The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-05-04
Our 0lio.
MAKING A MODERN CANNON


Fruul The wAsaluzsoa ro-s
The Washington Navy Yard has been
transformed into an immense gun factory.
An during these peaceful spring days,
whea the ancient willows Of the yard are
shooting forth long stems Of green aud the
heavy black smoke oF the tai chimneys
drifts hEily on the balmy arr, nearly geo
skilled workmeu are hammcTing busily
from early morn till late in the afternoon.
In nsarly a score Of immense buildings
giant la,hes are turnIag steadily. large
drills are boring continually, and in every
nook and cBraer Of the yard there = eyI-
dsnce of unwouted industry aad activity.
With the uew navy came the necrssiiy for
sev guns. The Old eaRnon, smooth oi
bore add clumsy Of management, would
have been useless upoa the new aFulorcd
and unarmored vessels which Congress
finally decided 10 construct 4 gaa factory
became Necessary.
The fact that al of these guns, or nearly
al Of them. are to BE- flashed a the Wash
ington Guu Factory Is facs which s no,
a. yss thoroughly comprehendsi- Indeed,
i would sarprise ninety y-nine out Of every
hundred residents Of this city il they visit
"a the Washington yard al this time.
They uoald sec immense buildings, coo
feet long and towering ~ or 50 feet into
the air. in pEoorss Of erection, they would
see the preparations Cor equipping these
buildings wIIh threc travelling cranes, oi
twenty-five, forty, and ITO loa capacity, a.
large as anywhere in the country The
largest one. 10 fact, viii excel anything 10
The world. aud will be able to take up I
weight cqusl TO two ordinary passenge'
locomotives at once. aud carry them wiIh
case for block
The work has beea progressing some
time. and has now reached stage wherS
us completion Is but question OF teV
months The money for prosecuting tbs
work i al or nearly al 10 hand. CougrcS.
having voted at the last session s6SS, ,oot
for the oomplcsioa Of ghe gus plant, . AZ
nothing Of the millions readily granted 10
the armament. Indeed, It j. expected that
before the plant i fully completed ove'
81 600 .0Oc will have been expended upoT
II and the Government will have 10 re'urr
a plant which, il it does not equal hTupp :
famous factory 10 point Of size, viii at leasi
be abreast of It 10 all modern improvement
in tho nauufactuse Of heavy ordnance.
Up in she heart Of the bepnsyigani'
hills. where the air Is black with smoke By
day and lurid with fame at night, the hrs
step in the process Of gun making Is to b
witnessed. In the great rolling mill of tbs
Midvale Company, huge masses OF steel,
weighing at first 10000 pounds, are ham
mered and rehammered until cast in al
ingo, Of little more than half that weight
I These insuts ere about twenty-six feet lon:
and about eight inches 10 diameter
+ When each long column Of steel Is ready
To be turned over 10 the Government, /
piece Of il Is cut off by the Government
1 INSPECTOR stationed at the rolling mill anC
seat to the testiag room at the Washing
ton factory.
The piece Of steel sent TO this city i
about four inches ia length An inch o
! this at each end consists of thTead-hk'
screw. and between these is thinner cyl
ipder of plain steel. When sample dull
marked is taken from its box each end
screwed into the arms of tall testini
machine, capable of testing up TO 100000
pounds, By a system of leavers, seientih
cally arranged, oae man standing by th'
wheel, which is not much larger IN diane
ter than the length of ones hand, can pul
the bars apart, and thus stretch the ilttl
column of steel until finally il snaps apaI
with a noise like good-sized Fourth q
July fireeracker,
The steel ingot has now been forged
inspected, and shipped, and is in the GU
factory awaiting further disposition. A
though it weighs something like 600
pounds the huge derricks lift it easily, an
it is placed upon one of the gigantic lathe
with which the shops abound. At one en-
of the lathe a steel drill or bit is fastened
Then the great wheels reyolve, and slowl
but steadily the drill begins to convert tn
solid mass of steel into tube. At tr'
the hole which is bored is only 81 inch'
in width. 1t leaves rough, Jagged su
face, which in turn is smOothed down by
; drill of finer build.
1t is easy to sum up this work in SCI
tence, aud yet at the very fastest the latt
must turn and turn for two weeks befo
its work is done. Then the expert or
nance officers take hold of it. By the a
t of powerful electric lights they examll
, every square inch of the tubes interlo
looking carefully for defects, for inequ'
tiles in the metal, and for gouges. 1t
to the credit of American steelmakers tn
, up to this time not single tube has be-
, returned to the manufacturers. Occaslo
ally the metal in the tube is warped 81
the twist in the grain causes trouble, b