New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-02
EXPERIMENT Ar SANDY NOOK.
MAJOR COMFY TELLS OF THE TESTS WITH HIGH
EXPLOSIVES At THE PROVING GROUNDS.

MAJOR Comfy TELLS OF THE TESTS WITH HIGH
EXPLOSIVES At THE PROVING GROUNDS.
| The problem Of dey,ing some way OF hrihg pro
| iectilcs loaded with modern high explosives, by
means oi powder from ordinary guns l. one that has
been much studied Of late year,, Attempts to solN"
II have been only partially successful While III" less
| powerful high explosive, such gnn cotton can be-
fired with fair degree Of accuracy and safely means
| of throwing the les, stable and more DESTRUCTIVE"
| ni'roelyccrinc compound, have far not been per
f,ctrd.
Major Clifton Comfy president Of the Board Of
Ordnance at Governors Island. yesterday gave II
1iu. reporter an account ~ some recent test, made
in fiji, connection ut the sandy Hook Proving Grounds
In throwing high cNplosivr,,' he said, W. have
three diilcntci to contend with: First. the initial
shock Of firing may explode the prOJcclile before 1t
leave, the gun second. the friction Of the air on the
rapidly rotating prorcc may 80 heat II Is To cause
an cNplolon third but les, important, the pr, 'ctle
may explode Immediately upon striking the target.
and before cicctng sufficient penetration 10 do the
greatest amount II damage. Tuesday and Wednesday
last We tried shell Intended to overcome these
obstacles. 1t consisted Of two closed hollow cylinders,
on,. Of steel aud the other Of wood The wooden
cylinder, which Wa, ll'd with explosive g"lalinc or
camploratcd nitrogy the most powerful Of all
modern ~ ro-ivc Is centred inside of the steel shell.
II III, rather loosely. being held in position hy
pivot at each The idea Is that it, wooden base
will break The initial shock Of the explosion that
the wooden cylinder freely turning its pivots will
tau. up the rotary motion communicated 10 the pro-
jccrilc Icy the rhins slowly that tlrrc will not
be sufficient heat developed 10 explode It.
our test, were ,ry successful. We fired ten
,hot, In all nine Of them with the gun trained at an
elevation Of eleven degrees and with IL ncarl,
horizontal. In TIE nine fired At an elevation the
weight OF m" wooden cylinder caused II To resi- ON ir
rear pivot - that starting thor, was no sudden
Jerk. In tic last shot fired horizontally the wonder
ndct probably did not quite iouch tlc rear plus Of
the projcclilr 1t having small play of about tire,
.iAtccntlia of an inch In its POSITION Consequently.
" hen nrcd its Inertia caused severe shock tn the
ias and probably damned II that the rotary motion
Of the shell communicated t. 1t in,tantl,
iu,t,al of gradually. A. n result. the proIoctil, ,N
luicd Just outside the muzzc OF the gun doing IL no
harm. however This seems show that I'm nrtnc
from "A mortar. or from ordinary riff, at a
hiph elevation. the shell, will prove sati>facory but
,r,twortly Tcrhal., this defect can be- r,m.dIcd
Ir Justin. inventor of the shell has been cxp,ri.
mcnting for time at syracuse where he has a
small proving ground Of his own.
The proc ccs fired weighed 1872 pounds and ron.
tanned seven and quarter pounds Of the gclatlnc /
TIL, powder charge WAS twenty-five pounds and the
irituI velocity OF the pIoccic about IiOO feet a /
s,conl IN regard 10 the third point. the nrrv,nton
~, I'm, shell exploding stirling it, tnrrc, L,
C, any pcIrtr;iti IL l. obtained tie test f. ma, a.,
compete. The projecc, fired were not fitted with |
fus.s Il q object being not 10 explode them hut Il,
.how that they would not explode under cnrt,ir .- |
cumst1ncr~ The last shot the only fired Ia .hrV
that the prolectile could penetrate target witlou