Omaha daily bee., 1888-05-03
ANCIENT CHINESE ORDINANCE.
A Brccch-Loading Cannon Said to be
Nearly 600 Years Old.

AT a recent meeting of the Numes-
matte Antiquarian society of Philadel-
phia, Stewart Culin exhibited a photo
graph, obtained through the courtesy
of Colonel A. @. Pennington, Fourth
artillery, United States army, of a
Chinese bre~ech-loading cannon, now in
the collection of trophy guns at the
artillery school OF Fortrers Monroe.
This interesting weapon was captured
in Corea in 1861 by the squadron of
Rear Admiral Rodgers. 1t is a bronze
wall piece, with u calibre of LA inches.
The barrel is 1852 inches long, and the
breech-loading cavity 1904 inches.
Upon one side of the breech is an in
scription composed of fifUy-one Chinese
characters of an ancient style, q copy
of which was also exhibited to the So
ciety.
This inscription gives the name of the
official who superintendent the casting,
of the officer of the artillery depart
ment of the district magistrate, and of
the smith who manufactured the gun,
together with its official designation as
a piece of the fourth class, and its
weight a hundred c%atties or about one
hundred and thirty-three pounds.
The date is inscribed as the kwei
show year, eighth month, day; but
as the characters kwei chow only indi-
late the tiftieth year of the cycle of
iXty years, and as no regal period is
gcven, they are not sufficient to fix the
age of the piece.
A distinguished Chinese authority
states that the titles of the military Of
ficials upon the castings are those of
the Yuen dynasty, during which the
year indicated by the cyclical char
acters correspondent with A. d. 1872, a
date more remote >than has hitherto
been accorded to such firearms.
Father Amiot, in his "L'Art Mill
taire des Chinois, 'aillustrates and de-
scribes a breechloading gun somewhat
resembling in it's construction the
piece at Fortress Monroe. This gun,
which he naivelyi says may be given
any name one pleases that will best
designate it, is supported on a wooden
stand representatives, tiger. Its length,
exclusive of a wooden stock, is three
feet three inches, with q circumference
of eight inches.
Four boxes of iron accompany the gun
and these are already charged, inserted
in the breech, and fired by the five men
who serve the gun in action. These
boxes are Z inches in length, ST inches
in circumference, and have a calibre of
l inch. The charge is three inches of
powder. No great antiquity is ascribed
to this piece, as it is said to have been
first used. in the third year of Yung-
ching, that is to say A. D.. 1925.
From this and other illustrations
drawn from Chinese sources the opinion
was expressed that the gun at Fortress
Monroe belonged to a comparatively re-
cent period.
Mr.. Tatui Bahia, of Toxic, exhibited
the lock of a Japanese matchbox and
explained its mechanism.
The curious arm, called a "ju NOM
me" from the weight of the ball, which
was ten '.momme" equal to about lis
ounces, was introduced into Japan by
the Portuguese about the year 1858, and
continued in use down to the reorgani-
cation of the Japanese army by the Sho-
| gun in 1868. A heavier weapon for
which a similar lock was used was in
PRODUCED about fifty years later than
the "ju momme." 1t was known as the
''hiyak me-" the weight of the ball be-
ing 100 ''momme' or twelve ounces.
This gun was carried by foot soldiers
and fired from a rest. Large cannons
are said to have been first used in Japan
about 1850.