The San Francisco call., 1898-02-26

ton special to the Herald says: PreS- sure Is being brought to bear by the chief of the ordnance and the chief of the engineers of the army on the con- tractors who are behind in the fulfill ment of their contracts with the de- partment, and instructions have been issued directing them to hasten partic- ularly the completion of contracts for guns and ammunition. The work has been progressing quite as rapidly as practicable for months at all points where seacoast Notifications are under way. and the rate of progress of the engineering work on emplacements cannot be greatly accelerated except on Southern coasts, where weather con- ditions do not affect excavations and buildings.
 Quicker deliveries of ordnance and ordnance stores are, however, possible It is understood that the Bethlehem Iron Company has been asked to hasten their deliveries of eight-inch, ten-inch and twelve-inch guns, and the Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond, Va, the Rome (N. Y.) Locomotive and Machine Works and the Driggs- -Seabury Ord nance Company, to push the delivery of shells for guns and mortars of various caliber.
 The Government gun carriage fac tories at Rock Island H., and Water town, Mass, the arsenals at Water vleit and Frankford and Springfield Armory have all received orders to in- crease their rate of supply. Ammuni- tion is just now the great need of the department, and for this reason the small arms and ammunition plant at Frankford is expected to turn out not less than 10000 ball cartridges, caliber 30, for the Krug- -Jorgensen army rifle, and 10000 miscellaneous cart ridges, most of them of the caliber of 45, for use in Springfield rifles, only supplied to the National Guard Re quisitions have also been made on the F'rankford arsenal for shrapnel canis- ter and sights for cannon.
 Ordnance officials decline to make public the amount of ammunition now on hand, but it Is known to be so small as to induce the department to mak. every possible effort to increase it at the shortest notice. Tn the event of an outbreak of actual hostilities purchases of ammunition abroad would be necessary, and is contem- plated. No anxiety is felt with re- gard to supplying the militia with am- munition. Their small arm Spring field rifle can easily be supplied from private manufacturers of the Eastern States.
 The Scott Foundry at Reading, Pa., is working night and day in the hope of completing by the last of June the 16-inch Brown segmental wire-wound gun which it is building for the War Department. This will be the largest gun manufactured for the army until the 16-lnch built-up gun now building at Watervleit is completed. The wire gun will weigh twenty-six tons, it's muzzle velocity will be 5000 feet per second and it's muZzle energy over 35.- 900 foot tons, which it is estimated would penetrate both sides (projectile entering on one side and going out on the other side) of the armor plates of modern battleship. The gun has a tensile strength of 1000 pounds to the square inch. The wire jacket, which takes up the entire circumferential bursting strain of the powder, has tensile strength of 25O, 900 pounds to the square inch. The steel in the Govern ment built gun has a tensile strength of less than 100000 pounds per square inch. The calculated muzzle velocity of the Brown segmental tube wire wound gun is 5000 feet per second. and the calculated muzzle energy is over 35, ,000 foot tons.
 The muzzle energy is greater than the muZZle energy of the Government thirteen-inch gun, which is the largest and most powerful gun, in the service. The Government thirteen-inch gun weighs fifty-one and a half tons; it's muzzle velocity is 2100 feet per second and it's muzzle energy is 34,155 foot tons. In the event of successful tests of this gun it will be placed in some important position of coast defense Many stories are current respecting the plans of the War Department for transporting troops and for conducting a possible campaign in Cuba It is not expected that the authorities will con- fide to the public at this juncture such plans as may have been formed in this direction. It is well known fact the Quartermaster's Department is pre- pared to furnish transportation for large bodies of troops at the shortest notice to the Atlantic Coast and to the Gulf, and steamship lines have been approached and are prepared to furnish adequate transportation to the Cuban coast if necessary.
 The military information division, through it's various agencies, is amply equipped to furnish store of informa : tion and maps, and it may be said that the army, if called into action, will not be found unprepared for decisive work without the loss of valuable time
 The presence at Atlanta, Ga, of Ma jor General Wesley Merritt, command ing the Department of the East, Is not indionffau that ha lac t~ Lrs-L.l