Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-05-12

pieces Of skilled work that can be dono
with machinery. When the Jacket is
finally lowered into It's place over the
rear of the original tubC. the Jacket
fits tightly over the tubc and com
presses It rs it becomes cool I,y this
operation the tube and jacket are prac-
tically combined into one piece.
There arc four hoops also bored out
to "a diameter slightly less than the re-
spective portions Of the gun which
they are intended 20 cncirc.c, and one
after another they arc put in place by
the same process rs that used in Jack
citing. the metal cooling and contract
ing. and COMPRISING the inner layers
firmly in its embrace. The great can
ron is thus thoroughly reinforced and
then the work of riE.nr and finishing
begins. The first thing 10 be done
when all the jacket and hoops arc on
Is 70 take the gun from is upright
position. put il on lathe and have it
turned down over its whole inside to
the finished Dimensions necessary TO
its completion. When Won remember
that each one OF those guns weighs
sixty-fve tons, You viii realize that
the mechanism IL the Gun fourIrv
which picks up and lays down and
moves around these immense bodies Of
steel must be an approximation of per-
lection. This work Is Only rendered
possible by reason OF the fact that the
gun foundry contains eight predictions
gun lathcs of unique design and I'M
limited power; and that the lifting
power of the crane is limited oulv by
the horsepower of the steam cu-iues.
One OF the immense luthcs III the run
foundry has capacity for boring guns
fifty-Oue feet in length and OF turning
tubes of ffty-scven feet, and conse-
qucntly could bore guns of sixteen
inch calibec.
The process of rininr Gun is very
Interesting indeed. The interior sur
face of the bore is cut with Gfty-tvo
spiral grooves, each of which is five
hundredths Of AZ inch deep and about
half al inch broad. Into these little
grooves win fit the proisctilc to be
bc used, which is encircled az its base
with soft copper band slightly larger
than the caliOer of the gun. The ac-
ton of the powder CHARGE forces the
projectilc through the bore and the
rife grooves into this copper band
give rotation TO the projectile. The
rotation insures rrcater accuracy in
firing and has the still more important
effect of keeping the proicctile point
headed foremost from the time it
leaves the muzale until the time it
strikes the object at which it is aimed.
/ is interesting to see one OF the
great cranes travelling from one end OF
the big shop 20 the other, noisclcssIv.
smoothly, stretching from one side of
the ceiling 20 the other. It's little
wheels well oiled and not a sound TO
be heard save when the clanl:ipp
chains are let down to cncircie some
heavy object. The man who stands in
the crane, and is its engineer and di-
rector. is so high in the air that he
looks like mere boy. While it may
be true tlsat the hundreds of men be-
low vino are riding, polishing. finish
ing and perfecting the great gun may
be more scientific, and their work NAV
be more important. nevertheless. when
you visit the big foundry, You will
carr away with you n more distinct
memory of the man in the crane than
of all the other wonders of the place
SMITH d. Fry