The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-30
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger
The great guns with which the battle
ships and cruisers are equipped are not
the least interesting features of these
floating forts. Visitors to the navy
yard have been obliged to content
themselves with a view of the muzzles
OF these expensive implements of war
fare as they appear thrust out of the
turrets of the monitors and the ports
of the ships. 1t is natural to suppose
they are like the hundreds of great
cannon that repose i'll long rows i'm the
yard unmounted and rusty, but they
have very little resemblance to them.
Since the war of the rebellion there
has been an entire change in the manu-
facture of cannon. That war brought
out the first ironclad the Monitor,
which was mpervious to the cannon
shot of that day. Rihed guns were Just
then being talked of. and soon after
they were an accomplished fact and
the British ships were equipped with
them Rincd guns had been built as
early as 1860 and one monster 15-inCh
gun was mounted ON the beach at
Fortress Monroe. Since that day it
has been a race between protective
armor and rhed guns. No armor has
yet been made which great rifles and
tempered projecties have not been
able to pierce.
INNER TUBES TRIED.
All cannon up to about 1865 had been
made of cast iron. and. as the greatest
strain was at the breeCh of the gun,
that end was made much thicker and
heavier than the muzzle. The guns
which lie in the yard at League island
= \ ;,,.,, DO
named from their inventor, who was
prominent officer of the United states
navy. Nearly all the forts and all the
vessels We're equipped with them at the
close of the war. On the advent Of the
rif1ed guL ii was decided to utilize these
old cast iron pieces by inserting a
Tihed steel tube. This was done by
heating the gun. which would expand,
and I'm cooling would shrink upon the
steel tube. Very many guns We're thus
converted as it was termed, and
some Of these may be seen lying in
the yard This method was called the
Palliser method, after it's inventor.
The rapid strides made in the con-
struCtion of ordnance and the demand
for high power" guns necessary for
piercing the improved armor plates
soon left these converted guns in the
lurch, and about eight years ago. when
the double-turreted monitors We're re-
built for our navy, they were equipped
with the new type 10-inch rifles, the
first of the kind to be mounted in our
navy These are made entirely of steel,
and are constructed at the ordnance
works at the Washington navy yard.
GOVERNMENT FACTORIES.
In 1893 n board of experts, of which
Admiral simpson was president, Vis-
tied gun establishments abroad, and in
1884 they made a report recommending
that steel gun forgings and material
for guns be supplied by private con-
Germs and that the government should
maintain factories in which the ma
terial should be made into guns. AS
a result of this recommendation a fac
tory was established at the Washing
ton navy yard for the construction OF
guns for the navy. and at the Water
Vliet arsenal, Troy, n. Y, for the army
guns. The first award Of a contract
for material was made to the Bethle-
hem Iron company, in 1887, to make
gun forgings and armor plates, so that
all high-power guns have been con-
structed since that date.
In the navy yard are many piles of
N'N'N l'I 'bIo anu GuCliS. 1HCS are
piled in pyramidal form and many of
them consist of 15-inch projecties
They are just as good for use as when
they were cast, more than thirty years
ago. For severa! days past laborers
have been employed rolling these balls
and shells on wooden tramways to the
dock. They are to be used on the moni-
tors, which have the old-type guns
which they We're made to fit. OF course
the shells. which are simply hollow
balls, are not yet loaded with powder
1t is not likely that many solid shot
will be fired from the old-type guns
DUELS AT LONG RANGE.
Regarding the character OF an en-.
Eagement between battleships of the
present type, an officer of high rank a
the yard said yesterday that it woult
probably be a duel at long range, a!
firing would begin as soon as the yes
sels were fairly in sight Of each other
Accuracy OF fire would not count fo
so much, as it would be impracticabl,
on a vessel to say with any certainty
with a stable foundation, the cas-,
would be different. In naval battles i
is the chance shot striking a vital poin
that does the mischief and wins tn,
victory.
The principle upon which rifed ord
nance is constructed in all countries a
the present time is embodied in tn,
ordnance with which all our naval YES
sells are now equipped. The guns ar
made entirely Of steel. The core is on
piece, the length of the gun. Upon thi
is shrunk another layer OF steel, sev
eral feet shorter in the case of a bi
gun, this layer running from the breec
forward Other layers, each shorte
than the preceding one, are shrunk o.
until the gun is completed, the muzzl
end being one thickness OF metal only
This makes an extremely strong piece
with little liability to flaws in tn
metal, one of the greatest drawback
to cast-iron pieces.
This method of shrinking on
wroUght-iron or steel band over tn
breech Of cast-iron guns was adopte
towards the close of the rebellion o
the famous Parrot guns, but after
few discharges they were likely I
burst just in front of the band an
many a gallant soldier lost his life 1
that way. one prominent naval offi
Ger said they were more dangerous I
the ships men than to the enemy,
LENGTH OF NEW GUNS.
One of the most noticeable change
from the old type to the new Is rh
great length Of the guns Some {
them are 40 feet long. The MiantonC
mahs four 10-lnch guns are 32 feet. Tn
object of this great length is 10 perm
the exhaustive force of burning pOWdC