Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1897-08-28
A NEW AND NOVEL GUN.
UNCLE SAM IS BUILDING A WONDER.
Full PIECE OF ORDNANCE.
Said q, ne the Strongest War Implement
Ever Made-wiii Be used For Coast
Dcfenses Altogether - VIII weigh
Thirty Tons-Tcrriic Striking Capacity.

a new lO-inch wire gun ola brand new
pattern TO astonish the world. When
Uncle Sam wants to do thing he
does it, and consequently all
the governments on the surface of the
globe watch his movements with no
small degree of interest Never be-
fore in the history Of the manufacture
Of war implements has the world wit
messed n fiercer struggle for superiority
between gun and arm'or plate in every
country Of the globe than 1t the
present time. Governments and
private concerns alike take part in
this race at breakneck speed. At this
time of the race. however. no one can
safely predict which of the two, gun
or armor. will be the victor. As far
as the navy ia concerned the odds are
slightly in favor of the guns, for it
seems as if the thickness of armor
for men-of-war has been nearly
reached. Congress. taking this fact
into consideration, made an appro-
rriation last year for the construction
OF a lO-inch wire gun according 20
new system invented by John Hamil-
ton Brown. an American. This gun
is now being built at the plant of the
Reading Iron Company, 10y the in
ventor, under the supervision of one
or two inspectors from the Ordnance
Department of the United States
Army.
Nearly every power Of Europe has
tried It's hand az wire wound guns
before aud since that period. 1t now
appears that only England and Rus
,.-l,1o Evo,ce
for the time being dropped the matter
entirely. combining herself TO keeping
watch over the achievements OF other
governments. At present England il
doing fairly we'll, hut she will be left
far behind il the new Brown ten-inch
wire gun half way fuldlls the expec
tations Of government and inventor.
The gun will weigh thirty tons aud
and is expected 20 hurl n GOO-pound
shell with a muzzle velocity of 29SS
feet per second Such velocity
would give the proiectile, If the shell
weighs 600 pounds instead of the
regulation weight of ESQ. striking
capacity of 3. 40 foot-tons. In 9TH
or words. the striking capacity per
ton of weight OF gun would be 1880
foot-tons at the understanding
unedualled in gun construction in any
country.
This new 1O-inch gun is and only
can be intended for coast defense. Its
great length, thirty-seven and one
half feet, makes II at once unavaia-
BILE for use IN the navy. The great
length may also cause fertilization
engineers trouble with regard TO con-
struction of parapets when the gun Is
mounted on disappearing carriages IN
forts. as IL must Toe.
The core Of this new gun will con-
sist of ninety longitudinal bars Seq
mentsl Of approximately little less
than fve-eighths of an inch in thick
ness: three and three-eighths OF an
inch in hight at the breach and then
. tapering down 20 the muzzle TO one
, and one-tifth OF an inch in hight The
+ length of the segments viii be IN the
neichborhood OF thirty-seven feet.
. The steel in the segments of the
new gun will have "a tensile strength O
. 10000 pounds 10 the square inch
The elastic l.l.it viii be 10000 pounds
per squa~s inch, and the eiongatior
from tw<:sty 10 twenty-four per cent
The.s - no room for doubt that ba
Of steel 100 feet long which can b.
y stretched to a length Of 124 feet be
fore rupture takes place must contain
= ametal Of excellent quality.
= After the segments have been as
: sembled and the breeoh and muzzl
= nut screwed on to them. thus formin
;, the core of the gun, the winding {
10 the wire round and round the core be
g gins. The wire used in the new gu
- has an area OF 1.49 Of an inch, eac
h. side measuring IL of an inch. As ii
a wire is u be wound round the COZ
"a under O pressure of about $50,
: pounds per square inch, and must r
NJ tain an equal margin OF strength
le order TO permit the core of the gun
y expand safely in the firing and CO
M tract after the shot, il becomes
We once apparent that the wire must ha
nd a very great elastic limit.
GO The weight of the seventy FIVE mil
of wire amounts TO 30,94S pound
At the breech the gun will have fro
thirty-three TO thirty-four layers
To- wire uniformity wound.
,c- The winding, indeed, of each IN
r n OF these seventy-dve miles of WI