The record-union., 1891-08-03
ABOARD A DYNAMITER.
The Manner of Loading and Firing {
the VeSuvius Described.

the NeSuvtuS Described.
when they get to using dynamite
| much in the navy, want to go to farm
ing" The speaker was the genial Ed
mund 0. Matthews, executive officer of
the Charleston Navy-yard It was on
board the Wabash last evening that he
| made the above remark, in reply to a
! question put to him by a Journal re-
| porter, and as he made it he laughed
| heartily, but good-naturedly, at the igno-
rance displayed by the journalistic lands
man who sat near him. Dynamite in
recovered from his amusement, sis some
thing that you hear more about in the
newspapers than elsewhere"
Ihe NeSuVluS was lying in the stream
OFF the navyyard. She had arrived up
the harbor from New York about 3
O'Clock in the afternoon, being the first
OF the squadron of evolution to put in
an appearance, and she was surrounded
by number of small boats carrying
many curious observers. Immediately
upon her arrival the usual courtesieS were
exchanged between her and the yard.
| When the J0dTRdt man called on Cap-
tain Matthews he had not yet been on
board the visitor, naval etiquette allow
ing him twenty-four hours after the ar
rival to do so.
The Journal reporter had always heard
| the Vesuvius spoken of as 1.-The dyna-
miter" or 'the dynamite boat" and, in
his landsmanlike simplicity, he sup
posed that she was prepared to beIch
forth dynamite by the ton, more or less,
and blow All antagonist out of the water
and clear across the Atlantic Ocean ii her
! commander desired her to do so.
'No," resumed Captain Matthews, after
a moments silence, Il don't want TO be
on board of vessel that has GOT
much dynamite aboard People talk
about dynamite in very uncon-
| cerned way. 1t is terrible stuff. It is
very dangerous to handle, and is likely
| to do those who employ it as destructive
enemy against whom they direct it. Gun
cotton is calculated to serve the purpose
OF the attacking party about as well, and
it is not near SO dangerous for them to
handle.'
''Some difference between the Vesuvius
and the Wabash" ventured the writer.
as he gaZed out of the cabin window OF
the latter at the former; ''the Wabash
| looks the much more formidable on the
/ face of it.''
WELL" said Captain Matthews. re-
! tiectively, under some conditions she
! would be. OF course our guns have a
! limited range, but within I.500 yards |
! guess the Wabash would have the best
| of it,
| The Vesuvius is a narrow. sharp
! proved, rakish-looking craft, setting low
in the water and giving outwardly every
indication that speed and speed alone
was the only aim of her designers. She
is built Of steel, but is entirely un-
armored, for she is intended to 'shoot in
and then get out of the way" as a work
man on board put it. She is 2i6 feet long,
! though looking hardly two-thirds that
| length, twenty-six and half feet beam.
! eight and a half feet mean draft, and
| 700 tons displacement. Her engines give
/ 4,2S0 horse power, and have driven her at
speed OF nearly twenty-five knots an
! hour, or over twenty-five miles as meas
ured by landsmen.
| Her armament, in addition to several
rapid-tire and machine guns for defense
! against torpedo boats, consists of three
fitteen-inch pneumatic guns, each capable
of throwing a charge of $50 pounds of
dynamite or other high explosive. Each
gun is fifty-five feet long, and they are
mounted side by side, as far forward
as possible, the muzzle of each
projecting for about twenty feet above
the deck, at an angle of eighteen
| degrees, while the breech is ''be-
| tween decks" and, with the loading
mechanism, entirely under cover. AS
the elevation Of the gun is thus fixed, the
| range is secured by varying the air pres
sure, while the training, firing, ETC., is all
done from an armOred covering tower,
which takes the place of the pil0t-house
of the ordinary Standardization Jour
nal