Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-10-07

| hh'hI ~ WIZ NHuUut - kih'n'hl guns
1t may properly bc SAID that al
though a., wire wound -crmrntal gut
had the endorsement oi Gcn Miles an,
other experts from the first, ther,
seemed - h' no chance whatever ui
introducing the government t. taxi,
effective steps toward ~ adoption
until recently
The destruction oi the Main,
brought about "a great change That
war must cn>uc was undoubtedly ac,
ccptcd ~ a fact hy ;hc administration
within twcnty-f"ur hours after th,
disaster. That hring the case. il hc.
huoNcd the government To- cease II,
policy of indifference and To adopt one
of encouragement There were many
throughout the land who believed il
possible To- whip Spain withou, much
preparation. but that has never been
the view taken un that line with re-
gard t. the wire wound gun, con
tract for fifty pieces being entered
into without delay.
Owing to the previous do-nothing
| policy. however. designs for guns oi
more than tivo-inch Calil,cr had never
been made. aud while il was desired Ia
arrange for the construction nf larger
ones. only iiyc-iuch pieces could he
included iu the first contract. hut
the fifty pieces of this size are rapidly
nearing completion, aud II they prove
satisfactory "A contract for 80 more, OF
varying size. will be made at once. A
sample tcn.inch piece will be- ready
for testing within few weeks.
The new American gun differs in
one important particular from all
other wirc-wound pieces. The founda-
ton Of the English gun Of this type,
or instance. is n solid tube. forged and
rolled in such way as to make il OF
exceptional strength aud homogcneity
Of fiber 1t il surrounded 10y steel
loop or layer oi loops, over which steel
wire or ribbon is wound, at an average
tension of about forty five tons. until
from nine TO scventy-eight layers have
been superimposed
The inner tube is made Of scgments
varying in numbers with the size Of
the gun. II is believed by those who
favor this construction that the seq
mental inner tube is Of much greater
strength aud elasticity than could be
obtained in any other way, and this
would seem 10 I've borne out OF the fact
that though the powder chamber of
the iivc-inch piece tested was repeated
ly filled from end to end with powder
and then plugged up and discharged it
was impossible 10 burst it. 1t should
he stated in partial explanation of this
extraordinary toughness that the wire
is wound under tension OF from Sj
10 100 tons-about double that em-
ploycd in winding the English pieces
and that other measures for increased
strength, not easily explained TO the
layman unfamiliar with ordnance
technicality, are taken in its con-
struction.
AS II result the new gun has with
stood n pressure of from $1,000 to
$4,000 pounds TO the square inch.
AT 5000 pounds pressure the pro-
jectilc attains q velocity of 1926 feet
considerably more than half mile)
second, and the power to pierce
wrought iron Of about four caliber
thickness. in lieu of the ordinary
pcnetrativc power of one and half
calibcr.
The fve-inch guns now nearing
completion will be eighteen feet four
inches inches long, each will weigh
only three and half tons, the powder
charge will weigh fifty-eight pounds.
and the projectiles will weigh from
fourteen to thirty-fivc pounds.
II is believed that the effectiveness
ness OF the Brown 5-inch gun will be
at least equal To that of the best 6-inch
built-up gun, and that the method of
construction will insure perfect rigidity
of barrel and consequent continued
accuracy for n much longer period
than can be maintained in any other
type OF gun.
That the power of the government
to produce guns of the built-up type
with the greatest rapidity should not
be in the least impaired, the new
Brown wire wound pieces are being
constructed by private plant. Should
they prove as efficient as predicted. a
revolution in heavy ordnance is un-
uOuuttulN at lHuu, anu snOuiu tic ItW
big gatling gun-constructed along
lines exactly opposite from those of
the Brown gun-be successful, also,
the United States will be in possession
OF the two most advanced types OF
heavy ordnance in the world.
Two Russian Jews who had con-
cluded To take bath, went to bath
house, where they were given tubs in
the same apartment. They had fin
ished their ablutions, and were rub
bing themselves dry when one OF them
looking into the tubs, exclaimed, "Vy
Isaac. your water is dirtier As mine"
" Vell," responded Isaac. Z" l vas tree
years older as you are. ."-Er. |