The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-19
Long RiHed Cannon That Throw
Heavy steel Projectiles with
Great Penetrating Force.
TARGET HIT 6, 6,Oo5 YARDS AWAY
WONDERFUL ACCURATENEss wITH
THE AID OF THE RANGE FINDER
Advantage of the Disappearing Car
rfage-Fentures OF the Experi-
ments-The Conclusion.

Special 20 the Indianapolis Journal.
NEW YORK. Nov. 1S-The rumors or
possible war with Spain and the various
international disputes that always
with us have awakened great interest here
in the defense of Atlantic coast cities and
towns. The urgent plea Of the ordnance
and fortfcations board for extensive har-
Dor defense works has also aroused interest
The board made II clear that in the present
defenseless condition OF our seaport cities
any foreign power with a navy might
swoop down upon them without warning
and force tribute by threatening TO shell
them at long range. If, however. the pres
ent scheme OF spending S1Oo.oooooo in the
erection of forts and great guns is carried
out and naval construction is continued II
will not be long before Uncle Sam can bid
defiance to the combined fleets OF the old
world. The boards maxim Is. I'm time OF
peace prepare for war" and that maxim IN
being slowly but faithfully followed.
Army and navy officers say that IL is not
likely that Uncle Sam will ever so about
with a chip on his shoulder daring some
body TO knock it of. They believe, how
ever that the country Is growing so rapid
ly and it's interests extending so vastly
there Is danger of arousing the envy ana
anmcsity of some of the European powers,
and that therefore we should be prepared
for any emergency. The strengthening OF
the defense works OF greater New York
began some time ago and is being pushed
with vigor. The Sun thus describes the
test of four big guns just added to the
complement at Fort Wadsworth: The
added defenses include two new twelve
inch guns, a number Of new ten-inch guns.
a couple of mortar batteries and five new
aio tod on
carriages. A gun in a disappearing car
riage has been described as the most
effective and most provoking of all de-
fenses. 1t comes up from nowhere and
hurls a great projectile that will penetrate
nearly q foot of hardened steel: and even
before the projectile reaches the object at
which it is aimed the gun itself has disap-
| peared from view as mysteriously as it
came. and there Is nothing left to tell
| except q little smoke that by the time the
sound reaches the object aimed at has
been blown far away from the gun itself.
| Often there is hardly any smoke at all.
! THE TARGET.
| Fort Wadsworth's new eight-inch rifles
have been in place quite a while now. and
| men have been constantly at work on them
preparing for the test. The concrete foun-
dation of the middle one OF the five shrunk
| somewhat after the gun was put I'm place,
and hence that gun was not in condition
for the test. Tests of big guns are scarce/
enough TO be Of very great interest TO Az
| artillerymen, and so all the artillerymen
| stationed around here were invited to the
| fort yesterday. The Fifth Artillery, sta
toned at Fort Hamilton, sent three COM
panies across the bay early i'm the morn
/ ing. The day was an IDEAL one In the
morning there was scarcely any mist. The
target TO be fired at was placed 6,o35 yards.
| or nearly three and a half miles, straight
down the bay. and was visible to the naked
| eye. This target was about ten feet high.
| Ii was made of two barrels anchored I'm the
| water, two poles and an A-shaped piece Of
| canvas. There was a black bull s-eye In
| the center four feet in diameter. The f1vo
/ guns are on a crescentrshaped foundation
| of concrete of an average depth OF twenty
| or twenty-five feet In front OF this Is q
crescent-shaped wall of concrete as wide at
the top and wider at the bottom. and in
front OF this is an earth embankment va
| rying from twenty TO forty feet at the top
and sloping. The guns ell point down the
| bay, and are on revolving carriages that
the ae Gr Nw s 50 @
can be covered by them. Each gun weighs
fourteen tons. Each is 2a-2o feet long.
| thirty inches IN diameter at the breach
and fourteen inches I'm diameter at the
| muZzle. There are forty-eight grooves In
the rifiing- The recoil of the guns sends
them back and down out OF sight. They
are kept from springing back suddenly and
with a shock by cylinders full OF OIL on
| either side OF each gun. The oil Is forced
tons
Yesterdays tests were to begin at
! O'Clock In the morning and all the soldiers
were hand. and their commanding Of
ficers and all the gunners and two styles
the taIset. and IL looked lie the sail of an
| incoming schooner. The range finder that
was TO be used In the test was that in
out. by Lieut.. i. n. Lewis The guns them
| selves are 150 feet above sea level and back
of them is a hill twenty-five or more feet
| higher * "A eha n
and the range finder. in charge OF Lieut.
Lewis himself. was in this shanty. IL has
| already been described I'm the Sun. BY its
! use the exact location Of a vessel is found,
! and the exact elevation the gun must
| be pointed ere tod all within ten seconds
and with mathematical accuracy.
THE CHARGE AND PROJECTILE.
The first half hour after o'clock yester-
day was spent in looking at things. and the
next I'm getting ready for the first shot
Colonel Sinclair had charge OF all ana
Lieutenant Harmon, of the First Artillery.
was in command OF the first gun TO be fired.
1t had been arranged to fire three shots
from this gun. using 100 pounds OF brown
prismatic powder for each shot. The regu-
lar charge for the gun is ls5 pounds. The
projectiles were OF steel. each weighing 800
| pounds. They were regulation solid projec-
tiles. The big gun was clear back I'm its
| carriage and the muzzle was below the wall
| OF concrete when the man went 10 work at
| IL. From the water cot a soul could be
| seen anywhere near the gun, and the gun
| itself was clear out OF sight. Nobody on
the water could tell that there were any
| guns in the neighborhood except the old
| style ffteen-inch cannon that since the in-
PRODUCTION OF the new guns have been re-
ferred 10 by artllerymen at good for
| hitching posts" The canvas covers on the
| breech and muzzle We're taken or and the
| breech was opened. Then the gun was
swabbed out and oiled. The projectile was
| on a lift attached TO the gun itself. and,
| after cleaning IL was swung around and
| showed into the breech Meanwhile two
| gunners in canvas suits had come up the
| tarred stairway. each with an octagonal
bag two feet long These bags held the
| powder. They were showed I'm after the
| projectilc and the breech was closed. In
the meantime Lieutenant Lewis had got
the range and had telegrapheu 10 Leuten-
ant Harmon. who had been busy getting
the gun 10 the proper elevation and aim
ing IT, He hadn't showed his head above
| the breastworks and hadn't seen the target.
but IL wasn't necessary for him TO see that
10 aim the gun.
| After the breech was closed and locked
the primer adjusted and the lanyard
was attached. Then the gun was lifted.
One man did that and he did n with ease
with one hand, so nicely was the big ma
| chine adjusted The angle Of elevation
which was obtained before the gun was
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