equally
obvious to every nation that may be
called upon to encounter the.
PERILs OF WAR,
that the possession of ordnance capa-
BILE of throwing the largest and heav-
lest projeetiles with the greatest veoc-
ity is OF the first Importance, and that
incalculable advantages may be gained |
by being somewhat beforehand In the
race. Considerations such as these
have led to the manufacture of eighty
One-ton guns at Woolwich for our SER
vice, and one hundred ton guns at
Elswick for Continental power, as
well as to the recent proposal of Henry |
krupp to make hundred and fifty |
ton gun.
We do not propose to recapitulate
the history of gun construction for the
past twenty years, but brief sketch of
the step by step process by which our
artillefists have succeeded in produc- |
ing the present monster guns may not
be out of place.
AS Sir William Palliser remarks,
there are two ways in which gun can
burst-viz: by the bursting of the bar
rel, or by the breech being blown off.
The circum terential strain acts radially,
and tends TO tear the barrel to pieces
the Longitudinal strain acts against the
bottom OF the bore, aud tends to shove
1t ont of Its place. Hence, theoretically,
the circumfereptisl strength should be
applied internally, and the longitudinal
strength should be borne by the out
side. The conditions are met in the
wooLwIcH SYSTEM
steel tube, surrounded by
a few long double or triple coils of
wrought iron. The latter are shrunk
on, contributing thus to the circumfer-
entail strength by COMPRISING and en-
supporting the sides o. the
steel barrel, while, at the same time,
cohesion throughout the mass is in
sured, and the bottom of the steel bar
rel fortified to resist the longitudinal
strain. In the Krupp construction the
barrel is of steel, but tho WoOlwich
iron coils are replaced by a
series of steel rings, the argument be-
ing that to place comparatively nom
elastic metal like wrought iron on the
VI u kui WINE
aud equivalent to building o gun
wrong side out. 1t is, however, not
now our province to discuss the com
parative excellence of these rival sys-
TENS; both are capable of turning out
very good guns, but neither could have
succeeded in producing monsters were
it not that we have now the means OF
knowing what happens when q large
charge is fired, and, consequently, the
power of regulating slowness and reg
ularity of the gunpowder we employ,
for the
RATE AND UNIFORMITY
with which the powder burns are the
elements by which its enormous pres
sure can be utilized, and, at the same
time, controlled.
Experiments have been so success
full, and the possibility Of controlling
the action of even enormous charges OF
punp0wder has been SO apparent
throughout, that we may confidently
look forward to heavier guns than the
Woolwich monster. In fact. with gun
powder under our command and n.y.
draulic machinery waiting to be ap-
nlied. the way seems open TO any IN
crease in the size OF ordnance that cir
cumstances may demand.
We may here ask what these CIR
cumstances are likely to be. One OF
the important services which we may
expect monster guns to render will be
the perfect defense of seaports. When
ONE SHELL
means destruction, vessels will be very
cautious In attacking q place where
such guns are mounted. Another serv-
ice will be the increased powers OF OF,
Tense which maratime nation wiz
gsin by carrying such guns OH ooa.a
Ship, and as the appearance OF ora.
nance of this description ahoat cannot
fail to raise again the question OF
"armor or no armor," we may prepare
ourselves for recrudescence OF THIS
controversy.
1t is gradually becoming apparent,
Al. I. - .,It,