The Florence tribune., 1898-07-09
WORKING BIG GUNS. An Exciting Scene on a Great
 Battleship. How n Thirteen-Inch Cannon Throws 6 ProjectiIe Weighing l,AVV
 Pounds-Clearlng for
 Action.

q am told" said Capt. Higginson, oi the battleship Massachusetts, now or the flying squadron, that the Indiana 711t ! shell from her 1s-inch gun through target at Z,o00 yards, ana then went through the same hole with a second shell. Pretty good work for one of these fellows" and the muscular little captain stroled the muz&ie of one of the four 13-ineh guns that make up the main battery of the big ship of the line.
 Don't get out tape measure or foot rule and measure off 13 inches and wonder to what portion of the gun that refers. because it would avail you little; but rather listen to the account of the stupendousness of this greatest engine of destruction, of modern days. A "13- inch breech-loading rife" as the big gest gun used in the navy is technically described, is a piece of metal weighing 136,O00 pounds, few inches over 5s feet in length, and with powder space 15.5 inches in diameter and sos inches long.
 The only reference to I3 inches is in the diameter of the steel projectile fired. This monstrous gun throws proJectiie that weighs HOO pounds, and the amount of powder consumed for each shot so fired is 520 pounds. The explo- sion of this powder sends this weight of HOO pounds of metal from the muz- gle at the speed of 2,100 feet per sec ond, and with an energy of 33,627 tons enough to send it through 24 inches of steel at 1000 yards, and 21 inches at a mile distant; and while the mechanism of this gun is complicated, and while every part after every shot must be cleaned, so complete is the discipline aboard that it may be fired once every three minutes. And there are four ot these terrible engines.
 It is bright, clear day, and the Mas
 sachuetts has sighted an enemy's war
 ship. The preliminary work of clearing | for. action has been accomplished; rail ings, ladders and boats are down ant have been slowed away, and everything
 movable in the big ship fastened, -Th, -a,
 ments closed. the electric plants fo
 lighting the ship, turning the turret
 and working the ammunition lifts started; the ammunition magazine
 opened, and, lastly, the sick bed pre- pared.
 In the forward turret with the grea pair of 131inch rifles stands crew O.
 12 men, six to each gun. In the hood O.
 the turret, just above the men, sits {
 senior officer and junior officer. "Si
 lencel" is the first command, and grim ly the half-naked men of the gun crew
 stand behind the guns. Cast loose and provide" sharply rings the order, ant
 every man is instantly working. The gun captain and numbers two three and four, who are the practica gunners, unshackle the great monste,
 from it's peace fasteniDgs; one sees that repair tools and cleaners are placed gets water and hose ready; another opens the safety valves and exhaust 1 pipes, starts the smoke fan, and ships
 the sight; and another provides drink. ing water and does a dozen other things
 But all is done within space of four minutes, and again each man in his place stands like a statue of bronze. The ammunition has come up ore. 1 pared with fuses, and then come the or ders, in quick succession: "Open breech, sponge, land she'll" The great hydraulic rammer pushes in the big l,1O0-pound steel projectiIe. Load first cartridge" and the brown pow der, one-half the quantity necessary, goes in. Load second cartridge" and in goes the second. Down lift" and the ammunition carriage goes down for more. Close breech,' comes the order quickly, and followed in an instant by Prime" when the captain puts in the electric primer.
 Then the captain of the gun, seeing everybody clear, says Ready" and the officer in the hood above responds with, "Point." Slowly both turret and gun are moved until the range finder indl- cates that the muzzle is pointing at the enemy. Then, quick as flash, the off, cer in the turret hood closes the electric circuit and the big projectile goes on its path of destruction.-George Edward Graham, in Leslie's Weekly.