The Opelousas courier., 1890-11-22

It's numerous jackets, which consist OF
short cylinders of steel, so nicely adj
justed that they win just slip on the gun
when expanded one-twentieth of an inch
by heat, and upon cooling will shrink
firmly into place and bind the cannon
more tightly together to resist the sudden
expansion due to the ignition of such
large amounts of powder. The lathes are
of various sizes, ranging from thirty to
seventy-two feet in length, and are at
present engaged upon the eight inch and
ten inch guns, with the prospect of short
ly turning the twelve inch gun, the plans
of which have met with the approval of
the Naval Board. The ten inch guns are
over t~wenty-seven feet in length, firing a
~projectile weighing 500 pounds, using a
charge of powder weighing about $50
pounds with an effective range up to ten
miles. Better things, of course, are ex-
pected of the sixteen inch monster.
We paused by the side of a tremen-
dous ten inch gun, slowly revolving and
losing, at each revolution, a part of Its
epidermis-dropping it in unbroken
shavings of steel that curled round and
round and disappeared beneath. "Ten
feet long, said Lieutenant Fremont,
sstwenty, thirty feet long, and one was
the other day brought up to my room
sixty feet long-a splendid curl, in its
way quite a bit of decoration.
by the way he went on, "this is
our own unlucky gun. We allow the
jackets to expand only our-hundredths
of an inch, which isn't a great margin
about the thickness of a sheet of letter
paper-and when we stood this big fell
low up on his business end and lowered
the hot jacket into place it stuck about
four inches from the end. It would
neither go on nor off, so it was ruined,
and we had to cut the jacket off, bit by
bit. Now we are preparing the tube for
another. Well, the odd part of it is,
this gun is No. 49,"
| asked Fremont when they were
going to begin to make the sixteen
inch guns ordered. 'tIt is doubtful"
he said. stSome ordnance officers don't
believe they ought to be made at all.
A twelve inch gun will pierce any
armor that floats. What, then, is the
need of a sixteen inch2 They may be
useful ON Notifications, and it is under
stood that the army will make some for
New York harbor, in turrets on Sandy
Hook, Coney Island and Dry Romer shoals.
We are making about fifty guns here
now, and shall increase the number"
Quite a unique bit is the gigantic
steam crane, which, instead of swinging
round a central focus, reaches from side
to side of the shop, and travels hori-
zontally hundreds of feet, OH tracks
thirty feet above the heads of the men.
To see a gun thirty feet long and
weighing thirty tons calmly travel oi-
rectly over mechanics who are indiffer-
emily busy below, is calculated to stir
the blood.
The new workshops are a marvel of
convenience and contain many labor saw
ing pieces of machinery, which are indis-
pensable with the present rate Of pro-
gress of the work. All material is
brought directly into the rear of the
shop by the locomotives on a special
track, and is lifted from the cars by the
ponderous steam crane and conveyed to
any part of the building, and is depos.
tied on its lathe ready for turning, all in
the space Of q very few minutes and with
the assistance of three workmen only.
An immense tsshrink pit" occupies the
center Of the shops, and it is here that
the s~ixteen-inch gun and all others of the
ssbuilt-up'' class will receive their over
tapping jackets of steel. The jacketing
of a gun is an exceedingly interesting
sight. It is supported in an upright po-
sition in the centre of the pit, the jacket,
heated to a degree sufficient to expand ii
to q width slightly larger than the out.
side diameter of the tube, is lowered
with the utmost precision by the steam
crane into position: another section il
slipped on, and another, till the required
number are all in place, those on the out
side overlapping the seams Of the first
layer. After this process is completed
the guns are returned and then sent tc
the proving grounds at Annapolis, where
they undergo severe tests and exper1-
ments to determine their range, power Of
penetration and charge required.
The work here is not confined to the
heaviest ordnance, but includes car
RIGGS, t%urrets, projectiles, shields and
and all equipments, and the mountings
of Calling guns and secondary batteries.
Just now is being turned out a cannon
ten feet long that is shot from the shoul-
der like a rife, twenty shots a minute, and
admits of very rapid and accurate aim
1t is an instrument to create a good deal
of amusement in the devils realm if news
Of it has got there.
/ asked General Hawiey about the
sixteen inch gun. 1T is very likely that
we shall make some,n he said, ''though
the life of one Of those giants is only
one hundred rounds or SO. One might
never be fred more than half dozen times
during a battle. It would be held fol-
| decisive moments. but whatever it hi