Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-06-08

| country, with perhaps two eXceD-
tions, was successfully produced at
the South Boston Iron Companv's
works, near the Broadway bridge,
South Boston, yesterday afternoon,
IN the presence of about $50 persons,
several of whom were ladies. Col.
Crispin, Col. aBayler, Capt. Phipps,
Capt. Bryant, Lieut.. Smith, and
Lieut.. Whipple, of the Ordnance
Corps; Col. Randall, Major Sanger,
Capt. White, Capt. Andrews, Lieut..
Nichols. and Lieut.. Patterson, of
the First Artillery were present.
The material used was the ordinary
charcoal iron. The gun, which will
be l2-inch rihed Rodman, carry
ing 700-pound conical ball, when
finished is expected to measure 26S
inches, or about % feet in length.
The diameter at the widest part will
be 55 inches, and the casing will be
20 inches for depth of 232 inches.
AT the muzzle the outside diameter
will be about 29 inches. The weight
when finished will be 89,530 pounds,
and when cast was about l62, ,OOO
pounds. There was go tons of met
al in the three furnaces. The gun
is expected to be completed in No
vember. 1t is estimated that the
mass will cool in about $50 hours.
Three large furnaces were used
for the melting. The flask, which
was some 20 feet long, was sunk all
but about six feet into the ground,
muzzle up. From the furnaces were
runners, a sort of iron trough or
spout, lined with clay, about in
ches wide at the top, inches at the
bottom, and 6 inches deep, and each
about Is or 20 feet long, These led
to a sort of central tank or pool with
in six or eight feet of the point where
the flask or mold was placed. In
this was an opening which led into
two rnnners like those coming from
the furnaces, and the runners car
ried the material from the pool to
the mold. The pool was for the
purpose of equalizing the consisten-
cy of the iron before it entered into
the composition of the gun. At
about 4:5O the visitors were request
ed to preserve quiet; the word was
given, and the deep red stream of
molten iron was soon seen rolling
through the runners, with the &C
compartment of great quantities of
beautiful golden stars scintillating
over the fiery macs. From the pool
the liquid, after being thoroughly
amalgamated, passed through the
shorter runners and dropped to the
bottom of the mold, the material
rising gradually until the level of
the troHghs Was,Feached. This~oc-
cupied about IL minutes, and then
it became necessary to pour in from
the top, which was several feet
above the troughs. This was done
byfHing "Iadles,p great tubs of iron
lined with clay, each holding several
tons of melted iron, and swinging
them by the three enormous derricks
around to a ruRner raised higher
than the others, and ! which led to
the top of the mold. The portion
filled up with ladies was in addition
to the length of the gun, which must
be cut off some six feet. This is
necessary in order to have the end
perfectly solid. The gun was ;cast
upon the Rodnian PriAGple of hag-
ing the core, which is Hollow, filled !
with water during the process of
casting by means of pipe to con-
vey cold water to the bottom of the |
core, and another to carry off the |
water from the top when it becomes |
This causes the cooling in |
side and outside to be much more
uniform, and adds greatly to the |
strength of the gun. The casting |
was finally finished about $50
o'clock, without, accident of any |
kind. The gun when finished win |
be forwarded to Sandy Hook for ex-
periments by the United States au-
thortles. ~ aan -
AmsFIsan wreck. On CansdIsh
1t has recently been ascertained
that an existing law in Canada mot |
heretofofe enforced prohibiting |
American wrecking craft from going |
to the Canada shores to rescue
vessels when in peril, is
now being put in operation. The
action of the law, if persisted in,
will subject American shipping in
terests to great loss and manifest in
Justice, for while the Canadians
claim the right to perform wrecking
service on their. side of the lakes,
they are permitted to come to our
shores, without let. or hindranee, and
compete with American wreckers for
whatever business is to be done in
that line,H The greater damage to
our interests, however, will result
from the fact that it often happens
that asnumber-of American vessels
are stranded or wrecked on Lake
Huron or Erie during a single storm
.and more or less of them are like
Iy to suffer total loss, unless they
can have immediate relief from the
abundant facilities afforded by our
Wrecklng leetAand almost sure to
.hussafe5 if required to await the
,low movement of the one solitary
wrecking vessel, owned on the Cam
ada side, to rescne them in success
zion.
AS we are not fully informed in
regard to the special provisions of
.he law in question, nor whether it
5 or is not in any way subYersive,
iirectly or indirectly, of the recipro-
sal provisions of the national treaty
With the Canadians, we are not pre-
pared to say in what direction the
proper remedy is to be sought. But
hat the existing inequality Of rights
ind privileges cannot longb borne
without protest, if the law be rigid
" enforced, is fully apparent, and
Sithout other remedy the law of
night must, aud Will, TO someAex-
,ent at least, become the basis of ac-
ion. The enforced necessity of
standing idly by and seeing Ameri-