The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-08

OAIthS Liz DDiICdI0IIl-nL III SdlL!d -
by Admiral S~ampson's feet the most
wonderful shot of the war was made
indeed, there is o better recorded
In the ma of sea fights.
Gunner Peterson of the battleshil
Texas with a single shot from one OF
the great guns demolished a heavy
rife mounted Of a disappearing CARR
age.
That she gave the engineering corps
of the world food for meditation and
calculation that will keep their brains
busy for many, many days.
Until Peterson's skill demolished tina,
gun at Santiago, it was one Of the
given quantities in all military prob
lens that a disappearing gun was as
safe as If buried beneath tons Of earth.
The disappearing guns are in reality
buried, for they drop into excavations
and remain there except fer the sec
ond or " when the piece is lsveled
at the target and the gun is being
discharged.
Peterson's shot was fired during that
exceedingly brief period Of time that
the Spanish weapon was in sight. His
shell yer true to the mark, although
the target looked no bigger han a lead
pencil at the range fired from.
The precision and rapidity with which
our jackies hurl solid shot m burst
ing shell against the ships and forth
fcations Of the enemy has astonished
the world and terrified the unlucky
Dons forced to face the firing.
Just four minutes after Gunner Pc
terson's first shot made scrap iron out
Of the formidable disappearing gun an
other hot from the same piece was
dropped where the pile Of ruins lay,
just to show that the initial visitation
had not been accidental.
Theac ShellS came from the Tav1 G.
Pinch guns. the biggest she carries,
which are, however, only one inch
in caliber short Of the heaviest in the
navy.
That projectiles weighing half a ton
can be hurled with such accuracy and
rapidity is absolutely marvellous to the
land lubber.
the main the training OF the big guns
Is mechanical. The human eye is aid
ed by every device known to man hat
could be of any service in aiming the
modern destroyers.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars
have been spent by Uncle Sam tina his
sailor men might practice what cannot
be accomplished by mechanism.
The result Of the whole is perfect
guns and appurtenances and proficient
gunners.
The handling of a great gun, 10, u
or 13-inch, is probably n of the most
interesting features about the fighting
OF a battleship, and in Importance the
monsters rank high, as the frequent
mention Of their execution in various
actions show.
Six men compose the guns crew, one
OF whom is the captain or gunner.
h big fellows are arranged in
pairs and one turret serves for two
guns.
When the battle commences the IL
men composing the crews of a turret's
guns run to their station, and from
that time until the command cease
firing" is given they are isolated from
the rest Of the ships company.
There is telephone communication,
however, and orders come to them over
the wire.
The element OF greatest Importance
in the calculation Of firing a ships
guns is the range-that is, the distance
of the object fired at.
Mention is frequently made in the
reports of fights in Cuban waters of
poor shooting at the beginning Of an
action because of not knowing the
range exactly.
The range is determined with the aid
Of instruments which compute the cal
culatien automatically.
The Fiske range finder is based upon
the principles of land surveying with
the transit and engineer chain.
IT a surveying party comes to q
broad river, whose width has to be
determined, a a line is measured
on the bank and the angles which this
line makes with a mark on the opposite
bank are determined by trigonometry.
Applying this to the range finder a
base line is measured On the ship and
over each end of 1t a range finder, an
swering to the surveyors transit, Is
permanently set up.
If the telescopes Of the two finders
are simultaneously converged upon the
same point on a distant object (ship,
city or fortification), the observers will
be in possession Of the trigonometrical
data necessary to compute the distance.
In the din n hurry of a sea-fght
however it would be difficult to make
the calculations, and Lieutenant Fiske
has Obviated the necessity for mental
work with his wonderful machine. The
instrument records the distance Of any
object within 1850 yards, tina both
telescopes may be levelled at stimuli
taneously.
The distance is recorded on a dial at
the instruments n on similar dials
placed n at a C gun station and
one In the coming tower.
The Junior officers who operate the
range finders are connected by tele-
phone. A receiver is clamped to the
ear and when the operator applies his
eye to the telescope a telephone trans
mitter is opposite his mouth.
The process Of loading and firing a
big gun Is begun in he particular mag
azine belonging to that gun, away down
In the hold of the ship. beneath the
water line and in the most protected
part Of h vessel.
When the crew in the turret get
ready for the ammunition an electric
elevator, or hoist, from the magazine
to the turret is dropped for the charge.