The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-02-10

Accurate Aiming ana satisfactory
Results ~ she tssvernment Test.

Accurate Aiming ana Satisfactory
Results AZ she Gsvernment Test.
New York San.
The hnai government tests Of the
pneumatic dramatic CUR constructed
Fcr tie new cruiser yesuvius were essn-
ssnesess under the supervision Of Major
zasansssi ard the naval bo3ra Al Fort
Lafayette. The navsl board consists
OF Commander Goodrich, Lieutenant
Schroeder and Lieutenant Fiske.
They we're stationed as different points
along the beach and On she water.
The nina and Admiral Gherardi'
launch went down from the navy
yard with q lot OF officers on
board Among those who viewed
the firing and assisted in ascer-
tanning the results were Charles r.
Emory, Cart. Birney OF the ordnance
department, representing the var de-
partrnenr: President Schuyler Of the
Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Com
pary. Baron von StcrnDarg, military
attache OF the German embassy at
Washington Capt Pierre Piorkowxki
of the German army, Lieut.. Zalinski.
= brother OF the major, Lieut.. Fullzm,
Lieut.. CoYcen. and Geo. IL. Reynolds,
ehiel engineer OF the Pneumatic Dyna
Jaife Gun Com pany.
The long gun, with its l5-inch bore,
wss In place az the southeast end OF
the island. and four busys floating a
mile away enclosed the target. which
was q rectangular expanse of water
about half the size OF the deck OF a
Enan-of-war The first shot fired con-
sisted OF shell filed with i75 pounds
of sand. Ii struck in the center OF the
target, 4sj7 yards beyond the first
right-nand buoy, and was thereafter
used as the bull 's-eye at which all sub
sequenf shots were aimed. The gun
was trained at an elevation OF Is de-
grees. Eight tubular proiectiies, ID
inches in diameter. eael loaded with
;75 pounds OF dynamite and nitro-gel-
aiine, were fired. The FIRST fell i.bI
yards short OF the buii's eve and failed
to explode. Ii took IL seconds to
travel the mile in a sweeping curve.
The second Shot fell .6o yards short,
and struck the water III Ii seconds.
The third fell IS yards short
i'm f4tz seconds. The fourth
fell Il yards short in liz
seconds. The fifth sell 80 yards short
in ~ seconds. The sixth carried a
longer fuse, and did not explode until
some time after striking the water.
1t fell f22 yards short in Is seconds.
The seventh fell IS yards short in Ia
seconds. The eighth fell in i3stconds,
and was fired TO explode lower down.
1t sent a column of black mud and
water 100 feet into the air. The aver
age velocity was IL seconds, and the
average pressure 1000 pounds 10 the
inch.
The actual test was as to the group
ing OF the shots. and measurements
were taken from where they struck 10
the mouth of the gun. This table
shows the result:
First fsand shotl, lost; second, a0ls
yards: third. 2G32; fourth, 2i40, fifth,
2l3S; sixth. 2l8o; seventh, 2i60; eighth.
POS; ninth, 2is0.
The government required so per
cent. excellence in the grouping of the
shots, and the greater number of
officers were of the opinion that this
had been accomplished. The figuring
was left, however, to the naval board,
and the actual results viii not be
made known until the board makes its
official report. In the afternoon some
shots with sand-filled projectiles were
made at long range. One. which was
intended 10 drop at the mouth of the
gun, was stack half way out of it.
A sailor had 10 climb out on the gun
and tie q rope to the proiectile. A
buoy was attached to the other end
and thrown into the water. The pro-
iectiie was then blown out a few feet
away. A shell, filled with 800 pounds
of sand and carrying long steel rud-
der, was fired a mile. 1t turned
number OF times in the air. Major
Zalinski said the shell must have been
weak and must have bulged He had
intended to fire similar shell filed
with dynamite, but abandoned it after
this experiment. Five-hundred pound
dynamite missiles have been fired sue
cessfully from the gun on previous oe-
casions, however. All the visitors de-
clared the gun great success.