San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-11-18
GUM CARRIAGE,
EXPERIMENTS MADE SHOW THE
INVENTION A SUCCESS.
Orders Will be Placed For 80 Carriages Of
Similar Make For Coast Defense
1t Principal HarbOIs.


let's Point. The trial was under
the direction of Capt. w. \. Gro
zier, who is one of the inventors
of the BuffingtOn-CrOzier carriage
upon which the two guns here
are mounted. The other gun and
carriage had been tested at San
dy Hook before thy were brought
here. Before the two guns were
placed here they had been the
pride of the post. The work of
mounting them was completed a
few days ago! PrOjectiles which
these guns throw are of steel,
with pointed ends and will
weigh 575 pounds each. The ones
used in the test at Willett's Point
were of the same style and
weight, but were made of cast
iron. The guns are loaded at the
breech. When the prOjectile was
raised, by means of a small der
rick attached to the gun and
pushed home Il charge of 40
pounds of powder was thrown in
to the beach.
In a short time everything was
ready for the first shot. COmmu-
nicatiOn was made with the sig
nal station, which had been ar
ranged at Davidson Island and
Sandy Point, to be sure that the
range was clear before the shot
was fired. The gun was aimed
at about due east. Sailing YES
sells were lacking back and forth
across the range and it was some
time before the range was report
ed to be clear. Finally Lieut..
Wheeler shouted all was ready.
The spectators stopped up their
ears and braced themselves for
the shock. Orders were given to
fire, and Artillery Sergeant Sal
wage yanked the lanyard. There
was a deafening report followed
by a loud whistling noise made
by the projectile as it shot
through the air over the heads of
the boatmen who were between
the fort and the place where the
officers had figured where the ball
would strike the water. The
smoke cleared away and those
on the fort saw the spash that
the prOiectile made when it
struck the water. With this first
shot Lieut.. Weller said the We
lOcity of the shot was lao feet
a second. With the first shot as
with all the others the working
of the carriage was perfect.
The gun is 80 feet long and
weighs SO tons. After being
charged and aimed it is easily
raised by means of hydraulic
power to the crest of the parapet.
The second shot was with 2O5
pounds of powder. With this
the prOiectile was sent at the
rate of 1,S0S feet a second. The
shot was fired in a dead line with
Execution light house, but it
struck when within a mile of it.
The next three shots were
made with 24S pounds of powder
each. They were directed a lit
tie to the south Of Execution
light house, where they dropped.
The proiectiles went about six
miles at a velocity of 2,014 feet a
second. The officers expressed
great satisfaction at the result
of the test. Capt. Crozier said the
ordnance department has now
under construction so gun car
riages of this type for ten and
twelve inch guns which are al
ready finished. The work on the
carriages is being rapidly push
ed, and when they are complet-
ed the guns will be mounted at
various places, including Port
land, Maine, Boston, Narragan-
sett Bay, New London, New
York, Philadelphia, Fort Mon
roe, Washington, Charleston,
Pensacola, Mobile and San Fran
cisco.