The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-09-05
PNEUMATIC GUN TESTS.
DYNAMITE FIRED A MILE
AND A HALF.

Where the Projectile, Which Weighed
Over Half Ton, Struck, an Acre
Of Water Rose Over a Hundred
Feet in the Air and Shook Sandy
Hook (N. J.) Trying Grounds.
A fitteen-inch, full-calbre proiectile, con-
tanning 500 pounds Of ni:ro-gelatine, one OF
the strongest OF explosives, and weighing
1160 pounds, was fired 24Oo 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 and in that time
It was figured that the gigantic affair would
sink at least eighteen feet from the surface.
For q moment after thin stream Of spray
told the watchers at Sandy Hook that the
projectile had struck the water there was
dead silence.
Then a low roar could be heard. and
second later the earth fairly trembled, as
the army experts and the men who spent
nearly million dollars in perfecting the
In solid column to 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-
jectile struck was filled with spray, and ten
minutes after the haze had disappeared the
water. for 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 Fortif1cations OF
the United States Army, but It was the most
important one In fact. 1t was the most i'm
portant experiment Of its kind ever before
attempted in this country, and the success
which attended 1t will probably result in
the acceptance by the United States Got-
ernment of the three enormous pneumatic
guns now on Sandy Hook, which were con-
tracted for by the Government and which
were built by the Pneumatic Gun and Tor
pedo Construction Company. No one else
has evar dared to attempt to explode 500
pounis of dynamite, either from gun or N
any other way. and this experiment marks
the beginning Of a new era In the history OF
explosives. ss-> -:
The wonderful mechanism of the pneu-
matte guns fairly delighted the scientific
men. Only two Of the three were used, but
both worked with wonderful precision. The
guns are worked entirely by electricity, and
as the name implies the power to send the
enormous projectiles Is gained from COM
pressed air. The guns and gun carriages
q depressed foundation. Beside the
gun is d little stand OF which
the man who works tn" weapon
stands. BY means Of two cranks aad lever
he gains complete control OF the enormous
mass OF iron and steel, and with one twist OF
one ofthe former can send the entire gun,
carriage and all, noiselessly and smoothly
around complete circle, IN fitty-two Sec
on Is. Another crank will set the gun prop
L. v1of ~ Invar
releases the compressed air and SENDS the
projec:ile flying into space
At Sandy Hook they have engines con.
btant,y generating compressed air and
storing it in cellars under the guns. Pipes
connect with the storage cellars, and when
the lever Is pulled as much compressed ar
as il has previously been arranged to use ls
liberated. It rushes into the cannon back OF
the projectile and the expansion furnishes
thu force. The gun Is run on maine.
matical basis, and the inventors say, tnat
they can drop projectile With'n @ "a q very % ae%
yards of any given point within the range OF
the gun. They can figure exactly just how
much compressed air they must hberate IN
order to send projectile OF q certain weight
any given distance. In all OF the tests Ar.
CreeIman and Captain RapieR succeeded IN
dropping the projectiles within very short
distance of where they said they would.
A striking feature Oh the new Ruo - tns
absence OF smoke and OF the proVeroial
"belching OF fame" from the cannon's mouth,
while in place OF the long drawn out
'iboom-m-rn p OF the regulation heavy gun
there is low, Kissing sound when the lever
is pulled, which grows in volume until It
suddenly ends up in deafentns report. 1t
Is. however, not nearly so destructive to tho
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 fairly good
pair OF eyes can follow the course OF the
proiectile from the moment it leaves the
cannon until it strikes the water and e1'
plodes. The proiectiles are fitted out will
propeller blades, which keep them in thei!
course, and the smaller ones are made to III
the bora of the gun by being encased at
either end with wooden frames, which drop
out as soon as the gun Is discharged.