El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-05-19
Napoleon J. Roy,
The Fashionable Tailor.
Sheldon Block Opposite PO.tOfice.
NEW YORK WE'LL GUARDED.
The Enemy Could Not Easily Get Nea
Enough to BOmbard. 1t.

New York Herald.
No pr. ject le wbizzing high in the
air and speeding surer than hostile
shot ever yet YVES sent can reach the
B artery from the sea. New York is
beyond the radius of possible destruct-
i've effect, and no floating gun plat
form has been built which may give
1er moments uueasiness. AS the
row flies it is a good twelve miles
from sny point where, 'seaward, bat
tlesbip might lie in safety and shell the
own. 1t is true that prOjectile.
abroad have flown twelve miles, and
~ home we hope to secure in QUE new
16-inch army gun a range of above
fourteen miles.
But thu Sc are land guns, mounted in
emplacement or so yielding that any
elevation may be given them without
fear of destruction to their platforms.
To attain range above ten mile
such an elevation must be made at a
muzzle of q gun that the projectile 10
is line of fright, it's trajectory, will
follow a great paraholic curve. At its
maximum heiRht-that is, just before
it begins to fall toward the earth-the
shot is over $1,000 feet in vertical
direction above and probably seven
miles beyond the mouth of the gun it
loft.
Not so, however, with the greatest
artillery yet mounted in battleships.
The elevation which may be given the
muzzles of their guns-and 90 this in
he present stage of the ord nance pro-
blem the range, the trajectory, de-
pends-is necessarily undr twenty de-
grees. Were it greater the shock Civ
en- to the beams and angles and deck
supports of the ship could not be with
stood, and the fabric would be wreck
ed. The line of recoil along which the
energy would travel may be followed
in the minds eye, and it will be seen
as the muzzle gees up and the breech
goes down how more and more de-
structively the enormous energy of the
piece would be directed inboard and
vertically downward.
Hence the range is limited by ne
cessities of construction, and we may
safely assume that under the most
favorable circumstances the projectile
could not attain a greater distance
than seven miles.
With fat err traject ories-that is,
with lines OF flight more nearly level
higher powder energies and extended
resisting powers OF gun tubes and
mounts, greater ranges may be secur-
ed. What is more, the zone of safety
will be decreased. for it may be readily
seen that q low flying shot can exert
greater destruction in its path than
flying one, which, to reach q point.
must be fitted for greater distances so
far in the air as to leave Untouched all
intervening obstacles. This is what
has been sought and gained in the
small caliber rifle muskets now in use
in all countries, for they send their
bullets 80 straight, so point-biank al
most from the muzzle, that the ground
in front of their attack practically has
no point where the man of average
height can stand without danger.
Six miles is the effective range of a
Pinch mortar. Circles within ra-
dius of six miles of Sandy Hook and
Coney Island will extend so far south
and east of the ''deep water pocke.'
eleven and a.half miles of Brook lyn
without being under mortar fire.
The modern mortar d ffers material
ly from the old fashioned affair, which
was little more than an exaggerated
iron pot. The modern mortar is practi-
cally .rif1ed breech loading gun,
much shorter, however. in length Than
the ordinary service gun and much
more rapidly and cheaply constructed.
Instead of throwing the sprojectile di-
rectly at the sObject aimed at it fires at
q very high elevation, at the projectile
plunges downward at the same an
gle with velocity equal to that with
which it went up. An effective range
of SIX miles is attainable.
The bay is strewn with fixed mines
and movable torpedoes. 1t is gener-
ally conceded to be useless to lay
mir es at distance of more than two
miles from the guns that protect them.
Consequently. even could the enemy
have to be accomplished under the fire