The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-13
A GREAT CANNON.
New York World.

gray beard and blue glasses. stood on the sand near ,he old fort a, Sandy Hook yesterday morning directing gang ci men who were operating an odd-loeking big gun. mounted upon red carriage. Four cranks. .rifie larger than those oi an ordinary hand-organ. projected above the gun. and four large proiuoerances like mammoth ron kettles were visible beneath 1t. The man was Mr K. Haskell and his weapon, the mul,i-eharge gun.
 !" You are lust n ;lme 10 see us load and tire," he said to a reporter ot the Ho,ni. We are to-day beginning eN permenis to learn how fas, a shot oi a gwen weigh; ~ill be carried by gwen charge. and how much pressure there will be upon the sides ot the gun. Now watch
 Frsi the breech- block was sprung out and ,he shot inserted. The poiectlle weighing lIo pounds was cy Under -coni- cal ,n shape and made of iron and cop per. with rings 10 1, the bore tightly. \ bay containing fourteen pounds of powder. so coarse ;ha; the grams fcli like chestnut coal. was used. and between the bag and ,he ball was placed ihick wad which locked like large round glnge,. snaps glued together and copper fastened
 By turning the etauks thiek lids were unscrewed. revealing holes leading to he kettles aforesaid which are ea.ied pockets. lsy means ot long tunnels powder was poured into ,wo oi the pockets. Then the hds were screwed on. ard Captain siatnng. ct ihe ordnance department; ni;ea ssates army, eaed. Al back
 Soldiers ard civilians hufrled ,o the rear and rocked into an anpietenueas subterranean structure with gravel root. called a boma-ptooi. 1aptAln Atarnns opened htle box on the wall and pressed an electro button. There ~as ! dull, heavy report. followed hv long shnil wal. like Una, nf some creature n distress. !, was load and elear a, aist. but died gradually away.
 shes busted cred one of the work men.
 "o. no. sad veteran of the Wal that oniy the >oand ota ing oi smoke earned along ' ;he wind.
 The ptolect,ie VAS eatued It the tA:c oi Iss> feet tor the nfst second. a4t= ,cen pounds ei powder were n the breeeh and eish,een in each oi the il :; two pockets. The pressure upon he bteeeh was ,9to3 pounds to the ,gaAte inch. The target, winch Was about yards rom the gun, consisted ot baata fence. ba ked by bank of sand twenty five feet thick. The heat al the she.ls hardens the sand so that a - k-aN is necessary in 2fsslns lnio t.
 lietween the ,afee, and the sln Ale two frames. one hundred feel apart. with electro wlres strung upon them. In .,s flight the prolcl;ile cu:s the w,tcs whi, II communicate with the Le Bouleug tro- nograph. an ingenious instrument for measuring the velocity. Later Tn the day. with a total charge ot siN and one sixth pounds of powder. the inn,i!al velocity of the shot was I,6r5 tcei. Il,,ie copper cylinders were placed d, the breeeh. the pockets and ,he muxIle in aper,ures made ior them for registering the pressure of the gas. Before the gun Is loaded the length of each cylinder is measured with an instrumen, winch ~lii record iia.4 of an inch. By another in- s,fumen, the force required to eolnpress the ey'lnder, say i-rlc1 of m inch. ls as cer;4nea. After the sho, the cylinder, are measured again and comparison of the figures giyes he pressure. Three shots were fred yesterday.
 .As soon as we have completed our experiments 10 determine the pfopc charge sad M' Haskell we M. IT the range of ,he piece. so far. every ;hlns has worked very nicely, indeed. How does the velocity of your sho; compare with other styles of pfojes ,lles."
 Directly there IS no, much difference. but we ge, an equal velocity with much less pressure. and tha, amounts 10 d de cided superiority over guns of other manufacture. Thus we ge; A velocity of i.35l fee, with 10000 pounds pressure, when the old guns would have 5o,ooo or even .cooo pounds.