The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-06-20

moro the, tube, now with It's steal
jacket, IS swung upon lathe, and the
latter begins its tireless revolutions.
Experience has proved that all tho
force Of the escaping projectile Is not
confined to the chamber from which il
starts, but that considerable pressure
is also exerted along the muzzle. To
overcome this steeis@hoops which
average In size about four to the
length of the muzzle are placed around
the tube, being first heated and then
allowed to shrink tightly into placs.
This Is done, however, upon the lathe
and without q second visit TO the
shrinking pit.
What was a matter OF days in the
boring OF tube becomes now a matter
OF weeks, as the steel bit OF the lathe
cuts of long shavings OF steel from
the slow revolving cannon. The SYM
metry Of the gun now begins to APP
pear. 1t needs no label to identify 1t.
During all the time that It Is upon the
lathe the ordnance inspectors measure
Il carefully, compare II Nth the draw
ings Qor every gun has It's working
drawings as detailed and as Intricate
as those for a house,, and hardly a
revolution OF the lathe is made with
out test or inspection. 1t is difficult
to describe in plain words the amount
of care which is given to each one OF
these death-deafing creatures, Every
thing that human ingenuity could de-
wise and human thought develop is be-
slowed upon it.
The gun has now progressed from
rough ingot to bored tube. which in
Turn has become clothed with Jackets
and hoops OF steel Once more the
finest lathe runs with careful touch
through the interior, making the bore
as polished as a mirror. 1t is now
ready for the most important step OF
all. Right at the entrance Of the ma
chine shop stands the rifiing machine.
On its capacious bed the cannon rests,
securely fastened. Into the guns cir
cular mouth is placed along bar with
four sharp teeth.
For day and a half this bar re-
wolves within the guns interior, slow
ly cutting out couple of dozen OF
twisted grooves about 5-1O0 of an inch
in depth. Not many months ago each
groove was cut ,aout separately, and
what is now accomplished in seven
teen hours then occupied week. No
where else in the world. not-axen in
the famous arsenal and ordnance shops
of the Old World, are four grooves cut
at once In rifiing cannon. So care
fully, however, is this work calculated
that the grooves come out mathematic-
ally exact. to the theusandth part Of
an line fass7s
The gun is now almost completes
Once more it goes upon the lathe and
revolves again, while man with big
emery rubbers polishes the steel until
it glistens, like a streak of silver
against the sombers background Of the
dingy shop. Previous to this, how
ever, the trunnion bands-the bands
which form the support for the gun
when resting in the carriage-have
been put in position. and the gun is
taken from the shops where 1t has
spent SO much time to another room to
have It's ibreech mechanism perfected.
In has been critically examined by
electric light and star-gauged at every
point of its progress, but all the care
that has been spent upon 1t would be
as nought il it lacked the power to dis
charge the shell. 1t is almost i'm
possible to describe in popular way
thesbreech mechanism. -
In consists, to picture it in word,
of a steel door which can be locked
when the charge is in and unlocked
when the charge is out Part of this
door, which is probably foot thick,
consists OF asbestos and mutton suet,
tightly compressed. When the charge
Is expanded this band, which is set
between two rims OF hard steel, spreads
against the interior of the cannon and
thus cuts off most effectively the es-
cape OF the gas. So important is it
that every part of this expansive gas
shall be utilized that even the printing
hole, hardly two-tenths Of an inch in
diameter. is made self-sealing, and it
is estimated that il the gas could force
itself backward through this minute
aperture the velocity Of the shell at
the muzzle would be reduced fifty feet
a second.
The last stages of the gun are now
fast approaching. 1t remains for it
to be- sighted a5ntai,rsimple @as@this
operation would seem to be, Lieuten-
ant Winslow, who has charge of the
six-inch gun. says that it is matter
of six days. The utmost care is taken
in leveling the gun and in making the
sight parallel with the axis of the
bore. The value Of a sighton rife
is known toleyery one. In the else OF
an immense cannon it is no less i'm
portant Finally the gun is weighed
to find out whetherit is muzzle heavy
or breech heavy. This prependerance,
as it is called, is carefully marked upon
the gun, the date and place OF Its
manufacture is neatly chiseled in the
shining steel. and the gun stands ready
for use.4as--s-4ss;= $500
What does one of these high-power.
breech-loading, mechanically perfect
guns look like now that it is COM
pletedp 1t is4longer than the old style
OF cannon. 1t is more symmetrical,
and it is certainly much more beauti-
full to. look upon. A six-inch gun
weighs 10000 pounds 1t represents
three months of skilled labor since 1t
came. into the shop, to say nothing OF
the mathematical work and careful
inspection which it has required. II