New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-01
ORDNANCE FOR DEFENCES.
THE MAKING OF GREAT GUNS.
WILL HERR kRurr ESTABLISH PLANT IN
THIS COUNTRY 1.-THE PROGRESS OF AMERICA
IN THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. FROM
PENNSYLVANIA FINISHED IN

~ THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. FROM
PENNSYLVANIA FINISHED IN
rur GOVERNMENT FOUNDRY.
The published report that Herr frcuor"h h.ap lp
the great gun-maker OF Essen' oerns'iS' "a 80,
~ make arrangements for estaoishihs i"s
IN putsburc. Penn, is looked upon WIN uo"p' ps
,rv while others think IT'S truth IS quito prooao'''
60, IN the great enterprise exhibited In inc man
.g.ment OF his works at Essen, ana 10 ther suppo'
&c ,Lo 1,overnment-which by the way, has no cohuoi
=. ,h.mtbc establishment has for many years
enioyed the monopoly Of the manufacture Oh ca"o" wi
Germany and II has been enabled 10 iur'ush guns "
.n, o,ber mowers. notably to Russia. The essential
noint IN he observed In this latter statement VI iao
is that the main supply Of the artillery Oh Germany na
,.o dau-, from one private firm. hence the Govern
ment has paid high price for the man"iao'"ie' "'
finished article. II was from acquaintance WIN '".
ori.ncee that the special committee OF the senate
Amounted July g. 1894, OF which Gencrai ha"io,
vas chairman, recommended that 'hs "o'ci
sbould establish two factories for ilnishmg anu as
semblng guns that the entire manufacture OF guns
sutable for ships and coast defence should Dc aded
te,veen private foundrles and Government shops
tbe former providing the forged and tempered paris
and the latter finishing these parts and assembling
them II is upon this principle that the naval gun
foundry at the Washington Navy Yard was estab
ushed tho forglngs being purchased from me Be'h'
ehem and the Mldvale steel Works. Both Of these
Pennsylvania establishments arc said to be suncleh'
70 supply the Government with all Of the gun fors
ings It may need. and they have been ehcoufaseu
to obtain the necessary plant because of the pio'eco
given by the Government to American Manufactures
Very little Is understood by laymen OF the pracuca
form of ordnance manufacture. The mass OF see
for large gum say a fourteen-inch, weighs, IN the
rough ngot perhaps sixty or seventy toh'' ~
mould this massive piece Of steel 1t was until recently
the practice 10 use steam hammer, WHICH, WIN us
fall of ten feet gave blow of 500 foo'-tohs' "he"
Herr Krupp found this insufficient ne sarcu 70 uui,'
a 15o-ton hammer but abandoned the Idea ana DUN
a bvdrauIc press. Tho reason for this
r,s that IL was found no amount
~ bamnerlng would sufficiently condense the metal
The poorest metal naturally fouhd aons Op'
centre line of the solid cylinder, and though huch vi
this was removed in boring the muzze' 10 couu ho' p
guaranteed that all would be removed 10 oo'ia'e
this difficulty the American steel mahuia turcrS' d.
well as those abroad constructed hydraulic presses
Nh ,,inuatrg nersevering effort OF the hydraulic
es disturbs the stability Of the metal and arranges
n In such shane as the pressure may indicate III may
be said therefore, that not only VIII the stedh nam
mers soon be placed by the silent, slow-worhhs' pu'
irresistible press but that the United STATES FURNISHES
to-day as perfect gun-metal as can be OBTAINED any
where in the world. II Herr Krupp comes 10 fHls-
hurq IL viii be as a competitor against the American
works and not to furnish superior gunf0rgngs desple
the cvnics and others who during the preceding
Federal Administration criticised American gunsteel
and advocated the purchase of forgings as wei as
models from England and France and Germany.
4 clear idea Of what this country can do may be
obtained by visit 10 the steel works referred 10 ann
the gun foundry at the Washington Navy yard
forging recently made by OF these works was
originally an ingot 81 inches in diameter 1T was r.
duced in four heats under the hydraulic press, TO 20
inches in diameter for a gun-tube 2o feet long.
niece of this long column of steel cut of and sent
70 the testing room at the Washington foundry heM
IL was put in the testing machine having a power OF
OOOOO pounds and by system OF levers lis 'ehSHe
strength the capabity OF extension or eongioh was
tried until the piece snapped in the middle The forg-
ing being pronounced excellent" was then shipped 10
the Government foundry put in position for boring
on ore Of the Giant machines. steel drill was started
TO convert the solid into tube The first drill
Ing made hole only about thrcefour OF the dalne
ter required end left rough surface which, In turn
was smoothed down by finer tool This last work
occupied about fifteen days This DONE the ordnance
cXperts began their examination of the
boro with powerful electric lights The
NEXT thing was the star-gaugng,7 testing
the exactncss OF the diameter Of every square
inch. This was done by a long rod with cone on
one end and by touching spring at the other end OF
the rod three steel points shot out and as they
touched the bore It indicated clockwork insiru-
ment the exact diameter.
The diameter being found true, the bore being free
from gouges or inequalities the tube was then carried
10 the foundry and put into a deep pit muzze
upwarl 10 receive It's jacket-a band OF steel or
rims of steel around It's outside. This IS made nrces-
say to resist the force concentrated in the rear OF the
gun where the powder is gnitod and the shell started
on its mission Of destruction. So enormous are the
| charges of powder used in modern rifles that the
pressure in the powder chamber IS fifteen tons and
inch Tho hand holm q
heated they were put in place on the gum and then
small stroam- Of water slowly over the bands
for day longer until they were thoroughly cooled
| and shrunk tightly in place. Each gun made Is
the polishing OF t. boe. and then the rihing machine
| is set TO work. long bar with cutters IS Tevoived
slowly within the gun the e M length l OF lis
barrel. until dozen or more twisted or spiral grooves
twentieth Of inch deep are cut into II. and of
| of inch. IT Is thon put into big lathe. the out
side down TO its proper form, and II IS polished
Then the iuhnon bands the pSoS a winch I'm, form the
the gun Is sent TO another part OF the works for its
which after the charge Is put m Is closed and
locked The gun is now finished except that the sights
are not in place This requires the utmost care, for
the exact level Of the gun must be obtained, and
then the sight marks are put on and adjusted TO com
During Secretary whitney's administration officers
we're sent 10 Great Britain, France. and Germany
study ordnance, and there was disposition to copy
| foreign ideas and foreign plans some OF the Amer-
| can Naval officers however were Jealous for the
possibilities of America and they comb1ied the nc
| nation be English don-cherknow." That these
| thoroughly American Oflcers-men, who, like Com
mandcr Folger. believe in America fist other coun-
tries aftcrward-were right in protesting against copy
Ing after England IS declared by The London Globe
which recently said " II Is a scandal to country
fke ours that we have mol always been ahead OF
everybody in the manufacture OF artillery The rea
son IS that have meanly waited wealthy
are for other much poorer nations to make the neces
sary experiments hoping to get the advantage Of
| their outlay. It serves us perfectly right that We
alone smone the peoples OF Europe are now without
trustworthy guns"
The progress in the construction Of heavy ordnance
In the last thirty years has been remarkable. The
largest guns und vessels recently 1850
threw ball weighing 65 pounds. with an initial
velocity Of 1870 feet per second and an energy Of
velocity Of 9 90 feet, throw a projectile Of over
ton in weight and IN some cases use nearly hali ton