The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-04-17

it will weigh 100000 pounds or 14O tons.
The ~projectile will weigh 2,370 pounds,
while one round will 1000
pounds of powder. At a distance of
$500 yards, about a mile and a half, the
projectile will penetrate steel of the
best quality to the thickness of 29.2
inches. These figures must appear
all the more surprising when one con-
siders that the largest cannon used in
the civil war, which in it's days was it.
self a giant, weighed cne-sixth as much,
fired q ~projectile of 500 pounds with so
pounds of powder, and had a penetrate
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 inthe setting of the
carriage would destroy it's accuracy.
The barrel is made of the finest quality
OF forged steel, which is put into a huge
lathe and bored. Around this heated
steel bands are placed. AS these grow
cold they shrink Upon the inner metal
and counterfeit its expanding force.
BY this process the pieces of metal are
mor firmly united han 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 planed
off so as to give the barrel it's conicaI
shape; it has now been assembled and
finished" All of this work is done at
Watervliet arsenal.
The manufacture of gun carriages at
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
both of these the great problem is to
check the terrific recoil of the gun
without dropping it abruptly. On the
barbette carriage a piston attached to
the barrel moves in a hollow cylinder
| filled with oil. The head of the piston
Las a small opening, through which a
rod runs that thickens TO the rear. As
the gun recoils the piston is showed
back; it presses against the oil IN tine
cylinder, and as the escape grows small
er is gradually brought 10 Il 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 firm g.
At the discharge the barrel drops back
ward and downward, and is then held
below by means of a pawl and ratchet.
A center weight attached raises it to
the firing position.
Several ten-inch guns of this kind
have recently been 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 otficers-the Buffingham-
Crozier.
A third model, low becoming anti
quated, is the gun lift. Under the
whole machine a well is dug, and this
is made to rise and sink by means Of
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 mar alone
can easily handle the machinery. The
whole structure is set upon a huge iron
disc, revolving upon another iron sur
face, and is moved to and fro by means
CT a crank attached 10 a set of gears.
n #: GUNDLACH
Her Upward Flight.
Hewitt hear your servant left with.
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