New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-15
BUILT-UP STEEL GUNS.
SUPERIORITY OF THE AMERICAN OVER THE
ENGLISH TYPE.
ORDNANCE OFFICERS NOT ALARMED BY TIE
BURSTING OF THE coRDELIAs SIX
rHy TELEGRAPH TO TIE fRIsuSE.I

rRy TELEGRAPH TO TIE fRIsusE.I
Washington July 1.-THE letting OF the contracts
for heavy steel guns for the Army uhu'i Wv 49,
onncd Yesterday will probably lead to renewal oil te
foyorablc criticism OF the present system OF buliuP
steel guns which was recently provoked IN So'no
ouarters by file bursting Of one OF the sixlnch Dieco
loading rifles aboard the British cruiser Corueii''
Among ordnance officers of neither the army nor 'io
Navy in Washington, however are the criucishs lci' W
he sound or lust At any rate, they say u must We
admitted that the heavy guns manufactured IN uio
naval gun foundry at Washington and in Watervhe'
Arsenal at Troy as we'll as those which were buiit lor
the Navy al private establishments, are OF the msheSl
known type and equal TO- II not superior TO- Ike guns
manufactured in any other country Inc hrSt orceon
loading slxinch steel rife for the new Navy was manu-
featured in Washington and placed on board the Dop"
after being submitted to the most thorough ana severo
tests which could be applied short OF actnai @
Since then that gun has been fired more tnan "oo
rounds with service charges without showing any strain
ny svmntom OF weakness. There is every reason 10
believe that the other steel guns bulit 1or Vne
Navy Including the eightinch and ten-inch guns aro
nc strong and trustworthy as the Dolpmns sN-nch
rife. ,o
As was fully explained in The Tribune OF June H.
the steel ingots for gun forgngs for the Navy ao
manufactured under the eve Cd AM inspector sta"oneu
al he place where the forglngs made, ana arc TO-
oured TO stand the most tests Of their pysca
properties before they accepted, and each iSpeo
tor Is held responsible for the thoroughness anu
OF his work. The tests could not be more rglu anu
severe with the present knowledge OF the properties Vi
steel and the processes Of manufacture Every process
I'm she process Of gun making after the forngs are ue
livered IS ecrunized with the same careful thorough
ness in order that no defect OF structure or Workman
ship shall escape detection, ard after te guns aio
completed each is tested by nring. iheso gum
are of type and design essentially different from
those which compose the armament OF the Corueha
and several other vessels OF the BLUSH navy i"o
English gun of the latter type indeed has never been
f.vorahlv regarded by the ordnance officers OF the
United states 1t was built up by shrinking jacket
and hoop Of wrought iron over tube OF tough s'ceh
1t was one OF large number Of guns built ior tne
English Government by Sir William Armstrong about
1880 at a time when English atillerists were Trying
TO make I'D their minds to adopt an all steel con-
struction which they did few years later Ii repre-
SCENTS the transition period from the early Armstrong
e,n built up of wrought iron, and the present one
built up of steel
II was always bad construction. Our own guns have
from the beginning been built entirely OF steel. ana
under far more rigid rules Of inspection than are even
now employed in England 1t may safely be asserteu
that the sxnch guns of the Chicago. Boston ana At
anta are fully 40 per cent stronger than the hgsh
INNS of the type represented In the CordeDa. More
over the powder used is entirely different Inc Eng
fish use in these guns violent hnd OF DiacA po"uoi
called pebble" In our guns the rev or0% tTnt n
l. used II is Characteristic OF TINS power t'u. ~
rIveS the high veIOcitles called for BY modern gun
makers with very moderate strain upon sio Fun
In this respect there Is an an sy i cent v and Il viii
fms be seen that there Is no reason ior ieeS III
easy about guns because OF thIs iav d VI and the
gpn which failed was of the weakest kind Inc Cor-
della carried ten guns all belonging pe ~ 10 beT o sister, ships
the Canada and the Comus, on poar1 nNe VI ne H,x
cruisers and on two am TSs ps NH probably be
and the Agamemnon Tic guns VIII P''
withdrawn from service.