Omaha daily bee., 1884-03-01
DYNAMITE IN WAR.
The New Gun That is to Destroy
Foreign Fleets.

New York World; A long brass tube,
with q two-inch bore, lay upon the west
ern parapet of Fort Hamilton yesterday.
Col. Hamilton, commander of the fort, an
umbrella, and a World reporter stood
near by. The long brass tube was a gun,
although an ordinary observer might take
it to be a portion of a water-pipe used for
draining the parapet.
This gum" continued Col. Hamilton,
50 twenty. eight fset long, with a two
;nnh bore. 1t was Tented by a MIR.
Milford, an American, I'D ia the property
of Mr.. Windsor, the torpedo-builder. "a
were asked to experiment with il here,
which we are doing, under the dir6ctton
of Lieut.. Zallinski, an expert in proiev.
tiles and harbor.defense weapons. We
have been trying it at half-mile range
with good results, Notwithstanding that
it is Incomplete as to its manufacture and
mountings, and has by no means realized
its possibilities.
1.-THE motor is compressed air, with
which it is proposed to experiment at 600
to $50 pounds pressure. The missile has
been proved to have good power of pene-
tration and is formidable as q direct
weapon. But that is not the main OBJ
ject. The weapons are made long like an
arrow and are headed with brass cases
intended to be charged with dynamite,
the explosion of which ia to produce the
intended effect. AS yet we have not yet
experimental with dynamite, but have
loaded the cases with sand in order to
give them weight. The missiles are of
LII, n',,n mood ,,olo -. O. II. -. -.
are "a, 40 and AZ inches in length. The
brass cases, which are fitted at the head,
are II and ~ inches long, their diameter
being u. and ! inches. These cases,
when charged, give weight and steady the
flight of the missile or arrow. The
openings at the head of the cases
are closed with a wooden plug, through
which a needle penetrates connecting
with a can. When The projectile strikes
the object the dynamite is at once ex-
ploded.
"As yet very little is known about
condensed gases as a motor for projec-
tiles, though it has been successfully
utilized as a motive power. The great
problem has been how to throw dyna-
mite shells with safety. The conclusion
of gun-powder will Immediately explode
dynamite, and the result is, the gun is
destroyed, as well as everything in the
neighborhood. With this gun, however,
| think that dynamite can be thrown
with perfect safety to the gunner, and
with disastrous effect to the object it
strikes"
The gun when in position is mount
ed on a tripod, and has the appear.
ance of a long, slender telescope. Two
small tubes connect with a receiver, which
in turn ia connected with a twenty-five
horsepower engine with a long hose.
The engine ana boiler are located in the
fort.
Experiments have been made with the
gun at half-mile range. The missile
penetrated a heavy wooden target, backed
with hard packed earth, twenty.six
iaches. During the passage it obtained
q fall of twelve degrees. The gun, how
ever, is not intended to throw a proiectile
as a direct weapon, but as a carrier for
dynamite. So rapid is the explosion of
dynamite that its force is always down
ward. Consequently a dynamite shell
exploding on the side of a vessel would
not produce as disastrous an effect az il
struck ON the deck.
This gun is constructed To meet all the
necessary requirements. The proiectile,
though resembling a base. ball bat. will.
when shot from the gun by an expert
m%arksman, make a graceful curve in the
air like an arrow aud descend head down
ward upon the deck OF "a vessel. With a
heavier pressure it can be shot as . direo,