Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-08-31
PNEUMATIC GUN TESTS.
DYNAMITE FIRED a MILE
AND A HALF.

Over Half Ton, Struck, an Acre
of Water Rose Over Il Hundred
Feet in the Air and Shook Sandy
Hook (N. J.) Trying Grounds.
A flfteen-inch, full-calibre projectile, con-
tanning 500 pounds OF ni:ro-gelatine, one OF
the strongest OF explosives, and weighing
1850 pounds, was 1red 2400 yards, or about
one and half miles to sea, from pneu-
matte gun at Sandy HOOK, N. J. The
cap in the end Of the projectile had
been set to explode two seconds after the
cartridge struck the water. an / iii that time
it was figured that the gigantic affair would
sink at least eighteen feet from the surface.
For a moment after thin stream or spray
told the watchers at Sandy Hook that the
nroiectile had struck the water there was
dead silence.
Then low roar could be heard. and
second later the earth fairly trembied, as
the army experts an the men VINO spent
nearly million dollars in pertecting the
pneumatic gun saw full acre of water rise
in a solid column to a height estimated at
anywhere from one hundred to three
hundred teet, and then slowly fall
back again. For three minutes after the eX-
plosiOn the air over the spot where the pro-
iectile struck was filled with spray, and ten
minutes after the haze had disappeared the
water, for a half mile around, was one mass
of Seething foam.
The experiment was only one Of five made
before the members of the Board OF Ord@
nance and of the Board of Forti1eations OF
the United States Army, but it was the most
important one in fact. it was the most I'M
portant experiment of its kind ever before
attempted in this country, and the success
which attended it will probably result III
the acceptance by the United States Gov"
erument of the three enormous pneumatic
IN Hook which were cODs
tracted for by the Government anu Which
were built by the Pneumatic Gun and Tor
pedo Construction Company. NO one else
has ever dared to attempt to explode ooJ
pounds of dynamite, either from gun or III
any other way. and this experiment marks
the beginning of a new era il the history OF
explosives.
The wonderful mechanism of the pneu-
matte guns fairly delighted the scientific
men. Only two of the three were used, put
both worked with wonderful precision. The
guns are worked entirely by electricity, ana
as the name implies the power to send the
enormous proiectiles is gained from COM
pressed air. The guns and gun carriages
weigh together f1fty-two tons and are set IN
a depressed foundation. Beside the
the man who works the weapon
stands By means of two cranks and lever
he gains complete control Of the enormous
mass of iron and steel, and with one twist OF
one Ofthe former can send the entlro gun
carriage and all. noiselessly and smoothly
around a complete circle, in fffty-two Sec
onds Another crank will set the gun prop
er at any angle, while twist OF the lever
releases the compressed air and SENDS the
projectile flying into space.
At Sandy Hook they have engines con-
stantlv generating compressed air and
storing it in cellars under the guns. Pipes
connect with the storage cellars, and when
the lever is pulled much compressed ar
as it has previously been arranged to use IS
liberated. It rushes into the cannon oack OF
the proiectle and the expansion furnishes
the force. The gun is run on mathe-
matical basis, and the inventors say that
they can drop projectiIe within very 1eW
Yards of any given point within the range oh
| the gun. They can figure exactly just now
much compressed air they must Hberate ID
order to send a proiectile of certain weight
any given distance. In all of the tests Mr..
| CreeIman and Captain Rapief succeeded ID
droppine the proiectiles within a very short
| distance of where they said they would.
A striking feature of the new gun IS the
| absence of smoke and of the provero1al
"nelchjug of flame from the cannon's mouth,
! while in place of the long drawn out
| ''boom-m-m ~ of the regulation heavy gun
there is low, Kissing sound when the lever
| is pulled. which grows in volume until II
| suddenly ends up in a deafentng report Ii
! is. however. not nearly so destructive to the
nerves as the roar of the ordinary cannon.
All of the projectiles can be seen
as they leave the gun, and can
easily be followed with the eye
as they go flying through the air; on
/ clear day anyone possessed OF a falrly gooo
pair of eyes can follow the course OF the
proiectile from the moment it leaves the
cannon until it strikes the water and ex-
| plodes. The projectiles are fitted out with
| propeller blades, which keep them in their
| course, and the smaller ones are made to fit
| the bore of the gun by being encased at
| either end with wooden frames. which drop
out as soon as the gun is discharged.