Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-03-11

it will weigh 100000 pounds or 40 tons.
The projectile will weigh 1870 pounds,
while one round will consume LOGO
pounds of powder. At a distance of
$500 yards, about mile and q half, the
projectile will penetrate steel of the
best quality to the thickness of 2D.2
inches. These figures must appear
all the more surprising when one con-
siders that the largest cannon used in
the civil war, which in its days was it.
self giant, weighed one-sixth as much,
fired a projectile of 500 pounds with 50
pounds of powder. and had penetrat-
ing power of 6 inches at shooting range.
Bulky as these instruments are, their
manufacture must nevertheless be ac-
complished with the utmost nicely.
The slightest flaw in the bore of the
cannon may make it absolutely worth
less. while an error in the setting of the
carriage would destroy its accuracy.
The barrel is made of the finest quality
of forged steel. which is put into huge
lathe and bored. Around this heated
steel bands are placed. AS these grow
cold they shrink upon the inner metal
and counteract it's expanding force.
BY this process the pieces of metal are
more firmly united than by any amount
of welding or casting. The process of
banding is continued, more bands being
wrapped around the rear end Of tho
gun, where the shock of the explosion
is greatest. Finally the metal is paned
off so as to give the barrel it's conical
shape; it has now been ''assembled and
| finished" All of this work is done at
Watervliet arsenal.
The manufacture of gun carriages ut
Watertown is attended with much mora
complicated, though not more deli
cate, problems. There is more oppor-
tunity in this direction for new inven>
tons, and new varieties of carriages
are constantly being introduced. Two
kinds of carriages are now in use in
our seacoast defenses - the barbette
and the disappearing carriage. With
10th of these the great problem is to
check the terrific recoil of the gun
without dropping it abruptly. On the
barbette carriage piston attached to
the barrel moves in hollow cylinder
! filled with oil. The head Of the piston
Las small opening, through which
rod runs that thickens to the rear. AS
the gun recols the piston is showed
back; it presses against the oil in the
cylinder, and as the escape grows small
er is gradually brought to u standstill.
The disappearing carriage is SO con-
structed that no part of the gun is
above the parapet, and no view of the
enemy, except at the moment of firing.
At the discharge the barrel drops back
ward and downward, and is then held
below by means of pawl and ratchet.
a center weight attached raises it to
the firing position.
Several ten-inch guns of this kind
have recently bcen completed, and all
the new Notifications on the Atlantic
coast will be supplied with the model.
The first disappearing carriage 12-inch
gun in the world is about to be built
at WATERFOWL. 1t is named after two
of our army officers-the Dillingham;
Crozier.
A third model, now becoming anti
euated, is the gun lift. Under the
whole machine well is dug, and this
is made to rise and sink by means of an
elevator.
Aiming the heaviest guns in the
world is an easy matter. All the parts
are constructed with such nicely and
move so smoothly that one man alone
can easily handle the machinery. The
whole structure is set upon huge iron
disc, revolving upon another iron sur
face, and is moved to and fro by means
OF crank attached to set of gears.
f. T. GUNDLACH.
| Her Upward Flight.