The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1898-07-22
THE SHORT LIFE OF A GUN,
Number OF Times It May he Fired an
tho Enormous Cost OF II.

Number OF Times Il May be Fired and
the Enormous Cost OF H.
The life Of gun is one of the
most unsatisfactory things about It,"
remarked an ordnance officer in dis
cussing the war question with Wash
ington Star reporter. land though a
number of experiments have been
made In connection Herewith, there
Is no absolute certainty as to results.
A general rule has been arrived at
which is thought to be on the safe
side Of the matter, and that is that
the modern steel gun should not be
fired more than 100 times. After that,
1t matters not what the emergency
may be, 1t is safer to dismantle the
gun and send 1t back to the shop than
to risk firing it, for the explosion Of
a gun Is decidedly and extensively
dangerous occurrence to all In Its I'M
mediate locality. The firing of gun
causes the steel to crystalize and
thereby become as brittle as file. So
far as has yet been discovered, there
is no remedy for it. 1t is not exactly
total loss after the gun has become
dead, for the steel can be used for
thousands Of things in the way Of
bolts, braces and the like for new
work and for repairs. AS Is generally
known, a modern gun Is an expensive
affair, running from $4,000 way up.
1t is equally expensive to keep 1t in
operation, the cost for each cartridge
sent from it being over $1,000, which
does not include the putting of the
gun on it's emplacement or taking 1t
down, nor the thousands Of dollars
necessarily expended in paying salar-
| les and subsistence of the officers and
men who operate it. This crystaliza-
| ton Of the metal is one of the mys-
| teries of the science Of ordnance.
| The gun could be revivified to some
extent by heating it to white heat
and allowing 1t to cool off slowly, but
/ the treatment is not exactly satisfac-
! tory or even approximately certain as
to results. 1t has been said of us, as
of other nations, that If we kept every
gun we own in actual firing operation
for even twenty-four hours the pow
der and shell bill would bankrupt us,
and there is some truth In 1t. This
crystalization of the metal Is not con-
fined to guns, however. The same
| thing occurs in the journals or axles
used on the railroad cars. 1t Is fol
that reason that careful railroads put
on new axles every five or six years
In Europe there are laws upon the
subject, thought 1t is custom with us
In Germany 1t is unlawful to use an
axle on passenger cars more than
four years, though the limitation or
freight cars is not so rigid. AS will
the oft-fired gun, the steel In the
journal becomes so brittle by the crys
taliZation in consequence of Its use
that it is liable to snap into a dozer
pieces any time after it's life is ended
oldest Observatory.
The Oldest observatory in the world
is in China. Centuries and centuries
before Europeans constructed astro
nomical instruments Of metal this OBJ
servatory had metal instruments
OF the highest value, and they wer'
known to be hundreds Of years old II
1919
The instruments in the Chines'
observatory are marvellous works o
art and their beauty and boldness o
design could not be duplicated today
The observatory itself stands highe
than the city wall, and is square II
4 shape, the beautiful astronomical in
, struments standing on platforms will
no shelter, true to the Chinese idea 0
doing things by contraries. Entranc
to the observatory from the front gat
leads to hall OF rare proportions
: Then comes a yard surrounded OF
three sides by one-storied building
and shaded by enormous trees. Her
are two massive and valuable bronz
instruments, exposed for centuries, bu
without a flaw or sign Of wear.
In the Chinese observatory Is hug
celestial globe, seven feet six inche
in diameter, having the planets an
principal consultations shown by rails
ed stars in yellow bronze and fixed i
their proper places on the chocolate
brown body Of the globe. There ar
eight instruments in all in the obser
: vatory, each worthy Of special stud!