Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-02-18

Mess Pery-cs War WesPeS E~~r dsressfea-
Washington special: An official re-
port to the war department OF the use
Of dynamite shells in a demonstration
made last December at Sandy Hook,
bat which was withheld from the public
until q few days ago, is attracting a
great deal of attention here among
army and navy officers and Others, and
some even so so far as to say that the
success attending this last and other
prior demonstrations and experiments
of similar character, lays the founda-
ton for q complete revolution in the
system of modern warfare. Shells
charged with primary powder, such as it
was supposed could only be used here
tofore, are to be laid aside and dyna-
mite shells are to be used in the ami
hilation of armies, the reduction of
forts or the crippling of fleets. The
thing accomplished at Sandy Hook, as
shown by the report of the board of
ordnance officers, Lieut.. -Cul. Mordecal,
Mai. Farley and Capt. Greer, was the
total wreckage of wrough iron circular
turiet eighteen feet wide, ten feet high
and fourteen inches thick, made of
twenty-seven inch plates, by three dyn-
anlite shells fred from an Ames seven
inch ribbed gun. The shells were of
steele weighed 122 pounds and were
charged with two and two-thirds pounds
of dynamite The problem which seems
to have been successfully solved in this
and former experiments of
firing with safety proiectiles
charged with dynamite is accom-
plished by q method of charging
shells with dynamite, the invention OF
j. w. Graydon, of Indianapolis, form
erly lieutenant in the navy. His in
vention consists not only in firing dyna-
mite shells from modern guns or cannon
with g full service charge of powder and
with no danger of premature explosion
of the shell from heat or shock, but also
securing the entire range desired and
penetration into the object struck before
the dynamite explodes-penetration be-
ing absolutely necessary in order to OBJ
tain the full destructive power of the
explosive. Three demonstrations of this
invention have thus far been made by
Gen. Sheridan, two at San Francisco In
1886 and the third at Sandy Hook. The
experiments at San Francisco were con-
Quoted by Gen. o. o. Howard and in
tended merely to demonstrate that shells
charged with dynamite could be fired
from cannon without premature explo-
sion After thirty-eight dynamite shells
had been successfully fired out of athree
and four and a half inch gun from the
preside grounds into the hills across
the Golden Gate, the board of officers
conducting the experiment expressed
the opinion in their report that the two
principal causes or apprehensions of
danger, heat and shock, had been COM
pletely guarded against. Gen. Howard
then recommended further experiments
with larger guns, and out of this recon-
mendation grew the Sandy Hook demon
stration with a seven-inch Ames gun and
1872 pound shells. The San Francisco
experiments had proven that dynamite
shells could be fired from common can
non with safety, and at Sandy Hook it
was intended to prove that Graydon's
method of charging dynamite
shells possessed. still another i'm
portant merit, that of obtaining
penetration before explosion. The eff
feet of the three shots fired there is mi
nutely described by the board in their
report. Two of the shots were glancing
shots and not ''point on" shots, as de-
scribed, to lessen the penetration, but
they penetrated the front plates several
inches and caused marked wreckage,
the first tearing the iron roof, weighing
fifteen tons, and throwing it distance
of twenty-five feet, as well as bursting
the bolt heads and separating the plates
several inches. The third shot, point
on" shot, completely wrecked one side
of the turret, penetrating through the
front plate before the shell exploded.
a piece of the front plate, weighing
nearly two tons, was blown a distance
of eighteen feet; the plates were still
further separated, while both were bad
ly cracked. The board, in their report,
substautiate the two main points claimed
for the invention by saying: ''Shells
charged with dynamite by Lieut.. Gray
don were successfully fired from the
gun and serious damage was inflicted
on the turret, this being especially the
case in the third round when penetra-
ton and disruptive effect were COM
bined." Other experiments will soon
be made with the largest guns in the
service and with twelve-inch rifed NOR
tars, throwing G2j pound shells and with
the Hotchkiss revolving cannon, to still
further test the merits of the new meth
cd of charging shells with dynamite.