The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-03

A swab or the Past and One OF tho Pres
emit. ne Described by an Old Soldier.

A swas OF the Past and One OF tho Pres
ent. rs Described by nm Old Soldier.
n regiment was an infantry regiment, v
said the old soldier. 'but in the course Of our
service we did more or less duty as artillery.
On one occasion practically the whole regiment
was detailed to man big guns in n siege. The
particular gun that / served on vas a 100-pound
PARROT. There were bigger PARROTS than
100 FOUNDERS, and other guns. too. that were
bigger; but a 100 pound Parrot was q pretty
STABLE gun; eight or ten feet In length, possibly
LONGER: / don't remember exactly: rifed. and
with a broad wrought.lron band shrunk onto
the breech to reinforce II. The shell was point
ed and elongated; about AS big around as an
Oyster key, and something longer; II had a band
OF soft metal attached around its base. and
when tho gun was fred this band expanded
into the grooves Of the rifing. to give the shell
the twist and so insure accuracy of flight.
This gun was mounted in u battery-an
earth breastwork in front, with traverses at
the sides to protect the men from shot coming
from those directIons; 1t was fred through an
embrasure In the parapet of the breastwork
In front. The carriage upon which 1t was
mounted raised the big gun to a height of
eight feet or 80 above the ground. Along the
Inner side Of the breastwork. under the muzzle
Of the gun, there was a platform. 60 that the
muzzle could DO conveniently reached. Nos.
i and , Of the men who manned the gun stood
upon this platform to load it and to swab the
gun out after It was fired. l was No. . on the
piece. to the left Of the muzzle. The man from
the magazine brought around a cartridge. the
about the size Of a good-sizcd salt bag. and laid
II on the platform. No. 2 picked 1T up and
p IGssf.1a u is n The ehe sDn muSzlt q the gun sj.ni NJ o.. !
In length and having the sponge or swab at
one end and the hammer ut the other and
and thcn both men rammed the cartridge gen
tly home. the man whose duty II was standing
his thumb on the vent meanwhile.
and Tw0 n men brought around the she'll: loaded
the shell and placed 1t in the gun. The shell
tact tact f n sRs centre rep Of e the % ia eep Of tse r BY Gonr
there was a cavity big enough so that its edges
would rest upon the shell clear of the
against the end Of the shell Ts so That ea ahe cay
would be within the cavity; and both men
but setting 1t up snuRly against the cartridge.
into TN ,6 man van at the amd vent ran a printing wire down
then inserted in the vent a Fiction tsa,r primes sf 10
which a lanyard was attached. All the men
a msm st tes E WITH qI anTsr1 to ou the srCHnd and the
the e Pire
"A witch upon the lanyard the primer OK.
and Boom. went the lOO-pounder: tie car
and away sailed the she'll, while ali The men
3SS n Pc upon the gun carriage again or upon
the sF PIsaio sam TO t Ists sma it, effect TStr. nno,..
the swab was d}ippsd occasisnai!y II the sI GSn
sponge was Inserted in the muzzlo OF the gun
and rammed clean to the other end OF the bore.
tinEutsh any lingering sparks OF powder that
might nave lgnited the next charge OF powder
s si:an e the sas ssnl, " r RRssmHi asd as Explosion and to
wave W woarked On these Guns for weeks, and II
mote; | had read in story, books and in his.
cannOneers. and all that sort of thing, and here |
we were at 1t ourselves rs n daily Occupation, |
An "T Ssae other sent dsv to w wopk 6 for years "a h. y.,
Yard to see &C. the battle shiP, Indiana. and she's
q don u4ais Hssd We W. are not a lighting nation-we
keep In stock ought to be OF the best. and here's
E snip that one needn't DO ashamed to send
" roamed all over the ship. from tho
shaft alleys to the military tops, and finally
great T' is-i HSSn ru unso 0 @e Of lad ths se tarF sss Of sit ths
tube tub projecting out over the deck through the
tie platform near by was what looked like a
great round tin can. in size something less than
part tapered up TO what might have been the
neck of the can. The ,verticaI-sided barrel Of
the can was completely covered with sheep
skin with the woollv. side out. And this was
the swab or sponge for the l3-inch gun. The
gun Is forty feet long, Fancy Nos. l and
z standing at the mnzzle to sponge out this
gun. II would DO like spOnging a chimney
on It's side. But they don't do it
that way The gun loads at the breech and Is
spqhged from there. The powder chamber is
spohRed after every discharge. but the gun ia
not sponEed through the entire length OF its
bore until IL has ceased firing, at the end OF
The sponge staff is In six sections. which.
when the stan is not In use. rest one above
on brackets attached to the inner side
the turret. What had looked like the neck
OF the can at the top of the great swab was
where they screwed In the first section OF the
sponge stan; the sections are screwed on one
after another, making a sponge stan forty feet
this is a swab of 1906"