The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-02
UNCLE SANS GUN FACTORY.
Where the Heavy Ordnance for Our
Great BattIeships Is Made.

Great Battleshtps Is Made.
From the New York Commercial Adver-
tser.
The Washington gun foundry is one OF
the landmarks of the national capital.
Inasmuch as it Is there that all the high
powered guns and their mounts for the
equipment of our modern ships of war
are manufactured. 1t is a place Of special
interest to visitors in these days of wars
and rumors of war Originally establish
ed as a navy yard for the construction
and repair of warships, it was long since
abandoned as such, and Is now dvotcd
almost exclusively to the manufacture OF
guns and ordnance materials. The en-
tire gun plant and appurtenances have
cost about $2,000,000, and are believed to
be fully equal to the demand of the times
in supplying the new navy with guns
equal in power and efficiency to those sup
piled to the leading navies of foreign
powers.
The gun shop is filled with the most
powerful and approved machinery for
turning, boring, rifiing, jacketing and 9TH
erwise finishing the immense rifles requir-
ed for modern battieships, as well as the
smaller rapid-fire guns, which form such
an important part of the secondary bat
teries of the cruiser gunboats, and, in
in the shop, commonly called the sixteen
lathe" was built for turning out gun
sixteen inches in diameter of barrel, Ior-
ty-eight feet seven inches long and weigh
ing no tons. This size has been found too
large for practical use, however, and the
largest guns made for the navy are about
13-inch caliber.
The lathe which is used for boring the
interior of these guns is about lis feet
long, and cost nearly 100000; smaller
lathes are used In the case of the smaller
guns. Travelling over these lathes, forty
feet from the ground, is an immense crane
capable of raising and carrying from one
lathe to another dead weight of lbs tons.
In the center of this building is the shrink
ing pit, in which are located furnaces for
heating the jackets and hoops for use in
shrinking the gun tubes. These furnaces
are heated to between 800 and 200 degrees,
the heating power being naphtha oil with
an air blast.
A separate building is devoted to the
manufacture of gun mounts and carriages.
and is provided with the latest and most
approved machinery, as is also the pro-
jectile shop near by, in which shells are
made and finished.
There are many historic relics in the
museum and other buildings at the yard
which the Waterman in charge will show
with an ill-concealed display of pride and
patriotism. The two old-fashioned cannon
mounted on either side of the avenue near
the entrance were captured from the Tri-
politans by Capt Stephen Decatur in 1904.
Near the east door of the gunshop Is the
original Long Tom," used with such sue
cess by Capt Samuel c. Reid on the brig
Gen. Armstrong, In his never-to-be-forgot-
ten engagement with the British feet at
Fayal, Sept 26, 1914. This gun was pre-
scented to the United States by the Portu-
guese government a few years ago, and
formed a part of the naval exhibit at the
worlds Columbian exposition. In the rear
of the commandants Office is a gun park,
where are displayed trophies captured dur
ing the war of the revolution, the war of
1872, the Mexican war and war of the re-
belliOn.