Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-11-07
Some Important Ordnance Tests are
Witnessed by Officials at
Sandy Hook.
Shots Showing How the Piece Would
be Aimed at an Enc
my's Ship.
Forts and Great Gan Emplacements
in a Forward State Of
Construction.

The clocks were just striking nine in the /.
forenoon Of Oct. H. when Secretary PROF. |
tor, accompanied by General Il. w. Flag
isr, chief OF ordnance, and Captain Frank
Heath and Lieutenant +. j. Hobbs, Of the
Ordnance corps. embarked on board the
steamer General Wool, at pier 3 East river,
and went to Sandy Hook to witness the
firing Of the new IL inch mortar and 70
inspect the engineering work there IN
for the empiaeament of heavy
guns for the defence of New York.
Arriving at Sandy Hook shortly before
eleven o'clock the party was met by Cap
tain G. S. Smith and Lieutenants G. b
W heeler and q. NJ Lissak, Of the Ordnance
corps, and Lieutenant Harry Taylor, of the
Engineer corps.
The secretary wished 20 hasten the expe-
rimental work and therefore went at work
at once to the firing ba,.ery on the sea
front Hele was an array OF guns Of
diverse sizes and types, from one of the
smallest OF which 6.inch breechload-
ing field piece salute of seventeen guns
was fired
THE GUNS THAT WERE USED.
Pointing down the coast line was II.
inch cast iron, steel hooped mortar on a
hydraulic carriage. Adjoining it was the
new IL inch steel high powered riff d gun
thirty four feet long. Then came l0.inah
steel high powered gun, nearly tWeuty-nine
fee long. These three were the only guns
lsed.
The i2-inch mortar was loaded and Gle.
waited at an angle of sixty degrees from the
horizontal The first shot was intended to
show the secretary how the piece would be
aimed at an enemy S ship, if one should
approach within two miles OF the mortar,
This is the shortest distance at which
the mortar can be used effectively. The
mortars maximum effective range is six
miles, and therefore its use is confined 10
distances between two and six miles. OF
course it could be fred point blank, as II
it we're an ordinary riflad gun; hut the
velocity of its proiectile IN that case would
not be high enough to penetrate ordinary
side armor The mortlr's pr per duty is
to bring its proiectlles down nearly verti-
caly ON the decks Of ships, which are
rmcly protected by more than three or four
inches of armOr
A SKY FLYING SHOT.
About eleven o'clock the mortar was
fred with charge of thirty six pounds Of
powder and a cast iron shot weighing G3J
pounds A great burst of flame and
smoke shot about fifty feet or more from
the muzz'e, and out OF this cloud "a little
black object was seen soaring up at an
angle Of sixty degrees. The shot rose
more than "a mile and then was lost to
sight owing to its proximity TO the sun.
| 1t finally curved downward and struck IN
/ the woods two miles below
| This shot warmed up the mortar and
/ showed he style of high angle fire. The
mortar was then lowered level and reload.
! ed with the same charge of brown powder
and a $50 pound steel shot made by the
didvale company Lieutenant Lissak then
/ aimed the piece mt the lower left hand
corner Of the 4 Igineh steel plate which
| was penetrated IN its upper right hand
corner last month. As there was danger
Of flying fragments all the spectators re-
/ tired behind the bombproof.
THE WISE GARRISON Doe.
Even the garrison dog vas wise enough
1 tC 80 below the earthworks. Lieutenant
/ Lissak gave the order to fire, but no re.
port following While the secretary ana
4 his party were watching the face Of the
/ target in large mirror an excited dog
/ bounded out of the underground chamber
/ where the firing battery was located, aud
presently he vas followed by the sergeant
who bad pressed the electric button. The
primer had failed TO explode and in some
occult way the dog knew it. He bounded
out under the muzzla OF the mortar, waQ.
1 ed his tail in a copident manner and wait
ed for the sergeant to put in fresh
I primer Then he Ecuttled back behind
boombproof and peeped at the target over
4 the mound Of sand
EFFECT or THE SHOT ON THE PLATE.
The plate which was inclined backward
at an angle of thirty degrees from the
vertical, was pierced and broken M. Por.
tions OF the shot could lie seen ploughina
their way in the sandy woods for fve hun,
dreu yards beyond The target was sup
posed TO represent the protective deck of d
warship and the angle and velocity al
which the prolectile struck il We're th'
same that they would nave been at range
9f two miles, with an elevation Of sixty
degrees. The velocity given was theO
retically estimated TO be 40 feet q seconl
and the velocity as actually determine
was 726 feet.
The plate vas so wrecked in addition e
the damage done lest month that little o
il was left in place except the lower rlgh
hand corner Two of the heavy cal
struts which supported the steel plate weri
split nearly their whole length, and gret
tunks of tue metal were scattered MANI
wards In the rear The shot was hr0be'
Iptp a GREAT many pIpegN only one of Wltspi