Evening star., 1897-01-30

and the valley that lies between, stretches
the govern ment preserve, without sign OF
life to disturb the solemn grandeur OF the
solitude save where the bright-hued BAN
ner floats above the little group Of build
iHgs in the heart Of the wilderness.
At first though. there Is something almost
ludicrously incongruous in the idea OF con-
Meeting this impregnable and almost mac
cGssible fastness with the navy. But when
one looks through the yellow brick build
irgs or the hillside his attention is attract
ed to an interesting and little-known part
in the scheme of national defense, that Of
preparing and storing the force which
makes our great floating fortresses effect
i've.
Though much has been written about the
ravy and naval service of the United States
within the past few months, the manner in
which the new navy is supplied with pow
der seems to have escaped attention.
1t is an important subject, too. as brief
calculation will enable the reader to deter
mine to his own satisfaction The battle
ships Indiana and Oregon, the most power
full in the navy, carry four 13-inch, eight
S-inch and four 6-inch guns. To fire sin
gle charge from of the 13-inch guns
requires $50 pounds of powder, not counting
that contained in the shell itself to explode
it. Accordingly. every time the four chief
guns in the Indiana's armament speak to-
gether more than ton of powder is turned
into nothingness.
In actual fighting these guns could be
| fired perhaps ten times an hour. The s-inch
guns require charge of ia pounds and
| fifty pounds is needed to speed the 6-inch
shells. But although these smaller guns
require much smaller charges than their
more robust fellows, this difference is more
than made up by the greater rapidity with
which they may be operated. In some ex-
periments conducted at Indian Head last
| summer it was found that a 4-inch gun
could fire eleven shots in seventeen Sec
| onds, thus consuming quarter Of ton of
l nOyNdRr whi1a the second hand of
watch makes single circuit 1t is not
likely that In any naval engagement that
may take place the opposing fleets will pour
| broadside after broddside into each other
\ all day long in the good old-fashioned way.
| Modern warfare is too terrible In its de-
| structiveness to permit that. But II one
first-class fighting vessel can use from fifty
to seventy-five tons of powder an hour it
| doesn't require any mathematical genius
| to arrive at the conclusion that a single
| naval engagement under modern condi-
| tions would require more powder than was
| reeded to conduct O war at the beginning
Of the century. Another simple computa-
! tion based on the fact that the powder cost
the government about y cents per pound
| will prove that war is not only fearfu1ly de-
structive, but fearfully expensive sport as
I well.
Up-tO-Date Powder.
| Up-to-date powder is chiefly of two kinds,
the smokeless and the brown prismatic,
though the black is still used for igniting.
1t has two advantages over the old-fash-
| ioned kind. One is in its ingredients, the
other in its form.
| The goal which the maker sets always be-
| fore him in preparing powder for any gun
| is to obtain the maximum Of propulsive
| power without such explosive force as to
| wreck the gun itself. The action of the
powder now used In all the larger guns of
| the navy shows the nicely with which mod
| ern invention has solved this problem.
| The second important improvement in
| modern powder Is in it's form. Many per-
sons have the idea that all powder is in the
| whose memory reaches back to the civil
| war, recall the cannon" powder of that
day. which was in the form of small cubes,
| much like lozenges.
/ To either of these classes the powder of
present day use. Is most surprising in ap-
pearance. It's regular shape is that of a
the center. The size varies. Of course with
the bore Of the gun for which 1t Is intended,
but for the largest calibers the hexagons
are an inch high and trifie over an Inch
in diameter. The little hole In the center is
important. for it causes the block to burn
more evenly and with greater effect, since
the fire can work from both the interior
and exterior surface. The smokeless DOW
der comes in the form of fiat strips, like
pieces of tape, or in little cylinders. that
look for all the world like macaroni. In
| one respect alone is the black powder su-
perior to brown, in the greater ease with
| which 1t is ignited. On this account, in
making up the heavy charges a tier of
black hexagons is placed first. for the per-
cussion cap to act upon. and to make Ger
tain the discharge by igniting the other.
The essential ingredients in the making
OF gunpowder. Of course. remain the same
now as formerly. the difference being found
In the chemical treatment Of 1t during the
mixing processes, which are, OF course,
carried on according to carefully guarded
Il formulas.
| In the mill the earlier course Of the pow
| der destined for Uncle Sans big guns II
| much the same as that Of the better known
kinds the chief difference being. as noted,
Its treatment under the chemists hands.
It is rolled in the same way, but In the
press room its treatment IL changed and
It IL shaped into the hexagonal blocks be-
| fore described instead Of minute grains.
After the glazing and shaping process u