The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-08-26
BIG GUN READY
To Command the Inner Bay From n
Parapet at Fort Hamilton.

To Command the Inner Bay From n
Parapet at Fort Hamilton.
Hundreds of sightseers visited Fort
Hamilton yesterday to gain a view of the
big rifled gun which has just been brought
from the Sandy Hook proving grounds
and now lies in the roadway beneath the
ramparts of the fort
This is the first of the rif1ed guns. on
disappearing carriages, with which the
government proposes to equip Forts Ham,
ilton and Wadsworth. 1t is to be placed
in position on the outermost parapet of
Fort Hamilton, under the direction of
Lieut.. McGregor. of the United States
engineers department. Behind the parapet
q platform about IL feet in height has been
built, and upon this masonry the gun will
be laid until the disappearing carriage
upon which 1t will eventually rest, has
arrived. The construction of this masonry
was begun about four years ago.
The new gun was made in the govern
ment arsenal in Troy, N. Y. 1t was then
taken to the proving grounds at Sandy
Hook, where 1t was tested. It weighs IS
tons.
Being 1O-inch gun. it's barrel is COM
paratively small, but 1t casts q projectile
Weighing $40 pounds, and requires a charge
of barrel of powder At 1000 yards the
shot will penetrate 20 inches Of steel AL
though the rifled gun is so much larger
and more powerful than the ordinary
equipped, it requires no larger force to
man 1t.
1.-THE carriage will be Of cast Steel" said
Lieut.. McGregor, land. although 1t is
called disappearing carriage, 1t is, in
reality, the gun which disappears, When
in position the gun will be invisible behind
the parapet. and only when firing will it
rise to view.
These breech-loading guns were first
manufactured. believe. by Krupp. in Es-
sen. The cost Of the gun, the carriage and
its placement, would roughly estimate at
about $125 900.
1.-THE government intends to protest the
entire water front at Forts Hamilton and
Wordsworth with these guns, thus amply
protecting the harbor Of New York and
making the Narrows practically impregna-
BILE.
when this gun Is in position no IRON
clad of any nation at war with our country
could safely pass on the farther side OF
the Narrows. A single shot from the 10
inch muxzle might sink 1t.
1.-THE ordnance department was not in
duced to- strengthen these defenses by
the alarming stories current a year or sc
ago about the defenseless condition of the
harbor. The idea Of these improvements
has been under consideration in the de-
partment for many years. The intention
now is to utilize these guns as soon as
they are made. Immediately on their com.
pletion they are sent to the proving ground
to be tested and stored. We have plenty
Of guns 'eady, but the only delay seems to
be in getting carriages for them and plac-
ing them In position.
II have no definite idea as to when the
carriage will arrive for this gun. That
is a matter under the charge of the ord
nance department. But If the carriage IL
not tested before it is sent, preliminary
test OF gun and carriage viii be made here
at the fort.
II would not like to make any posi-
tive statement concerning the range OF
this gun. There is a decided difference
between the extreme range and the useful
range. Tho last LOCO yards are far less
valuable than the first LOCO At the queens