Tombstone epitaph., 1890-02-01
BORING A CANNON.
Work That Reqrires Considerable Care
 and IrIi.ntted Patience.

1 Work That keGEtTCS ECuStuecaole Oato | and Unlimited Patience.
 1 At last the cannon is turned down, 1 nd is ready to be bored inside. In this 2peration it must be bored so straight i i'd true that the boring tool, enterins .t the exact center of the small end Of hecanuon, will come out precisely at ne center of the large end, seventeen | ,eet away. Those of you who have tried Q bore @ straight hole lengthwise arough even short bit of wood will uow that this work requires not little Gili and care.
 e When any of you boys have 8 job of i boring to do at your workbench, you -u-e fast the article to be bored and rura the boring tool. Itis just the other way in boring cannon. The boring 1oal or ''bit is held firm and motionless, [ while the great mass Of steel to be bored I lnus around. This plan is foI.nd to in- zlae stcadiness Of the bit" 1t would be uJstimuossibie to make this bit firm nd solid enough to do it's difficult work, ud yet free to turn around in the can 1n. So if you had been at the side of his gUulaJle when the work was be-
 I'D you would have seen that the bit vas n0mOnless-eEcept for slow ad vance 5o the gun.
 The bit attends strictly to business,
 nd steadily bores it's way through the
 teeI Most of you have been to the oUntry and have seen @ pig ''rooting" , the ground. Imagine, then, pig to 30 standing still and the ground to be | B. 2 l., -;5c'- ,eing rooted, and you will have case aUch like that of the bit and the can .oo. Tn fact, the boring tool is called .log-uosed" bit, and i5 roots up that
 nnon as if it enjoyed the operation. < 0 long, graceful c1ris come from this boring, but small, crisp shavings that sre removed as fast as they accumulate order that the boring tools work shall not be ipterfered with. The bit is
 0lng into the steel at the rate of three eight ths of an inch for every turn of the ,annon, and it is making a round hole almost large enough for boy to put his i head in-fye and three-q inches Il diameter. As the round hole grows feepeT, the heavy bar, on which the bit s fastened, advances into the cannon saaadiIy, moved by a number of wheels and screws that form part of the lathe.
 [ must not lose sight Of the shavings, the little ones that come from the inside
 nd the long, spi-aliy-twisted ones that
 re turned rom the outside of the can 1on. 4 mllitary-lOOling man, standing rear the lathe, does not lose sight of
 aese shavings or trimmings either.
 uls mans business is to carefully in-
 Jact the borings and trimmings. That
 what he is paid to do. Uncle Sam
 ITS him and expects him to earn his
 diary. The cannon is being made for
 ncle Sam and he intends to ind out all
 qualities, whether good or pad. So he man eyes the borlngs carefully il44-J.!sr-lc.
 Ju will cut 9 thin shaving from a bit of
 cod it will show any little flaw exist
 2 il the wood from which it was sliced The tinicst llnothole or crack will show the shaving much more plainly than the wood itself. So it is with 8 can son's shaving. It is a dreadful tell-tale, and the faUlt-1nding man beside the gun knows this perfectly well. He examines the spiral turning or the little piece of boring and finds no evidence of flaw or crack. The long spiral strip is as smooth as glass and as glossy as your sisters curls.
 Into the solid steel the hog-nosed bit r9ots it's way until it is in so far that i5tle electric light must bear it company to show the Woriamen how matters are progressing in the heart of the cannon. After eighteen days of steady boring the it lets daylight into the bore of the cannon by emerging at the other tor Lorgerl end, seventeen feet away.-St. .ichnlnS