National Republican., 1886-09-09
Tho Pneumatic, Gun Carriage and
Loader.

Tho rheumatic, Gun carriage ana
Loador.
The following extract from the Army
and Navy Journal OF the 4th instant will be
read with interest by those concerned in
the building up Of our sea coast defenses:
The japanese commission of military aud
naval officers which has been inspecting the
ordnance resources of the Atlantic coast, sails
for Liverpool Saturday of this week by the Au.
Tania. = On Thursday Gen. Count
saigo, with his staff, Capt. shibayama, Lieuts.
Funaki, Saito, Hidaka, Yoshil, Chief Engineer
ofArtillery Harada, and Paymaster Kataoka,
made their concluding visit, the objective
sein9E & The ordnance PtSS9ss ssr6y grounds Ha M q!
Gcers' quarters very handsome reception was
tendered the commission by the members of
the ordnance advisory board, Col. McAnister,
Diai. Mordecai, and Capts. Shaler and Whpple
The visitors reached the firing grounds fortu-
nately during firing. trial OF the new S;inch.
The firing was made for the purpose Of deter.
mining the superior adaptabillty of broad or
narrow bands TO the proiectiles. -Four shots
were fred at the farther target, 5000 yards dis
tant, and great accuracy secured the elevation
being but ? $40 degrees, with the usual charge
ofl00 pounds, Du Points cocoa powder, and
prolectile of 2S5 pounds. Experiments thus
far Indicate the superiority OF broad bands for
accuracy. The Powlett pneumatic gun car
riage and pneumatic gun loader, upon
which the 5fton cast iron rifle, now resting
from its endurance trial after its l37th
shot, has been mounted, was the object
at Sandy Hook which excited the larger
and most sustained interest of the commission.
AS the gun is not to be fired until tho question
of steel lining is settled, firing exhibition was
of course impossible. Under the direction of
Mr.. G. Il. Creepy, president of the Pneumatic
Gun.CaTriage Company, however, the opera
tion of the invention was shown in all Its de-
tails, the gun being run in and out OF battery,
elevated and depressed, and the carriage tray
ersed backward and forward. The celerity
and case with which these movements were
executed by the will and strength of simply
one individual operator very papably i'm.
pressed Count SGigo and his chief Of artillery,
HaTada.
The Powlett carriage is the invention OF
Capt. James A. Powlett, who, though n native
American, has had a large experience in the
English ordnance works. The carriage at
Sandy Hook, after exhaustive trial, was lc-
cepted by the War Department last January,
1t was built at the South Boston iron works,
and is apparently the type, with improvements
now being patented, OF tho future equipment
OF heavy guns.
The gun-loader, which was exhibited on
the above occasion for the first time since
its completion, worked perfectly. With
1t an S00-pound shot was transported 100
feet elevated, and rammed home into the
chamber OF the gun within 40 seconds with
the aid OF but one man. Under the old
handgear system it takes from six to eight
men from - to 10 minutes to do this work.
The japanese officers were SO fayorably
impressed with both the carriage and loader
that they requested estimates to bo fur
nlshed their government for large number