Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-02-11
CITY AND DISTRICT.
capt. Zalinski Talks About His Pneu
matte wonder.
THE DYNAMITE Gun.

ALL CONGRATULATIONS OVER POWDER
0USs-A DETAILED DESCRIPTION.
Capt. ZaiInski and some shiny brass tubes were
In the War Department library yesterday morning
when certain Army ana Naval officials and other
invited guests began TO drop In to hear a lecture
On the subject OF the famous pneumatic gun and
It's shells and fuses While the proceedings were
stayed TO await the coming OF Secretary Endicott
such OF the audience as did not know the captain
began 10 make speculation us to what manner OF
man was this who handles and talks about dyna-
mite as though 10 were sand. Unconscious OF this
searching inquiry the captain leaned carelessiy
against the wall and chatted TO sumo OF his ae-
quainrances about his terrible machine He Is n
man OF sturdy build, rather beneath the medium
height, ana with a dark brown mustache ana
beard There Is a slightly foreign look discernbe
among his features. for he is b. nativity a Pole,
having been brought 10 this country when an in
liant. SIortly after 10 O'Clock secretary Endicott
arrived and took seat In the front alongside OF
ture.
THE DYNAMITE Gun
The room was then darkened and the captain
assembled a small platform and rested his arm az
fectionately across the steering gear OF an i'm
mense brass torpedo that rested on two 'hOrses. ;"
and would contain, it was said 600 pounds OF
Dynamite. He began By announcing that IL was
his object TO give some idea OF the construction
and possibilities OF the PNEUMATIC gun. In the
nrst place, be said, 1.-The object OF the gun Is 10
curacy and safety 10 the gunners- The main use
or the gun would b. as a land defense against the
attacks OF = fleet. In support OF mine OF tcr.
pedoes. The dynamite cruiser Is merely swift
vessel carrying one or more OF these guns When
the idea OF projecting 40 or 20 pounds OF dyna-
mite was b cached 10 me four years ago ], as an
artillertst, scofYed. But such had contempt
for gunpowder. and the idea grew on me, and
when the gun was FIRST brought to Fort lafayette
saw that there was promise In IL, and from that
time have been a believer.
THE FIRST GUN
was n brass tube. inches bore, and % feet long.
1t being furnished with hand stOp-cock for
turning the compressed air on and OF, there was
but little comparative accuracy Al first we used
blank cartridges filled with sand, and then tried
small charges Of dynamite. The next gun was
inches In bore, 10 feet long, and the shells were
mite. About the first difficulty encountered was
the fuse. We used Illuminating cap, but IL some
times failed, and our attention was turned 10
other methods Then II was found that the en-
plosiOns took place at the front, thus producing
an impact Of the gases that drove the force OF the
shock backwards. Thus 10 was seen that the tx
ploSion should occur at the rear Of the she'll The
trouble have mentioned about the fuses led me 10
think OF electricity, and since then each shell has
been provided with an electric attachment, which,
On contact with the target closes circuit that
produces an explosion.
TO TEST THE PENETRATION
or the shells Ne had erected at Fort Lafayette O
target consisting OF several iron plates; SHE'LL
filled with sand perforated three plates, while
that loaded with dynamite only went through one.
caused one shell TO be filled with cotton waste
she front end, and much better Results were OBJ
famed the shot penetrating six plates, before the
explosion occurred. This showed that IL was i'm
pOrtant to determine with accuracy both the time
and place OF the explosion. From TO 10 pounds
OF dynamite were used 1 was prevented from
using larger charges because OF the breaking OF
,l,o an1 n @ OF piastsng IRON tae eS
gun we tried an automatic valve that worked per-
fectly, inSuring accuracy. The next gun was the
S-inch, which was OF wrought iron tubes a OF an
inch thick, covered with Jacket or brass !. inch
thick. II was GO feet long. one great advantage
this gun was competed b. the fact shaa owing to
the mechanical arrangements one man could con-
troll the entire operation after the shell was placed
In position"
SILENT DISCHARGE
"There Is no report when the gun is fired, he
continued, except slight sound something like
the noise Of the escape OF high pressure steam.
There Is Light mist produced by the condensa-
uon OF the moisture In the air under the great
pressure, but this disappears almost Instantly
This Is another OF the advantages OF the gun, for
the smoke OF powder guns is often so thick as to
hide the target from view. i do not think that
this mist could possibly betray the location OF the
gun 10 those on shipboard. At any rate We expect
that those on board won't have much desire TO
locate the thing that sends these silent but awful
missiles through the air"
PICTURES OF THE GUN.
While the captain was talking his assistants
were engaged In throwing stereopticon views OF
the gun and OF certain OF the experiments he men,
toned Ipon the wall of the room one OF the
pictures was that OF the gun Just after firing. The
mist spoken OF appeared somewhat like persons
breath on frosty morning, and had the wall been
little longer the captain said that the shell might
have been seen in hight.
''Fhe air pressure" continued the captain. .fn
what are known as the .firing reservoirs Is IRON
60 20 100 pounds, while there are supply reser-
vOirs that contain air at 1000 pounds. One OF the
forms OF batteries used was a very delicate one,
the mere contact Of two narrowly separated
points being SUFFICIENT 10 explode the shell. This
fact, OF course, made the men very nervous and /
haTfPr1pl
were practically useless while In the gun by using
spring plunSer on the side Of the shell, which
WAS pressed In by contact with the side OF the gun
% that the circuit was widely broken. Ihave dis
carried this now, and Use battery that IS quite
complicated In its action, but very safe and sure.
The head OF the prolectile Is made thin so as to
crush on contact with any solid material thus
forming one of the connections with the batteries
j am now able To nix the fuse so that the explosion
VIII occur IN 12lOOOO OF a second after the circuit
- completed by immersion In water or by contact
..Bear in mind that the gun is designed to act
either above or below the water. lit strike the
water usually descends 70 adepth OF from TO 10
II above the water the effect OF the shock IL within
reasonable distance OF n ship. Is sure TO be fatal
that We can attain just good results by shorten
ing tne tube and Increasing the bore, and that IL
possible 70 make the gun relatively just as short
II not shorter than powder guns
ATTACKING A SCHOONER
"Perhaps the most Interesting experiments were
with the schooner Silliman which was furnished
by the Government for the purpose OF testing the
destructive powers Of the gun. IL was hoped that
We could get one OF the condemned monitors but
We failed The schooner was 80 feet long and 10
feet Wide, and Was mOOred end on 10 the gun at a
distance OF over 800 yards. She light all bal
last been having removed, and her water tanks
We're empty. The nrst shot, hired az pressure OF $50
pounds was purposely dropped short. IL shook
TOE vessel. AID II she had ben manned, would
have done great damage. The second shot did not
explode. owing 10 the breaking on OF the tail piece
winch was structural,y weak. The third shot fell
about ten yarn. from the ship but her Inainmast
was snapped on ne1r the deck, and her stern was
CRAFTY shattered The shock caused her 10 slew
around. 50 that IL the fourth shot she was diago-
hally across the line Of ire Thi, shot exploded
directly under the ship Raising her center up from
the water, breaking her back. and rendering her
total wreck The water was from four To flye
fatnOms IN depth, and the Sllllnan drew about
i've feet"
ACCURACY OF FIRE
zone OF the strongest claims for the gun
Is the accuracy Of fire. We 40 not ordinarily
expect great accuracy from smOoth-bor guns
such this Is, and Ia a smooth powder gun tht,
rOund shot Is almost sure to tumble. But our pr.
l1cJiles are made with extreme care. every part
bling exactly balanced and put together and In
addition the arrow or tail that Is used on the shell
acts IN lieu OF rng 50 that the nne Of the shot Is
almost perfect"
AT this point a voice was raised from the audi
ence asking 10 what extent the shot Is affected By
TIE wind
"Well, replied the captain, "of course the shell
dos receive considerable OF the lorce OF the wind
but 50 does a shell from a powder gun. IL Is
thought, however, that notwithstanding the
Increased sire of the shot, the extreme
accuracy OF the power permits OF very close