The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-06-30
A Great Gun Cast.

The first twelveinch gun ever made
for the Government of the United States
was successfully cast at the South Bos-
ton iron foundry yesterday afternoon, in
the presence of a large and interested
company. Besides the specially invited
guests of the officers of the corporation,
there were present Gen. Benet, Chief of
the Ordnance Bureau, Col. Laidley of
the WATERFOWL Arsenal, Col Crispin,
Constructor of Ordnance, and several
others in the national service. The
South Boston iron-works have for seven
years been in the service of the Ordnance
Department at Washington. Moffat's
rit1e-cannon, the Rodman shot, the But
Ter and Wierd projectiles are all manu-
featured here. A good deal has been
done of late years in the conversion of
ten-inch smooth bore Rodman guns into
eight-inch rifles. This necessitates re-
boring the guns to diameter of thirteen
and One-half inches, and inserting a
wrought-iron tube, imported from En-
gland and fitted for their exact work in
the maChine-shOp of the foundry. 1t is
now nearly, if not quite, year since the
Government ordered from the South
Boston works the casting and the man
ufacture of the first twelve-inch rifle gun
ever made for the national service. The
most careful preparation has been made
for the work. The iron has been select
ed with the utmost attention to every de-
tail, and Mr.. J. Wood, for nearly fifty
years in the service of the company, gave
his personal attention to the making Of
the " CORE" which yesterdays crucial
test proved so sound. Upward of ninety
tons of iron entered into the construction
of this great gun. 1t is designed to dem
onstrate the possibility of making rifles
of this caliber with Cast-iron sheets and
wrought-iron lining, and thus far, GER
tainly, the experiment has been success
full. Three furnaces have been kept 60
ing in order to raise this immense mass
of iron to the required heat. From long
experience the workers knew about the
proper time for the casting, and as early
as two o'clock the company began to as
semble at the foundry. A little delay in
getting the heat in one of the furnaces
to the maximum prevented the casting
from occurring till about 4:10. 1t was
most interesting, however, to watch the
careful preparation for the undertaking.
A pit thirty feet deep accommodated the
great shell of iron which was to be filled
with white-hot iron. Runners from
three furnaces led to a central reservoir,
and this in turn was connected directly
with the gun. At given word the
grimy workmen punched a hole through
the tire-clay which closed the furnace
outlets, and the streams of sparkling fire
ran along the runners, sending out
sparks in every direction and in the
greatest profusion. In twenty minutes
the shell was filled up to the height of the
channels leading to it; and the fiery
flow was stopped by the clay-tipped bars
of the workmen. Then the great cranes
were brought into requisition, immense
kettles were filled with the liquid, seeth-
ing iron, swung over to high level, and
tipped into channels which conveyed the
molten mass into the great gun and filled
it to the top. Then the salamander-like
men who, defying heat and gas, had
watched the rise of the fiery metal, came
down from their place upon the platform
and the work was done for the time.
The great gun will gradually cool down
until it becomes ready for testing, when
the immense piece of ordnance will be
sent to the proving ground at Sandy
Hook, and there tested. 1t is designed
to mount one of the Notifications at New
York harbor. 1t is to carry projectile
of the trihing weight of 700 pounds, and,
with Its ordinary charge of 10 to $40
pounds of powder, this can pierce solid
iron mass fifteen inches thick at a dis
lance of 1000 yards.-Boston Globe.