National Republican., 1883-09-21
TESTING A GREAT CANNON.
First Regular Experiment with the Multi
Charge Gun.


A stout, elderly man, with o long iron gray
beard and blue glasses, stood on tho sand near
tho old fort at Sandy Hook yesterday morn
ing directing gang of men who were operat-
ing an odd-looking big gun, mounted upon n
red carriage Four cranks, tri1e larger
than those of an ordinary hand organ, pro-
.jected above the gum and four largo protuber-
ances like mammoth iron kettles were visible
beneath it. The man was Mr.. j. r. Haskell
and his weapon the multi-charge gun.
"You are just in time to see us load and
fire." ho said to reporter of tho World.
We are to-day beginning experiments to
learn how fast shot of given weight will
be carried by given charge and how much
pressure there will be upon tho sides of the
gun. Now watch"
First, the breech lock was swung out and
the shot inserted. The projectile (weighing
1l0 pounds) was cylinder-conical in shape
and made Of iron and co pper, with rings, tC
fit the bore tightly. A bag.containing fourteen
pounds of powder, so coarse that the grains
felt like chestnut coal, was used, and between
the bag and the ball was placed n thick wad
which looked like large round gingersnaps
glued together and copper fastened
by turning tho cranks thick lids were un.
screwed, revealing holes leading to the ket'
ties aforesaid, which are called pockets" BY
means of long tunnels powder was poured
into two of the pockets. Then the lids were
screwed on and Capt. Starring, of tho ord
nance department, United States army, cried
"All back ~
Soldiers and civilians hurried to the rear,
and tlocked into an unpretentious looking
subterranean structure with u gravel roof
called bomb-proof. Capt Starring opened d
little box on the wall and pressed an electric
button. There was dull, heavy report, fol
lowed by a long, shrill wall like that of some
creature in distress. 1t was loud and clear al
first, but died gradually away.
"She's busted" cried one of the workmen
ooh, no." said a veteran of the war, that
onl y the sound of ring of smoke, carried
along by tho wind"
| The projectile was carried at the ratio O.
| 1868 feet for the first second Fourteen
| pounds of powder were in the breech and Il
in each of the first two pockets. The pres
sure upon the breech was 10000 pounds to thu
square inch. The target, which was abou
300 yards from the gun, consisted Of Il boart
fence backed by bank Of sand % feet thick
The heat of the shells hardens the sand 81
that pickax is necessary in digging into it
Between the target and tho gun are tw,
frames, 100 feet apart, with electric wire
strung upon them. In its flight the projectil,
cuts the wires which communicate with thu
lie Bouleug cronograph, an ingenious instru
ment for measuring the velocity. Later il
sixth pounds ofpowder, the initial velocity o
the shot was 1873 feet. Little copper cylin
ders were placed at the breech, the pockets
and the muzzle, in apertures made for them
for registering the pressure of the gas Before
| the gun is loaded the length of each cylinder
is measured with an instrument which will
record 1-1006 of an inch. BY another instru
ment the force required to compress tn,
cylinder, say 1-10O0 of an inch, is ascertained
After the shot the cylinders are measured
again, and q comparison of the figures give
the pressure. Three shots were fired yes
terday.
As soon as we have completed our expert
ments to determine the proper CHARGE" saiC
Mr.. Haskell, 1--WE will try the range of th
piece. So far everything has worked yer,
nicely indeed"
"How does the velocity of your shot com
pare with other styles of proiectile
Directly there is not very much difference
but we get an equal velocity with much les
pressure, and that amounts to n decide
superiority over guns of other manufacture
Thus we get velocity of 1,55i feet with 20,
600 pounds pressure, when the old gun
would have 10000 or even 10000 pounds"