The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-07
UNCLE SANS MAGNET.
WONDERFUL INTENTION or COL.
KING or TIE ENGINEER CORPS
II wiil Dorsnce n ships Comps" ~
tspe. of Sir Mile. wooid trose OF
Great Service in Time OF war

There Is a big. twelve-inch gun stahu-
ing on top OF the ramparts az
Point saws the New YORK f1meS'
an innocent looking gun. and Do 'y'
OF teleeraph cable wound around 'he ii"~
zle end ~ the p.cce suggests that IL nos
become fractured. and that the '"oNe.I
ment Is experiment ng with an eV'"O''''e "a
method OF rcpaiung broken o'""
nance. oowor-
the gun however. is the most power
ful electro magnet IN the "o1"' -
,hose OF natures own construction. az '''e
Imaginary points Of the odrth knV""
the magnet poles. ,, col.
The big magnet IS the IhN'vt ,s engineer
Nv. X. Ming. COMMANDER o. t"' and
corpS q tnc army stauo"Su liza have
some very interesting tNpci, ',,,,,,,r"l kIng
bocp mac with II. WA"A N"iVNV, I'M.
conceived the idea ol pui't"'e thought
mense elccirO-magnet, ne h"" '., 90 INTO
OF us ibIiltlcs. H'l' ,'.,ret two
~. 40 @eotaet-I,,'0n or the nrst magnet 80
hue guns some pieces OF IRON, lie
GOOD many miles of heavy llsu," on car
graph wirc. Ihc guns ~, - ,,1,ces of
T1agcs 0u top of IN i"I'. ~ brceches
iron were las, cned across We ~, Mace
of the cannon. and were htIu =" on
by chains. forming hoise .,o,,nd tiie
telcpraph ware was WIN" I'm, two
muH|lt tH'tH ~ mo current OF cleo
srirjty was supplied by "a dynamo ana
Tho first time thr hidbHcl We"
n developed marvellous PU"ti 90 on, ex-
The WORN undertaken simply as an ~
,..,i,o,ut soon became a matter 'i great
t,rart3ncc. The magnet had not been
long he exstfIc go wnen II Was "sCoNrlou
tlYt 10 would dcrauEo vessel . toHp'."
an "a distance on six miles from ne ioI''
'TbIs discovery suggested that u, IN tiHic
of war. an enemy ships attempted ~
pass the fort under cover OF GdIkIitSs VI
during the prevalence OF hcdN! re,
when the plots would have 10 ueiehd
solely upon the ships compass, the com
maudcrs Of the war ships would pf0bdbiy
fud their vessels ashore near met
Point where they could be- blown -
with torpedOcs or destroyed by inc guns
of the fort
Many experiments have been made from
time 10 tune in testing the power ol
the big magnet. one o. the most inter
esting ever attempted was made uIdeI
the personal supervision of Colonel hlhB'
A number Of peccs OF railroad IRON were
placed near the muzzlc of the guns, ana
the current Of electricity turned on I'M
mediately the rails few 10 the ND Ehets
and were held as fast as If they haa beti
welded to its immense core. 'oiohe'
King then had one end OF a lal6e chdlh
fastened around the pieces or iron, 70 as
certain the amount Of power necessary
10 pull them away from the magnet. Inc
other end OF the chain WAS fastened 10
capstan that vas held firmly Ia place by
long stakes driven into the ground. o..
When everything was in readiness loi
the test the capstau bars were manned
by eight stalWaTt engineers, ana tHcS
endeavOred to pull the railroad iron away
from the nagncUXcd guns. AFTER Slialh-
ing for some time. the stakes holdih6
the capstan In place gave way, ana II
toppled over. The railroad iron had not
even moved on the face OF the magnet
! The dynamOmetcr which had been at
- IA
! the magnet would stand showed that
I Il had resisted 22.jOO pounds. IL was
| found impossible 10 disturb the pieces OF
railroad iron until the electricity had
Some time ago Colonel King caused to
/ de made the ouc-Eun magnet. Thirteen
lNniles OF half-inCh insulated telegraph
Hoable was used In making the coil on
rhe gun Tests with this magnet showed
J that II possessed almost as much pow er
| as the first one, where two guns were
| used for the core \ number OF exhibit
| tiOns Of the working OF this electro mag
! net were given before members Of the
| American Society FOR the Advancement
tpf Science. One Of the exhibitions at
Afacted great deal of attention. az II
best illustruted the power the magnet
/ possessed
me test consisted OF four cannon balls
being suspended from the muzZle OF the
gun. The balls weighed, on an average,
4SO pounds each. The first one was
/ placed under the muZZle Of the gun, and.
Notwithstanding the smallness Of the
point, OF contact. made so by the shape
of the suspended object. the ball was
held very firmly. \ second cannon ball
was placed under the first one; then Il
third was put under the second, and
when the fourth ball was held up by
the magnetic attraction EXPLANATIONS
OF surprise came from the spectators
The smallntss of the central point Of
bearing Of each cannon ball. and the
rigid manner In which the four iron
spheres were held up was considered
10 DE the best exhibition OF the magnet's
power.
During a recent series OF experiments
an iron tray. hcaped up with old horse
shoes. hig iron spikes, nuts. bolts, and
other articles made OF iron, was given
TO "a soldier. and he was directed to hold
the tray in front Of him and walk toward
the magnet When the soldier arrived at
a point about fifteen feet from the gun
the contents Of the tray departed with
n rush and lodged on and about the muz-
zle Of - big gun. The soldier had all
he could do to keep the tray from fol-
lowing the scrap iron.
This test has suggested the possibilities
of big elcctro-magnets being used TO De
fcnd forts and earthworks from land
attacks \ row of them Of sufficient
power would draw the smaller arms out
OF the hands of the infantry while the
advancing column was still some dis
lance from the place OF attack, leaving
the soldiers at the mercy OF the garrison
.af hn fnV