The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-03-23
SECRETS
Still More Stringent Ruies in Force-Dc.
scription Of the Guns to BE Placed at
Fort CaswelI.
(%SOuthport Leader.l


Steps have been taken by the war de-
partment to further guard the seacoast
defences from inquisitive inspection by
persons who ought not TO know what
precautions the United States have
taken for protection in time Of war.
The work at Fort Caswell is progress
ing satisfactorily. The force Of carpen-
tiers has been somewhat reduced for the
present now that the quarters and
sheds are built. The leveling OF the
sand hills still continues. The three s.
inch guns that will be mounted are
or the most effective made Each Of the
guns is about twenty-three feet long.
and weighs fourteen tons. Each is
capable of throwing a 300 pound shot
eight miles. At a distance of four miles
the shot would penetrate nine inches OF
the hardest steel.
But the peculiar merit OF these great
rifles is the fact that they are mounted
on disappearing" carriages. When the
gun is fired the force of the recoil
throws 1t back till it is no longer In
balance; both gun and carriage the
fall merely by the force of gravity, till
they are entirely concealed, leaving an
enemy nothing to lombard but a bar
rem hillside.
To prevent the great weight OF the
gun from falling back with a shock, a
cylinder and piston arrangement is at
tached to each side of the carriage.
This checks the force OF the fall Just
as the cylinder and piston attachment
at the top Of a door with a heavy
spring to prevent the door from slam
ming. The cylinder on the door frame
contains nothing but air, but the cylin-
ders on the gun carriage are filled with
oil.
The rifles are mounted in a great
semi-circular trench twenty-five feet
deep, paved with concrete. In front OF
them is a wall Of concrete twenty-five
feet thick. n in front of that again,
is an earth e~mbankment from twenty
five to forty feet thick.
Behind this friendly barrier, and be-
low the level of it's upper edge, the
great gun is loaded in safety. Ingeni-
Gus mechanical devices enable the men
to handle the monster-to load and
move and direct it-as easily as If it
were a child's toy.
A lift attached to the gun itself raises
the 3OO-pound shell, the inner push it
into the breech, follow it with two fifty
pound bags of powder, attach the prim-
er and adjust the lanyard. The ma
chinery is set in motion, and the gun
slowly rises till it clears the top OF the
embankment and sweeps the bay.
There is no necessity for a pause.
even to take aim. The gun has been
sighted before 1t was raised to the firing
position. The lanyard Is pulled, there
Is a roar that can be heard twenty
miles. the great gun settles gracefully
back. and the gunner are already put
ting in a second charge while the ori-
GERS watch through their field glasses
for the effect Of the first shot, far down
the bay.
The aiming OF the gun before it Is
raised to the firing position is accom-
pl1shed by the range-f1nder, an ingeni-
u device which determines the dis
lance Of the target. AS experiments
have shown just how much a projectile
will drop in travelling a given dis
lance, the angle Of elevation at which
the gun must be discharged is easily
determined. The carriage is so con-
structed that before it raises IL can be
set to level the gun poised at the de-
sired angle.