Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-11-26
HEAVY ORDNANCE.

Testing the Fifty-F0ur Ton Gun at sandy
Hook--An 500 Pound Prsjectile Requir-
ing 265 Pounds Of Powder Constituting
the Charge, at . Cost of size Every Time
It shoots--Interested Spectators.
NEW YORK, November 20.-Thc Con.
gressional committee appointed by the
Forty-eighth Congress to obtain informa-
ton concerning the manufacture of ord
nance and armor plate in this country
went to the proving ground at Sandy
Hook, yesterday, to learn what success
had attended the ordnance corps of the
army in its experiment with the twelve
inch fifty-four ton gun that was eleven
months in building ut the South Boston
Iron Works. The gun that was the center
of attraction is one Of the largest ever
made in the United States. 1t is
constructed of cast iron, measures one
foot at the bore, is thirty feet long, Is q
breech-loader, weighs fifty-four tons, cost
$29, 900, carries charge of 265 pounds
of powder an 800 pound projectile; con-
tains a French interrupted screw or
French fermeture, and penetrates at
1000 yards an armament OF twenty
one inches of wrought iron, and costs
the Government every time the lanyard
is pulled $64 for the shell and $50 for the
powder, or SIG charge, outside of the
interest on the investment and the labor
that handles her. The powder used Is
slow burning powder, called the cocoa,
owing to its close resemblance to that ar
tic1e. This powder was invented by
German five years ago, who impaired the
secret of its manufacture to his Govern
ment, which kept the secret for
three years and sold the patent to
Great Britain for 100000. One
OF the United States ordnance
officers bought few grains a few years
ago, and in experimenting upon it actu-
ally improved upon the original. Seven
shells, weighing about eight hundred
pounds each, lay behind the great piece
yesterday, waiting to be fred. Two sacks
of cocoa powder, which required the
muscles of two men to lift through the
gaping breech of the gun, formed the
first charge. Under the direction of
Colonel Baylor, the distinguished rep
resentatives of the Government were
conducted to the parapet of the old stone
fort at the Hook.
els there any danger of her bursting?"
asked Congressman Frank Hiscock, look
ing obviously at the gun, which, about
200 yards distant, was being sighted by
Captain Sinclair.
ssWatch Colonel Baylor remarked
Lieutenant. Borany, of the Ordnance
Corps, who stood near, s'and if you see
him jump, hang on to his coat-tails."
A moment later there was a fash, a
crash, the the s00-pound projectile was
whirling through the air at the velocity
of 1888 feet second, and dropped few
seconds later far at sea, throwing up wa
ter five feet high. The huge gun recoiled
only six feet and one inch, with a motion
that swan might have envied, and then
stood still as if proud of her achievement
A sigh of relief and an expression of
thankfulness went forth from the laymen
present, while the ordnance officers
looked delighted. In the meantime twen-
ty men skurried from the bomb proofs to
which they had been hurried. Two of
them carried long swabber covered with
grease, another had unlocked the fer
meture and was removing the pressure
gauges from the breech, two more were
hosting another ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
shot in position, and others were carry
ing the canvas sacks which contained the
cocoa powder for the second charge; and
again all was ready, and again there was
a flash and crash, and the experiment
with the great gun was over
and the projectile dropped far out to sea.
The pressure in pounds per square inch,
at the base of the bore, was 1900,
against 80, 700 for the first round. Two
rounds of mortar firing which followed,
with a shell weighing Clio pounds and o
charge of twentysix pounds of powder,
aroused the admiration of the committee.
An examination of the building where the
Hotchkiss magazine guns and Calling
guns were stored closed the committees
laborS of the day.