Evening star., 1898-10-27
NEW FRENCH FIELD Gun.
Modern Rapid Firing Weapon of Ire.
mendOus Power and Range

From the New York Herald
Stories have been published in the French
papers from time to time during the last
five years regarding experiments with rap
id-f1re field guns. and the visits of the vari-
Gus ministers of war and the president to
the camps at Chalons and at Bourges were
stated to have been to witness the trials
, which were always reported to have shown
excellent results. These experiments have
now been successfully concluded and the
! field artillery branch of the French army
will in the near future be equipped with
the gun finally decided upon
The gun is made of nickel steel and is pro-
vided with breeCh lock operated by
screw mechanism. its caibar being rs cent?
meters. or a trifie less than three inches
SmOkeless powder is used and the charge
and projectile are combined in one, as in
an ordinary infantry cartridge. These cart
ridges are of considerable length.
Loading the gun is done by the cannOneer
on a seat at the left OF the carriage who
operates the breech block. After inserting
a cartridge he closes the breech. this opera
uon simultaneously setting the firing pin.
After the shot is fired he catches up the
empty shell on opening the breech.
| The gun is aimed and fired by the can
noneer sitting at the right of the carriage
Within certain arc the lateral movements
OF the piece are made by means of screw
without disturbing the position of the car
rage. While for greater changes of aim the
| carriage itself is moved, lever extending
from its foot being employed for this pur-
! pose.
When a shot is fired from an ordinary
cannon the carriage has a tendency to run
| back This is checked in the new gun bv
a slycerine brake, and the gun is replaced
IN IN nrlns position by means of compressed
| air. Part of the recoil, however is COM
municated to the carriage. and to prevent
| the latter from changing its position It is
Iurnlshed with spur at its foot which is
-
or two rendering il immovable
Rap1dity of fire is obtained by use of the
metallic cartridge combining both charge
and projectile. the possibility of aiming the
gun while 1t is being loaded, and its lateral
| moVablllty without disturbing the carriage.
Five shots minute are considered slow
work, and as many as twenty may be fired
In case of necessity. For the protection of
the gunners two steel shields are provided
Two kinds of projectile are used-shrapneI
and she'll The former contain about Oh
lead bullets and are timed to burs. ius- be-
fore striking. scattering bullets in all di-
rectlonS, while the latter are charged vii h
melnite and are used to pfe-ec hreastworks
Destructive effects of the shrapnel are in
! creased by swinging the gun through its arc
on the carriage while firing. thus covering
large area. This Is called 'faucher le
terrain" or moving the ground" grim
ly suggestive term.
Other European countries have made ex-
periments in this line notably Germany
which has already equipped its field artil-
/ lery with a somewhat similar weapon
| During a recent trial in that country tar
| gets representing the equivalent of three
fourths OF an intrenched field battery of the
| Crdlnary klEd were put out of action in
seven minutes at a range of 50 kilometers
| tabout three and one-Quarter miles)
FROM this II would appear that the next
European war will be murderous beyond
description-proVided the cars dtsarma-
ment proposition is not accepted before the
smoldering fire breaks into flame.