Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-04
AN IMMENSE GUN.
The Process of Casting In the Pittsburg
Works

Works.
Plttsburg Correspondent New York Times.
The great steel gun being made for
government approval by the Pittsburg
Steel Casting Company Wss cast January
IL. The cast was @ most successful one,
and Superintendent HainsWorth is conf
dent Of the ability of the gun to meet the
required tests when completed. Never
before in the history Of Bessemer steel
has gun been cast Of anything like the
magnitude OF this one. Since the award
ing Of the contract last autumn the COM
p8ny has been engaged in experiments
snd tests preparatory TO this cast. The
complete mold stood on its end in pit
dug for the purpose, its top rising about
six feet above the ground. a platform Of
about ten feet square WAS built on level
with the top of the mold. Ascending
short ladder to the platform,
Mr.. Hainsworth explained to
made. About sixty workmen we're en-
with the casting. Lieutenauts Vain
wright, Eaton and Forse, and Ensign
Fletcher of the United States navy-all
city-were present. The molten iron was
brought from the blast furnace and poured
into the great converter in the center of
the works. Sixteen thousand five hun
dred pounds of melted iron were poured
into it. This is the largest weight That has
ever been put in the steel-casting CON-
peny's converter. The enormous engine
was then started and began to drive air
fhrOnnh f1l
The iron contains large percentage
OF silicon, which by this action Of the air
is burned out. When the air was forced
into the converter the flames lesped
from its mouth in solid column, and &C.
compsnyirg this column was shower Of
sparks bursting forth, which fell on every
side like rain of stars. The most bril-
liant pyrotechnical exhibition ever imsg-
ined by man could give but the tsintest
idea of the hrilllancy of this shower of
fire a rsinot meteors-nll the stars of
the heavens gathered into circle of efew
hundred feet and then scattered by
thunderbolt could have made no more
wonderful exhibition.
The converter, which st first stood in
half upright position, wss slowly righted,
and the huge tongue of fame lesped into
the spacious mou h of the overhanging
gooseneck. The blowing began at 1854
O'Clock and continued until :2S O'Clock,
when they agiteted the metal. At 1855
o'clock tasgbegan pouring into the molds,
and 81 1897 O'Clock it WAS all over. The
work for which it had taken months of
preparations and expensive experiments
was in two minutes finished, and to the
satisfaction of Mr.. Hainsworth.
"We c2n't tell the result with any GER
tSinty yet" he ssid. Everything went
Of well, and am confident Of good re-
suits"
The gun will remain in the mould until
1t has cooled, which will be probably a
week. AS soon as it can be annealed
after 1t is taken from the mould the boring
will begin. The gun when completed
will be five and one-han tons; its total
length 1884, SO inches; the velocity of pro-
jactile 1000 feet per second, and the pres
sure in chamber fifteen tons. The great
of this experiment is demon
strGted by the fact that g gun of this kind
can be made for about $4,000, while 8
bufit-up gun of the same size would cost
ebsnt S22, 900. By this plan gun of l25
tons, which now would cost about $780, !
900 can beImade for 100000.
The company is having special lathe
constructed for the boring Of the gun. A