The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1897-01-20
WORKING A BIG GUN.
METHODS OF TODAY DIFFER FROM
THOSE OF CIVIL WAR TIMES.
An Old Soldiers Description of tho Load
ing and Firing OF Hundred Pound
Parrott--Hc Was Ono OF the Men Whe
Worked tho Swabber and Hammer.


Worked tho Swabber and Hammer
"Our regiment was an infantry rcgi.
mont" said tho old soldier, "but In thu
course of our service We did moro or lcsa
duty as artillery. On ono occasion prao-
tically tho whole regiment was detailed to
man big guns in II Siege Tho PARTICULAR
gun that served ON was a 100 pound par
rott. There wcro bigger PARROTS than 100
Founders. ind other guns, too that were
bigger, but Il 100 pound parrutt was
pretty sizablo gun, s or 10 feet in length,
possibly longor-I don't remember exactly
--riilcd, and with n broad wrought iron
band shrunk on to tho breech to rc-enforco
1t. Tho she'll was pointed and elongated,
about rs big around as an oyster kcg and
something longer. 1t had band OF soft
metal attached around its base, and whom
tho gun was fired this band expanded into
tho grooves Of tho riiling to give tho she'll
tho twist and so insure accuracy of flight.
"This gun was mounted in battery
nm earth brcastworll in front, with travcrses
NJ tho sides to protect tho men from shot
coming from those directions 1t was fired
through an cmbrusuro in tho parapot OF
tho brcastwork in front. Tho carriage
upon which it WIS mounted, raised tho biz,
gun to L height Of eight feet or so above
tho ground Along tho inner sido Of tho
broastwork,. under tho mu2zlr Of the gun
thoro was Il platform, so that tho muzzlo
could no conveniently reached. Nos.
and = of tho mcn who manned tho gun
stood upon this platform to load it and to
swab the gun cut after it was fired.
was No. on t',p piece, to tho left of the
-uuzzlc.
The man from tho magazine brought
nVNnnE n rtritlf-n fh,N. ri of icr
done up In flannel bag about the size OF
good sized salt bag, and laid it on tho
platform. No. . picked it up and inserted
it in tho muzzlo Of tho gun. No. picked
up tho sponge staff, i or s feet in length,
and having tho sponge, or swab, at ono end
and tho rammcr ut tho other, and placed
tho rammcr end against tho cartridge and
then both mon rammcd tho cartridge
gently home, tho man whose duty it WAC
standing on tho carriage ut tho brccGh OF
tho gun with his thumb on the vent mean.
while.
1.-TWO men brought around tho she'll,
loaded and capped, and stood it on its base
on the platform. Tho two men on the
platform picked up tho shell and placed it
in tho gun. The shell had percussion
cap, to be exploded by contact. In the
Ccntcr of the face of the ramner thcro Wns
u cavity big enough so that its edges would
rest upon tho shell clear Of the cap. No.
placed the rammcr carefully against tho
end of the shell SO that tho cap would be
within tho cavity, and both men rammcd
tho shell home gently and smoothly, bat
Hetting it UP snuGly against tho cartridge.
Tho man ut tho vent ran y printing
wiro down into the vent and through tho
cartridge, and then inserted in the vent
friction ermer to which lanyard WAS Mt.
fnehnn hn hD, i,,,,
10 tho ground, and tho man stood with
lanyard ou,stretchcd, waiting the com
mand.
Firev
g y twitch upon the lanyard, tho prime,
| exploded, its fire shot down into tho pow
der, and 'Boom! wont tho 100 FOUNDER
Tho carriage recoilcd upon tho iron sup
porting frame, and away sailed the shell,
whilo all tho men jumped upon the gun
carriage again or upon tho platform to
watch its effect.
"Thcn calno tho swab. There was a
bucket OF water standing on the platform
into which the swab YVES dipped occasion
ally If the gun was being fired rapidly.
The damp swab, or sponge, was inserted
II tho. mu22lo of tho gun and rainmcd
clean TO the other end of the bore, turned
there, and then drawn out again TO extin-
guish any lingering sparks OF powder that
might havo iGnitcd tho next charge OF
powder, and so caused u premature OK
plosion, and to clean tho gun. Then load
again.
We worked on these guns for weeks,
and IL WAS most fascinating employment.
1t seemed wonderful thcn, and IL suerls
moro and moro so nov, as tho time grows
moro remote had read in story books
! and in histories about wars and battles
of thing, and hero we wcro ut it ourselves
ms daily occupation and under contrac.
TO work for years.
Tho othor day went over to the navy
yard to SEQ tho bnttlcship Indiana, nild
she's Il daisy We are not u lighting M
tion-we don't need to jc--but such fight
ing tools AS we keep i'll stock ought to DO
of the best, and here's u ship that one
needn't be ashamed to send into any wa
tiers.
We roamcd MI over tho ship from the
shaft alleys to tho military tops, and finally
we won't down into ono of thu turrets OF
this great IS inch guns We had seen the
giant tubo projecting ont over tho dcck
through the portfolio. Now we admired
the beautiful mechanism OF the brooch
Standing on u littlc platform near by was
what looked like II grons round tin can, in
hiZo something less than half IA barrel. Itd
| conical shaped metal top part taporod up
| to what might have been the neck of the
| can. The vertical sided barrel of the cari
| WIS completely covered with shccpskin
| with the woolly side out. And this was
| the swab or sponge, for tho IL inch gun.
The gun is 40 feet long. Fancy Nos. and
standing ut tie muzzlo To sponge our
| this gun! II would be like sponging a
| chimney lying on its side. But they don q
| do il that WAY. The gun loads st the
| brccch and is sponged from there The
powder chamber is spongcd after every dis.
| charge, but tho gun is not sponged through