The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-27
OUR NEW NAVAL GUNS"

| From an article on the above by Com
! mander {. +. Goodrich. in the Century
for September, we quote as follows:
How very few persons, by the way,
appreciate the latent power of a modern
projectile when in motion. Those who
| have visited the Atlanta and seen her
smaller guns, of six inches caliber
whisked about by one man, viii be even
the less likely to realize that their shot
can pierce an iron plate over eight inches
thick at the distance of a thousand yards.
Try to imagine for a moment the num-
Der of men who would have to pull on a
line that arranged in any conceivable
way, could be made to throw the hun
dred pound shot with force enough to
make such a hole. Yet all of this power
Is stored up in a cartridge weighing less
than fifty pounds. To contain and re
strain such power we must, it is evi-
dent, use the best material ObtainabIe:
the best at the beginning, best in the
midst of the firing, and best at the close.
1t must stand the sudden and
heavy first shock, must yield "a
little without rupture or per
manent distortion, when the pressure Is
at its greatest: must return TO its original
shape when all Is over; and it must offer.
at all times, the greatest possible resist
ance to fracture. Technically our metal
must be Ough, elastic, and of great
tensile strength. These qualities find
their highest development in forge
steel. As in guns. 50 in what
they throw, the tendency Is towards
larger masses, more perfect material
greater destrucuyeness. The cannon
ball of our grandfathers gave place To
the eight-inch and the nine-inch shell Of
our fathers. Today we are using the
elongated steel Notwithstanding in
some cases a ton each-that will pierce
iron armOr measured in thickness by the
foot, or even yard; we are charging
some with melinite or other frightful
explosives that viii create untold havoc.
or with noxlous chemicals TO suffOCate a
whole ships company.
'Other weapons are experiencing the
same development HotchkiS7 - an
American. Of cOurse-brought out his
revolver cannon, then his rapid-fire
guns. The largest of these was a six
FOUNDER. Mounted on a swivel it could
be fired from the shoulder like an old
wall ItiAee delivering aboBt twelve shots |
a minute. Presto, we now hear of 30 /
Founders. 70-pounders and 1O0-pounders |
Of this type Imagine shoulder practice !
with a six-iuch gun weighing five tons
and three-quarters, at the rate Of eight or /
ten rounds in a minute. each round cana
ble Of piercing fifteen inches of wrought
iron, Such guns exist and will constj- /
tute part Of the armament of the most
modern ships Of war. Every one Is in
venting soma new form Of mounting 10
II g IN. Lls - Us Z
powerful blows. or Il breech mechanism |
b lessen the time taken up IN loading.
steam. hydraulic and pneu-
matte power are used IN our new ships
10 load and handle guns. Maxim
American again-utilizes the recoiI Of the
piece 70 do all the loading and firing.
The improvements in guns withIQtb
asst few years have been 20 great a. 70
amount % revolution, and their con
tant end has been an increase in the
over Of the gun and N the rapidity q
= tire. IN the first direction we APPEAR
. have reached limit in the
lotion gun. and there l. a tendency u
ecede. Tor 70 l. generally agreed that g !
mailer gun VIII do the work required
or naval service The largest gun con
eTnplated for our new battle-=hips j. the
t5-ion gun, firing l.@ao ,
,0und shell with a velocity ~ ,. 100 feet
'sr second In TIE second direction we
r. making constant progress. Dut = Is Z
mainly b. Improvements IN gun mount {
KS and IN the service 81 ammGnltgou- I
he limit Of the rapid-are principle H. :
cached when the ammunition b4cofoes .
- heavy ~ b. easily handed ~ one
lan. and II Is believed that taIs AMl- :
A. even been passed IN the F.ag -h -lx- I.
lch rsp4d-tlre gun Fc- The present. - .
a. we are content with fauF-lach ]
IA ,ir1uE a 55-pozlni shell. ard q large 5
AT Of the armament q the shifs nov /.
Illdlng VII CONSIST q these guns !.