Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-12-05
SOME MODERN GUNS.
They Have Reached Enormous Si,.,
Rapidity of Fire l. the RAGE w

They Have Reached Enormous sin.
Rapidity of Fire l. the Raar. y"
The recent completion Of 49,.
gun at Essen for the Russian, ana 7.
shipment from Hamburg to CroDst.j.
after successful test at the Ma.
range, has just marked another .ta.
in the making of monster ordnsn1
/ The largest Krupp gun preyiorsI.
made was one of about ll9 tons tbrna'
ing projectiles of 2,3l4 pounds. JbTr
has two of these mounted in a sbor,
battery; and it is for coast defense az,
that Russia intends to use the new rra
obtained from krupp. 1t has been ssi5
that the next step in advance pu8sr
taken by the Essen works will he n,
making of a 150-ton gun, which Win
throw a projectile weighing S00
pounds.
Hardly less interesting than tbss.
calibers are the more familiar l10-tos
guns of the Elswick works. ina,mnss
as they are used for the batteries ~
British ships, as for example on he
Benbow. This gun is "A feet lone .,
about two feet less than the llQ.to1
Krupp, and its caliber is l6 IA inches
The diameter OF the powder chamber
/ is p inches and the maximum chsrya
is $50 pounds, to be used with a nro.
jectile weighing l,800 pounds With
the extreme powder charge a muzzla
energy of 62, 700 foot tons is expected
These figures show a great chanps
from thirty years ago, When the larT.
est cannon mounted on a war vess9l
threw a shot weighing only 6S pound,
and possessing an energy of only l,lO0
foot tons.
Still, there are not lacking com.
plants against the 1l0-ton runs
Those which have been built for the
Victoria and Sanspareil are said to
have developed serious defecs. two
out of the four already delivered hay.
ing failed on the test, and one serious.
" collapsed A gun Of this size costs
over 100000, so that the loss is serious
in case of failure. Yet this is matter
that may not concern the government
where private works, like those Of Els
wick and Essen, supply the guns The
makers have to stand the loss if the
gun does not come up to the contract
requirements. There is apt to be much
exaggeration in the reports of the
shortcomings of heavy guns. Kupp
has made four ll9-ton guns for Italy.
and the Elswick works have made
many l10-ton guns for the Duilli0.
Dandalo Italia, and Lepanto, besides
the l05-ton guns for the Andrea Dosia,
the Francisco LAURA, and the Morosni.
The French have also many heavy
guns, although none of quite as great
weight as the krupps and Armstrong;,
But the attention of artilleriSts is for
the moment less absorbed in adding
more metal and getting larger calibers
than in the new system of smaller ord-
nance, which depends on a great IN
crease in the rapidity Of fire. This last
object, as sought for from single shot
guns, in which rapidity of manipula-
ton allows something Of the effect Of
the revolving cannon, was first sought
for about eight years ago; but it is only
since 1888 that the present remarkable
results have been achieved. The Arm
strong quick-tire guns, rs used upon
the cruiser Piermonte, have become
famous the world over; and in addition
to the other European systems, like
the Nordenfeldt, Krupp, and GrusOn
the American Hotchkiss, briggs
Shredder, and Maxim inventions have
achieved great success. The advant-
age of the rapid-iire gun was tersely
set forth by Sir W. Armstrong in say
inc that the Piemonte is capable OF
discharging against an adversary IN
given time twice the weight of shot
and she'll that could be fired by the
largest vessel now atloat not including
the levathan battle ships of five or SIX
times her size" That this is no, an
eXaggeratiou will be seen when it is
stated that the quick firing caliboB
have been developed from the little
three-p Founders up to siN-iach guns or,
i'm other words, to the caliber~ forming
the armament of our new ship, Phila-
deiphia SAN Francisco and Newark
and they can be fired six times as fast
ar ordinary guns of the same calibers.
Five Of our new ships, the 1000 and
5000 ton cruisers, will be entirely
armed i'm their main batteries with
these rapid fire guns and probably the
same will be true of the new 1000 ton
vessels. This fact alone shows the eX-
tent to which the rapid fire guns have
become the rage quite ecipsing NE
interest felt in the size OF enormous
ordnance ". y sam.
Thought 1t Was Meant For Him