Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-02-28
THE CASTING UrnuNs.
DR.. Calling Talks About Cannon
and Small Arms.

ana Small ARMS.
"Cast steel guns are the guns for the fu-
ture."
The speaker was the venerable DR.. II. J.
Calling, the inventor OF the Calling gun,
and one Of the best Informed mon in mat
ters pertaining TO armament in the world.
''There Is no necessity for Americans gong
abroad to obtain heavy guns We can Just
as well make them at homo. And IN q few
years we will produce cast steel guns that
viii superccde the best guns now made by
European nations"
"What are the advantages of tho cast gun
compared with the built-up gunp
''The present mCthO1 of making large
guns is wrong-is n mistake. Whom large
guns were first made the build-up plan was
the o.ly ole possible owing TO tho fact that
steel could only be made in small quantities
at time. Now we can get steel in as largo
a quantity as we want, aad the main dill
Guilty is removed Tho 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 tho first but no
mat y how well the work is done, tho
bands do not have the same strain, and as
the bands do not unto there are cracks be-
tween them When the discharge takes
place the vibration of the gun aud the fric-
known as the fatigue OF metals In conso-
Quence OF this the best gUnmalIers abroad
will not warrant their large guns for more
tn IN one hundred rcunds-a very short
life for gun. Composite guns arc noe
homogeneous, and the parts do nON thorloEo
vibrato like the parts OF one body, as they
should. You might set all tho mechanics of
New York at work TO make bell out OF n
number Of bands shrunk together, but with
all their skill they could not maze q bell
haf rim bua bpA tnf rod ON
authority that ont of seventy guns in use ut
the seige OF Paris in tho Franco Prus i'm
war thlrty-siX burst from their own firing.
"Tha cast steel guns can be made for
small part Of the cost of tho bui.t-up guns;
a half a dozen Of them can he mlGe III the
time it takes to cons ruct one built-up gun.
This is a great advantage for country ike
ours that needs almost an entire new arma-
ment."
what about the navy and coast dofenses
OF the United Statesp
'"rhey are in dcplorabe condition. We
need navy in order TO command respect as
nation and prevent our flag from being in
suited. Our coast dcfcnse3 are of no value.
One modern gun would dcmoliSh any OF orr
stone forts. The storo would make il dan
gerous for the garrison, as one Shot would
make it fly In all directions. Steel turrets
are the only practical defenses that could
withstand the guns ola modern man of-Wdr.
EarthWorks are OF some value. New York
like Chill could anchor gUnboat off Coney
Island and shell the city without any trou-
BILE There should b. some largo guns
mourted at Sandy Hook and on tue Long
Island shore 10 command the lower bay. Our
other ports should also be- protected. As
they are now Cnnadl could sweep down tho
coast and capture every Atlantic port with
out difficulty"
"What changes are being made in small
crms"
U(.raat chorrca a,,o hai, ,,oda ah,,oa5
England, Germany. France and Italy have
adopted u smaller cartridges than has ever
been used by armies. The proiectile has
been Is calibre or fortv-fve hundrelths Of
an inch in diameter; Tho now proicctilee Is
81 calibre. Tho bullet is Of lead incGsed il
copper. 1t is two inches in length and COOS
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 cleva-
tion is great. The new bullet receives less
resistance from the cir, travels almost in
straight line, covers a greater range and is
therefore much more effective. The new
projectile will do rs good work 1t 1000 yards
as tho old one at 1870 yards. Then the re-
sistance OF tho air being less, and thore ID
less shock 10 the shoulder of the soldier. He
can, therefore, fire longer and 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
SAnaA4oI o1i ISi9 hstIc iho suns WIN 10
lighter and the cartridge will weigh less,
and more can be carried. TIL change has
been in contemplation for some time, and
very few rifles have been purchased for sew
eral years."
"Fas OR government adopted the new
cartridgew
"Not yet, but the matter is under consid-
G. n ion"
as the Calling gun made for tho old cart
r:dg 3 or tho newt"
'sAll of our orders from abroad require
the gun 10 be made for the new cartridge,
and think it viii be the size Of tho future.
Our guns now fire ,90) shots minute. The
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 tho guns would prevent
trouble. and .hey would seldom ncel to be
used. New York Mali and Express