The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-10-18
A Seventeen Hundred Pound Shot Hurled
Seven Miles.

The London Daily News of Sept. %
has the following At Shoeburyness,
guns, great and small, are fired every
day over the sands from this solitary
and remote corner of Essex, and the
inhabitants of its little town and gar
rison are so accustomed to loud and
sudden noises as scarcely to notice
sounds which would torture the I'M
trained ear; but to-day has been a day
of dread, and it's population, to the last
man. woman, and child, has been all
day in a state of nervous excitement
and apprehension as to the possibili-
ties attending the discharge of such an
unwonted monster as the 8l-ton gun,
with its $40 pounds of powder, and it's
three-quarters of a ton shot. There
was really some ground for this alarm,
because the gun does not stand with
the rest of the guns ut this school Of
gunnery, but is placed OH the beach
close to the barracks and it's contigu-
Gus thoroughfares, and barely fifty
yards in front of a rather extensive
block of soldiers cottages and no one
could say what effect the conclusion
might have upon adjacent buildings,
while some Of the more timid began
to speculate even on the contingency
Of the gun bursting and scattering it's
fragments like hail upon the devoted
colony, The breaking Of windows and
crockery had been foregone conclu-
sion, and yesterday sergeant's party
went round proclaiming, with the
sound of the trumpet at the street cor.
ners, that from 10 O'Clock till to-day,
tomorrow. and Friday, people who
were wise would leave their windows
aid doors open, as some sort of pre-
caution against the expected disturb
ance in the atmosphere by violent ex.
plOsiOns. The inhabitants were given
to understand likewise that if, not.
withstanding their caution and care,
damage should be done, it would be
made good out of the public fund, but
these warnings and promises did not
tend to allay the popular disquiet and
apprehension. 1t certainly appeared
as if all the inhabitants were out of
doors some Of the shopkeepers, as an
extra precaution, shut up their shops
entirely, and everybody seemed to be
drawn to the spot where the terrible
giant lay. There were not many
strangers present, for Shoeburyness is
far removed from populous places and
difficult of access, the nearest railway
station being that at Southend, four or
five miles distant. The officials in at
tendance were those who have been as
ISOLATED with the gun in it's earlier
trials.
There was no target to take aim at,
but straight range had been pegged
out for about four miles, and the
tramping of horsemen had made the
path Of the shot very legible for some
distance. The bugle sounded the Or
der to s'Fire,' an officer in the instru-
ment-room touched a stud, the crash
came, and then the 1,700-pound shot
was clearly seen cleaving it's way
through the air to an attitude of appar-
emily several hundred yards ; then de-
scending and diminishing until lost to
view, until, after what seemed a long
interval, it struck the earth, throwing
up q volcano of mud and water, and,
bounding on again, to fall and bury it.
self with another splash far beyond.
It was atterward reported that the
shot made it's first contact at a distance
Of 1867 yards, and that the ricochet
carried it about as far again. The
next consideration was the gun, and
how had the carriage withstood the
unaccustomed strain consequent on
the higher elevation. Both gun and
carriage were in perfect condition, and
then came question as to what had
been the consequence of the atmos-
pheric disturbance. An officer went
round to take an inventory of the
damages, and the soldiers wives came
about him with dismal records of
broken windows and shattered CELL
ings. Most of the cottages along the
sea front had one or two broken panes
of glass, several had their rooms lit
tered with plaster from the walls and
ceilings, and one or two had their
window-sashes blown completely out,
but the most remarkable effect was
manifested at greater distance. The
plate.glass window of Mr.. Cause, gro
Ger, opposite Mr.. Kirkwood's canteen,
fully 500 yards from the gun, was ut
terly destroyed, and the glass, quar-
ter of an inch thick, scattered about
the road. The barrack gate was burst
open and it's lock broken, several
sashes had vanished, and there was
broken glass in every street. Each
subsequent round added something to
the damage, but the greatest mischief
was necessarily done at the first dis.
charge. Four other rounds were fred
at the same elevation, namely, seven
degrees, and each shot fell within a
few sect of the same distance, two APP
pearing to bury themselves at once,
and the other two bounding after No.