The record-union., 1895-12-07
Splendid Work Of the Dynamite Guns at
San Francisco.
Capable of SCATTERING Ships to Splin-
tiers at the Rate of Five Every
Twenty Minutes-The Pacific Me-
tropolis Safe From Any Invading
Navy-Complete Success of the
Tests.

4 y
Presidio. 1t rose like a battle-scared
vulture, screaming with fright, snarled
viciously as it curved to it's parabolic
zenith and seemed to laugh sardoni-
cally as it rushed to its impact on the
Devils Slide. A great mass of brown
dust lifted like the skirt of a woman's
dress beneath which a ruffled cloud of
white f1uttered for moment like the
woman's petticoat and then drifted
along the fog-crested hills of the Bo-
linas range until it was lost in the
mists that clung to the rugged slopes of
Tamalpais.
Preliminary to the firing of the dyna-
mite shells the guns were tested for
rapidity. The contract with the Gov
ernment prescribes that five rounds
shall be fired in twenty minutes. The
test yesterday resulted in five rounds
in nine minutes with gun No. l of the
battery; five rounds in ten minutes with
gun No. 2, and five rounds in eight min
utes and twenty-three seconds with
gun No. 3.
These experiments were conducted
during the morning while the fog was
thick in the Golden Gate and driZzling
rain splashed and soaked and rendered
everybody uncomfortable. Shells
loaded with sand and weighing HOO
pounds were used. The elevation was
80 degrees and the loading position Z
degrees The first projectile struck the
water midway between Point Lobos
and Point Bonita at a distance of 300
yards from the battery. The others
were averaged beyond the contract re-
laquirements of 1000 yards under pres
sure of 1000 pounds.
~ -
Pneumatic Torpedo and Construction
Company, manipulated the levers that
placed the guns in position, and Lieu
tenant O. M. Lissak, Ordnance Officer
of the Department of California, stood
on treStle under an umbrella to direct
the firing.
Are you ready" shouted Batcheller
| to the man at the compressors.
| Ready" was the reply.
'All clear" said Lissak, observing
that the steamer Santa Rosa was heav-
| ing out of range on the Potato Patch.
Load" was Batcheiler's command,
and the shell which had been brought
from the magazine on truck was lifted
into the breech of the gun.
Wind her up"
The chains creaked as they turned on
! the cylinders and the shell disappeared.
Put in your pin The breech was
closed.
Ready" That was the last word.
Batcheller caught hold of lever, threw
his weight upon it and the gun an
swered with a shrek that ended with a
hiss. The conical projectile leaped
from the muZzle with a howl that mel
lowed into wall and hurtled out into
the fog and driZZle until it was lost to
the straining vision of the spectators.
A splash and a dash of foam on the bar
indicated that the shell had ended it's
| flight and the gunnerS made ready for
another shot As the shot left the gun
icicleS hung from the muzzle. There is
not much heat in volume Of air that
has been compressed to 1000 pounds.
1t Is estimated that with this pressure
grees. No wonder the guns driveled
frozen tears.
During the afternoon the battery was
tested for range and accuracy, with dy-
Mantle shells loaded with 100 pounds of
nitro -glycerine, gelatine and gun-cot-
ton in the proportion of1Go pounds of
nitro -glycerine to 10 pounds Of gelatine
and cotton. Each shell is ten feet
long, and provided with guides that
look like the screws of a propeller
These guides, which are of leather,
hold the projectile true to its flight, in
suring accuracy of impact. The gun
was elevated twenty degrees for the
first shot, and delivered the shell 300
yards distant on the Marin County
shore The time of flight was nine sec
ondS, a speed of ,O6o feet for each sec
ond of the flight
The second shot was to ascertain the
extreme range of the gun. The eleva
tion was fixed at thirty-five degrees,
and the range crossed the area between
the battery and base line intersecting
Point Lobos on the south and Fort
Travis on the north. The shell burst
on impact with the water distance of
4, $3.50 yards, $50 yards in excess of the
contract requirements.
In this test the accuracy of modern
gunnery was beautifully exemplified.
The area of the range had been plotted
in squares on scale of 1UO yards to the
inch The distance was announced to
the Signal Corps at Point Lobos and
Fort Travis and the gun was fired. In
less than five minutes after the she'll
struck the water the telephone at the
battery rang up and the result of the
Point Lobos observation was an
nounced in degrees. Immediately after
the signal came from Fort Travis,
across the strait. A simple calcula-
ton in trigonometry that might have
been made by a beardless sophomore
gave the distance Of the projectiles
flight and verified the accuracy of the
result was satisfactory. The shells
dropped within the squares marked for
them on the chart, thus demonstrating
that with this apparatus operated by
machiniSt working by rule, two signal
men at the telephones on the base line
and clerk to calculate, by means of
few tabulated forms, the distance re-
quired under a given pressure with
stated velocity, an invading fleet could
l. tn a Of
five ships in every twenty minutes. The
only escape for the enemy would rest
in his speed-he must be able to cross
the deadly square in less than ten sec
onds from the firing of the gun. The
battery would be safe from lombard
ment by ships guns of equal capacity,
owing to superior elevation, and also
because the battery is so placed that
the range of it's guns is clear in every
direction, the attacking force would be
compelled to manuever for position be-
fcre it could fire a single effective shot.
The explosion of shells on the water
was not spectacular. They were pictu
rescue as they curved on the arc OF
their parabola, but their bursting was
disappointment to all save the un-
ina ginatiye Ordnance Department,
who could only observe the poetry of a
motion that exceeded the contract re-
quirement, and who were only inter-
ested in the accuracy of the mathemat
ical predictions and verifications.
The four shells that were fired west
ward at the setting sun scarcely rip
pied the surface of the shimmering sea
There was a flash of foam to right and
left that did not rise to the majesty of
fountain of spray in beer garden,
spasmodic heave of the bosom of
the ocean, and muffled gasp, gurgling
from a lung diseased-that was ALL
The last test was with a small shell
prepared to explode two seconds after
impact. A two-inch fuse was attached
and the shell exploded beneath the surf
ace of the water. The detonation came