The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-02
FIFTY GUNS ARE ORDERED
THE GOVERNMENT WANTS DERBY
PRODUCT.

Product.
DrIggs-seabury Co. Receive Contract for
Fifty g.. Guns and 10000 Projectlle
Caps Government Satisfied with briggs
Invention-silop is Rushed with Work.
Ansonla, March 31,-The Driggs-Sea-
bury & Ammunition Co. has added an
other large order to it's already long
list of contracts with the government.
The new contract is for fifty of the So
rapid firing guns and 10000 projectile
caps 1t was awarded in Washington,
Wednesday afternoon, and was receiv-
ed soon after by General Manager
Woodbridge, who was at the plant
when the good news came in. The
Sentinel says:
The guns ordered are the same as the
one recently made by the concern and
shipped TO Sandy Hook for the test, q
couple of weeks ago. The last order
requires that the guns be mounted and
work on them will be commenced i'm
mediately. The barrels for the gun
are furnished by the government,
The last 3.2 gun was forged at the
Watervleit arsenal in roy and doubt
less the fifty guns ordered, Wednesday
will come from the same place.
The firm has not as yet made projec
tile caps and will have to introduce a
fna 81 IL H., ;+n .l,a
Draughtmen, machinists and labor
ers are hustling night and day on ord
nance, fuses, range finders and the
tools to make them. Lathes are being
set up In factory No 2 as fast as they
arrive and about thirty-fve of various
sizes are lined up on the main floor
and west gallery. The order received,
Wednesday, was from the navy depart
ment. Another good sized one is antic-
ipated by the concern.
Pattern of range-fi finder for the first
lot to be cast were sent away, Wednes-
day, and the mechanics will be put to
work on them when they are returned,
if approved The briggs Seabury Co.
already has enough work to keep a
night and day gang at wark for year,
with other orders in sight.
The projectile caps are made of soft
metal and fitted over the cone Of the
projectiles, used in the heavy guns. A
10-inch projectile, of which the govern
ment has a great many, are about
three feet long, Weighing some 700
pounds and made of hard metal,
Should this projectile be fired from a
gun, and strike an armored vessel, for
instance, the shot would be liable to
glance off the side, thus destroying the
effectiveness Of the blow. These caps
are very soft, and being placed at the
point of the projectile, flatten out with
the force of the impact and form a
soft metallic bed through which the
proiectile bores it's way and thus is
held in place while it pierces the armor
of the ship.
The great effectiveness of these pro-
jectiles is obtained by the rotary move
ment which Is given them, the result of
the rifling in the gun barrel, SO that
when fred this huge engine of war is
like massive boring machine, which
makes it's way through walls of steel
as easily as a gimlet through a piece of
wood. When these projectiles become
embedded in the vessels sides they are
exploded by detonators, the shock tear
Ing out sections Oh dTInOF pldte ana
otherwise creating fearful havoc.
In former days, before guns were SO
much improved and the art of projec-
tile making so well understood, it was
always noticed that when a heavy pro-
jectile was fired, it would turn in it's
flight through the air and strike with
the butt instead of the point, thus los
ing great deal of the effectiveness of
the blow, the reason for this being that
the butt of the projectile is heavier
than its point, and under the laws of
gravity the heaviest part of thrown
missile always travels fastest. The
projectile cap serves double purpose
in that it equalizes the weight, add
ing sufficiently to the point to make 1t
as heavy as the butt, and keeping the
shot In. the same relative position
throughout the fight.
The order for the fifty 80 inch guns
is the first gun contract received by the
company and shows that it's product is
approved by the government.