Milford chronicle., 1878-10-04
Science in Powder and Lead.

In the Billings murder trial Charler
d. Lcet was sworn. He had been max
ing metallic cartridges for twenty years.
The gun found in the well was Bal
lard carbine, calibre A. The shell was
of a cartridge for Al calibred gun. A
A calibre meant 44-100ths of an inch.
The shell itself is little larger, as the
| gun is chambered out to receive it. The
fiattened bullet taken from the head of
Mrs. Billings was a conical ball. The
witness swore that he had made expert
ments with the view of finding how far
powder would be carried from the muz-
zle OF a gun when discharged. He
strung brown paper alJng the ground
to catch any powder that fell
T AIR. Lcct thought that the rosiduum
OF powder might be Gound at distance
OF from forty to fifty feet. He never
found any powder that would burn at
that distance. They were only darl,
particles, Or the ashes CT powder, and
certainly could not be found further
than fifty feet from the muzzle, accord
my to the strength Of the powder. Oc-
casionally cartridges lose their strength.
1t the shells are left in the hot sun the
tallow or wax may melt, and if the rim
OF the shell is loose it may run down
into the powder and kill the illuminate.
The witness then described how shells |
were filled, Showing that one might con-
tain more Chains of powder than an. |
other, owing IT, the carelessness of work
men. All this would lessen the power
of penetration.
The lower sash, containing the window
pane through which the shot was fred.
was then produced. There were two
paEes IN the sashs Mr.. Leet placed it
on his knee, and fair necks We're craned
to see what was going on. The witness
said that the BALI had keyholed the
window. By kCyhpled he meant that it
had struck the glhss about a quarter
sideways. a bullet striking the glass
point blank would make a perfectly
round hole. The ,hole in the window
pane is elongated a sixteenth of an inch
md that shows that the ball struck it
sideways. He had seen a hundred shots
lred froM a pistol through one hole
smaller than this. He had seen Dan
Nesson OF Springfield do it a hundred
lines. The shape of the hole in the
window was not due to the angle from i
which the bul1Ct was sent. but was I
aused by the position of the ball VIXEN
struck the glass. The glass did not
'reak the force of the bullet. The
likelihood is that when it left the muzzle e
the rifle i. canted little. as is fire.
uently the case when rifle is foul or
irty. SOpletimes bullets turn clear A
round before striking. If Il gun was >,
OF rifled the bullet would tin as soon as s.
left the muzzle. ~ pi
The witness swore that he had made
iperimeilts with the gun found in the L.
ell. They were made OH September a
}, by request OF the District Attorney. g
he gun was discharged several times. 'S
dlYEnce of from fifty to one hundred
et every instance the balls kew
'led. The defence took an exception. &.
'me kc cyholed worse than others. Here 81
ocks '@ere exhibited in court, showing y
c key. holes made by these experiments,
lere were seven in all The witness
ought that the gun had not been
9aned when the fatal shot was fired.
me o. the grooves in the barrel were
led with lead, and there were other
ldencei; of its dirtiness.
The questioning then turned upon the
rcentaGe OF waste resulting from the
culiar fragmentary condition of n
llet after it has reached its object.
e witness knew no way of gauging it,
Judged that it was according to the
'istance offered. He had seen 900
ain bullets lose more than half of their
light. The loss ranged from one to
grains. That was his experience for
enty years. 1t depends in great
asure upon the speed with which a
llet is started and the resistance it
cts. A bullet will lose one Gram
hout any resistance. A bullet shot
sand would gain weight, because
sand would adhere. The witness
IRE that Il cartridges are in general
and can be bought at nearly every
ntry store. He said that if a bullet
uld strike glass point blank another
cast IN the same mould would not
through the hole without scrapinr