Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-11-05
TRIAL OF MORTARS.
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.
FOri
treat Gun Emplacements
Forward State of
Construction.

The ci Lre Just striking nine in the
forenoon z. 10, when Secretary PROF.
tor, acco- Jed by General D. W. Flag
Ter. nhiet rdnance. and Captain Frank
Heath al eutenant F. E. HOBBS, of the
Ordnance ps. embarked on board the
steamer I. ,al Wool, at pier East river,
and went | sandy Hook to witness the
firing OF tt new Pinch mortar and to
inspect tn engineering work there in
progress I ! the emplacement of heavy
guns for thl defence of New York.
Arrivinglat Sandy Hook shortly before
eleven o'cl5ek the party was met by Cap
tain G. S. Smith and Lieutenants c. B.
Wheeler and G. NJ. Lissak, Of the Ordnance
corps, and Lieutenant Harry Taylor, of the
Engineer corps.
The secretary wished to hasten the expe.
rimental work and therefore went at work
at once to the fling battery on the sea
front Here was an array OF guns OF
diverse sizes and types, from one of the
smallest of which a 36-inch breechload-
ing field piece-a 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 q
hydraulic carriage. Adjoining it was the
new Pinch steel high powered rifed gun
thirty four feet long. Then came 10-inch
steel high powered gun, nearly twenty nine
feet long. These three were the only guns
Used.
The l2-lnch 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 eneny'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
mortar's maximum effective range is six
miles, and therefore its use is confined to
distances between two and six miles. Of
course it could be fired point blank, as if
it were an ordinary rifed gun; but the
velocity of its projectile in that case would
not be high enough to penetrate ordinary
side armor. The mortar's proper duty is
to bring its proiecties down nearly verti-
cahy on the decks of ships, which are
rarely protected by more than three or four
inches Of armor.
SKY FLYING SHOT.
About eleven O'Clock the mortar was
fred with a charge Of thirty six pounds of
powder and cast non shot weighing $50
pounds. A great burst of flame and
smoke shot about fifty feet or more from
the muzzle, and out of this cloud little
black object was seen soaring up at an
angle Of sixty degrees. The shot rose
more than mile md 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 the style Of nigh 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
Midvale company. Lieutenant Li8sak then
aimed the piece at tie lower left hand
corner of the 4115-inch steel plate which
was penetrated III 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 DOG.
Even the garrison dog was wise enough
tc go below the earthworks. Lieutenant
Lissak gave the order to fire, but no re-
port following. While the secretary and
his party were watching the face of the
target IN a large mirror All excited dog
bounded out of the underground chamber
where the firing battery was located, and
presently he was followed by the sergeant
who had pressed the electric button. The
primer had failed to explode and IN some
occult way the dog knew it. He bounded
out under the muzzle of the mortar, wag-
ed his tail In confident manner and wait
ed for the sergeant to put in fresh
primer. Then he scuttled back behind
boombproof and peeped at the target over
the mound of sand.
EFFECT OF THE SHOT ON THE PLATE.
The plate which was inclined backward
at an angle of thirty degrees from the
vertical, was pierced and broken up. Por-
lions OF the shot could lie seen ploughing
their way in the sandy woods for fve hun
dred yards beyond The target was sup
posed to represent the protective deck of a
warshlp and the angle and velocity at
which the projectile struck it were the
same that they would have been at a range
of two miles, with an elevation of sixty
degrees. The velocity given was theo-
retically estimated to be $50 feet second
and the velocity as actually determined
was 726 feet
The plate vas so wrecked in addition to
the damage done last month that little of
it was left in place except the lower right
hand corner. Two Of the heavy oak
struts which supported the steel plate were
split nearly their whole length, and great
CT inks of the metal were scattered many
yards in the rear. The shot was broken
into a great many pieces, only one Of which
was found.
As hardly any of this plate was left in
place, and as the projectie went through,
although broken up, the conclus on was
reached that a mortar she'll would pene-
trate deep INTO the vitaIs of ship.
The fact that in this case the projNctile
broke up is no proof that such result is a
necessity. Armor piercing shells are so
expensive that the ordnance department
Is experimenting to discover the cheapest
she'll that can re depended on to do the
work of penetrating a ships protective
deck. The broken she'll, therefore, does
not represent the Lest she'll we can make,
bat merely the best one that can be made
for given price.
THE II INCH HIGH POWERED GUN FIRED.
The best great Pinch gun was next
loaded with $50 pounds OF Chilworth pow
der and d cast iron 1.000 pound shot 1t
was given an elevation of sixty degrees and
at noon was fired down the coast. The
tremendous rush of white smoke cut off
the view for a momant, but then tbe spot
where the shot struck the water was seen
marked by pillar Of foam rising three
feet, and then farther down and farther
out the ricochet of the bal could be seen.
similarly marked every time it struck by
puff of foam, diminishing in size, until it
ended It's career in one long squirt on tie
surface
Next a shot was fired from a 10-inch
high powered gun, using 80 pounds of