Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-02-22
THE CASTING OF GUNS.
Or. Calling Talks About Cannon
and Small Arms.

DR.. Calling Talks About Cannon
and Small Arms.
Cast steel guns ara the guns for the fu-
ture."
The speaker was the venerable DIR. X. J.
Calling, the inventor OF the Calling gun,
and one of the best informed men in mat
ters pertaining To armament in the world.
''rhere Is no necessity for Americans going
abroad to obtain heavy guns We can just
as well make them at home. And IN few
years we will produce cast steel guns that
will supercode the best guns now made by
European nations"
"What are the advantages of the cast gun
compared with the built-up gum"
"The present method of making large
guns is wrong-is mistake. When large
guns were first made the build-up plan was
the only one possible owing to the fact that
steel could only be made in small quantities
at time. Now we can get steel in as large
"a quantity as we want. and the main diff
Guilty is removed The build up gun con
sists of "a steel cylinder, around which steel
bands four inches thick are shrunk. A sec
ond series OF bands cover the first, but no
mater how well the work is done, the
bands do not have the same strain, and as
the bands do not unite there are cracks be-
tween them. When the discharge takes
place the vibration of the gun and the fric-
tion between the bands causes what is
known as the fatigue OF metals In conse-
quence Of this tie best gunmalers abroad
will not warrant their large guns Tor more
than one hundred rognds-a very short
life for gun. Composite guns are net
homogeneous and the parts do not therefore
vibrate like the parts OF one body, as they
should. You might set all the mechanics OF
New York at work to make bell out OF
number Ct bands shrunk together. but with
all their skill they could not make bell
that would ring. IL has been stated on good
authority that ont of seventy guns in use at
the seige of Paris in the Franco Prusf ian
war thirty-six burst from their own nring.
THE cast steel guns can be made for
small part of the cost of the built-up guns;
"a half "A dozen OF them can be made in the
time il takes to construct one built-up gun.
This is a great Advantage TO- "a country IKE
ours that needs almost an entire new arina-
IN ant.o
What about the navy and coast defenses
OF the Unit ii Statesf
"Thcy are in a deplorable condition. we
need a navy in order TO command respect az
a nation and prevent our flag from being in
suited. Our coast defenseS are OF no value
One modern gun would demolish any or onr
stone for,s. The stone would make II dan.
gerous for the garrison, as one shot would
make IL fly in all directions. Steel turretS
are the only practical defenses that could
withstand the guns of modern man OF war.
Earthworks are OF some value. New ork
city is practically defenseless country
like Chill could anchor gunboat of Coney
Island and shell the city without any trou-
BILE. There should be some large guns
mounted at Sandy Hook and on the Long
Island shore TO command the lower bay. Our
other ports shC.Ild also be protected. AS
they are now Canada could sweep down the
coast and capture every Atlantic port WITH
out difficulty"
"What changes are e.ng made ia small
arms.n
Great changes are being made abroad.
England, Germany, France and Italy have
adopted smaller cartridge than has ever
been used by armies. The projectile has
been A. calibre, or forty five hundrc1ths OF
an inch in diameter The new proiectile is
81 calbre. The bullet is of lead incased III
copper. 1t is two inches in length and goes
like an arrow. The large bullet in long
range firing requires TO be aimed high on ac-
count of the resistance of the air, and the
difficulty Of judging the distance and eleva-
ton is great. The new bullet receives less
resistance from the air. travels almost in
straight line covers a greater range and is
therefore much more effective. The new
projectile will do as good work at 1000 yards
as the old one at 800 yards. Then the re
sistance of the air being less, and there is
less shock to the shoulder of the soldier. He
can. therefore, fire longer ana do better
work. The change from the large caliber To
the small will make il necessary TO discard
the rifles now in use, and have those with
smaller barrels made The guns will be
lighter and the cartridge will weigh less,
and more can he carried The change has
been in contemplation for some time, and
very few rifles have been purchased for sew
eral years.
"Has our government adopted the new
cartr.dgei'
Not yet, but the matter is under consid-
G: a'ionn
as the Calling gun made for the old cart
r.dgcs or the new.n
"All of our orders from abroad require
the gun 10 be made for the new cartridge,
and think ii will be the size OF the future.
Our guns now fire ,20) shots minute. Tho
disastrous effect of their fire can scarcely
be imagined. If every city in the country
had several of these in their possession,
mobs and riots would not occur very often.
The presence of the guns would prevent
trouble. and they would seldom neod TO be
used. New York Mail and Express.