Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-07-14

arate Mse&-axnsa & i-,A.n Shells and
Solid sha&
The iws na, a aAlsSrn guns
have er,Hr 81, Al az ~, <um that of
shc S,Nan arm nriuS y prolccuio only
onc,third OF an inch IN diameter TO the
monster which sends n solid piece of
steel - inches through and weighing
over half a ton Not only havo tho guns
improved hut also all their acceSsories
especially powder and projectilos Tho
smokolcSS powder Of the present has
changed tho conditions of war almost
Ms much rs modern armament,
Keeping step With these advances
have nccn those mado i'll the various
classes of roicctilcS Even tho smallest
Of these, With its case hardened bullet
is far ahead OF tho old fashioned lead
bullet used III the small arms Of 30
years ago
Ono Of tho most effective Of modern
rrojectilcs is tho shrapnel, II is one OF
tho forms Of case shot Tho others wero
the old fashioned grape and canister \
case shot may he said to be collection
either III tho gun or NC some point IN
flight, thus setting FREQ its death deal
ing PARTICLES
As soon as tho case il broken each of
! these PARTICLES goes on y separate path,
and it's n sorry day for tho man struck
by ono of thcm All of these falling
upon piece of level ground would
mark out an irregular oval. whose area
varies with differing conditions. IL has
boon found that the best point 60 burst
tho shyapuel is about sin yards above
nnd 80 in front of the enemy
Colonel Shrapnol Of tho British serv.
leo first invented shraunel III 1903. This
carly form consisted simply Of spher
ical she'll iillod with bullets and burst.
ing charge Of powder in tho spaces no,
tween, This was n crude invention,
which scattered thu fragments too much
and was Liable to go otf whom not ox.
pcotod and not do SO when desired,
This form was improved upon during
, our civil war, and the madotn shrapnal
can hc considered tho most dangerous
of all li(o destroying projcctilos. II CON
siSts ot thrco parts the tube tho base
: and tho head Tho powder charge is in
tho base. which is firmly attached to
tho body either by electric welding or
by scrcwinE. Loading from tho base
through the center OF the body IL a tube
which is also filled with powder which
IL ignitcd by tho fuse No tho point of tho
ghrapncl mud carries tho fire otho main
charge between 900 and 800 bullets
{ rest upon II diaphragm just over tho
powder charge. These are hold in plnoo
by mutrix of rosiu which Is melted
and poured upon tho bullets when in
place. A skeleton case of cast iron con
tanning roccptaolos for each bullet is
sometim N paca ins.saa OF tho rosin,
Tho heaa Is put ca in the Same man
ncr as thh base ona when tho fuse Is
inserted { projpeti'N isra, y for uso
Some rhr. els hRya la atI NO charge
In The |. II tccA go oGra Tho
fuse H., hc7 At,.&, but the
United States mas * good u ono as
there is II is II time fuse and in actual
test has shown its reliability
1t can readily bn seen that ono great
objection to tho shrapnol IL It's high
cost Tho fuse nlone costs about 81. 30
The same Gun Is usually supplied with
: three STYLES Of ammuntou~~tho solid
shot, tho shell aud the shrnpnrl Some
: batteries arc also supplied with canister
for uso ut close quarters. Tho bullets
in tho canister have a wider dispersion,
because tho caso breaks up IN tho gun
Canister was used to repo! tho famous
IA. 4 4 -, Il ~ ,,nparul
Pickett ut Gettysburg a perfect hail
{ of missiles swept tho slopo lendtng up
to Cemetery Hill, uGamat whose do
structve effects human vGlor was OF no
avail,
The shell X uscd to destroy inanimato
Z objects us well rs animate ones II con.
! sists Of y hollow cast iron shell, with u
:. fuse and bursting charge Of powder
The famous shot fired during the cut
ting Of tho cables ~ Cienfuegos is u
good example Of its use The Spaniarda
having taken refuge in and behind u
k lighthouse, II shell was fired by ono Of
q our ships, which, striking II fairly
burst and utterly destroyed tho struo-
ture, killing many of tho soldiers.
: But against men ia battle formation
the shrapncl IL tho more effective. 1t
sends "a perfect shower Of missiles which,
falling in tho midst Of company
would almost annihilate it. Many tests
have been made TO show this
Shrapnels fred from gun mile
away in ono instance and mile and
wo.thirds In tho other were made to
strike n board target one inch thick.
The fuses were ret Off by the contact
and burst the projectle into 200 or 800
parts, each Of which was capable OF
dealing .,Sat. .? auJ E7.ag thing in ita
path scroena were placed ut indicated
distances b. mad tho target. These may
DO conrtdsr-d 10 representing o battalion
CT ipfortJv cci2r1 a. companies.
Ty~'- -. Z, upon all Of
them the efficiency Of ehrapnel fro
against close order formation may BIO
judged,