Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-18
NEW USE FOR OLD GUNS
Smooth Bores to Ee Converted Into Dyna-
mite Hurlera
SAokeless Powder and a Hish-Power
Exploding Projectile to Be
Used in Connection.


Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, April II, 1895.
Among the many inventions that have
Come to the front during the rush of emer-
gency preparation one of the most i'm
portant is just placed before the public.
| Broadly speaking it is nothing more nor
| less than the utilizing of the old smooth
bore cannon, the back numbers as they
are called, which decorate many of our
| Notifications in frowning semblance of de-
| feEse, to throw a charge Of dynamite or
! other high explosives. Smokeless powder
| is to be used. 1t is the invention Of William
]. Breath of Orange, N. J., and 1t Is cal
| culated by its inventor to be the most ef-
| fective piece Of ordnance in the world. The
| first of these guns is now complete. and Is
| closely guarded by its inventor at Key
| stone, N. ]. A partial test was witnessed
by few close friends a few days ago. the
| gun was dragged out of barn In which
| 1t Is kept to place Of vantage by the wa
| tcf's edge. After the gun had been care
fully cleaned and the wheels OF its ordi-
! nary field mount locked a dummy projectle
was sent sailing through the air.
After getting the range Mr.. Breath had
an ordinary oil barrel set adrift and when
| it was about 800 yards away he quickly
l CHdTScu inc gun Will u real pIOJcCtlc duu
pulled the lanyard. This shell was plainly
| discernible in it's flight. 1t passed over the
| object some twelve feet but struck prop
| erly, head down. There was q muffied
sound, followed by great cloud of water
| The next shot struck its mark, and only
| splinters showed there had been a barrel.
This test was only made to try new fea-
ture of the projectiles and to see whether
the aluminium vanes which give them
proper steadiness, work properly. Every
thing was satisfactory, and the gun hauled
back, dismounted and placed away. A
mere elaborate trial will be made this week
| and possibly some government official will
be present to witness 1t.
Owners of the Weapon.
The Dynamite Ordnance and Armament
Company Of New Jersey controls the wea-
pom. Who Is behind this company is not
known. the articles of Incorporation having
been drawn up. but not filed. 1t is stated
that Lieutenant Lewis Nixon Of New York
city, who is also we'll known in Washing
ton Is at the head of it. but he refuses to
say so, though he will not deny he is inter-
ested. William L. McDougal, we'll
known constructing engineer, has charge Of
the piece.
Guns of this kind are intended to take
the place of torpedo tubes The inventor
says they will be less expansive and the
range will be much greater. They would
be most effective for coast defense he
says. .he guns ana pro1ectleS being in
| creased to the size needed. The cost of the
great guns, he believes, would not be of
material consideration, as the old smooth
| pores could be altered to take the Breath
projectiles.
War Talk Affects Trade.
Reports from all over the country at this
| the center Of trade indicate that the effect
OF war talk Oh the various branches of
industry Is almost as disastrous as would
ha
comes the sto-y Of timid buyers purchas-
| ing only the smallest possible quantities of
| goods. of manufacturers receiving cancel
| lations Of orders and Of a general stagna-
| ton of business and an uncertainty as to
| the future.
A few-.f these reports taken at random
show the trend of feeling in different Sec
| tons of the country:
At Hartford, Conn.,. the war scare has
| killed the deal involving the sale Of the
Wfllimantic Linen Company to an English
syndicate.
At Haverhill, Mass. and vicinity the
| threatened war with Spain has caused
| much uncertainty in the shoe trade. Until
two weeks ago the local industry was rush.
| ing, but since then numerous orders have
been received by shoe manufacturers to
hold goods ordered. Many Of the larger
Trims in the city during the past two weeks
| have been discharging their employees and
are now running with scant help.
The local leather dealers also report
slackness in trade generally.
Mills Running at Half Time.
At Providence, R. J., the Riverside wooden
| mills are only running about half time
This is due to the cancellation of orders
and failures to get other orders which were
expected. 1t is not thought that it will
| last long.
At GLOW ersville, N. Y, the effect of the
war preparations by the government on the
glove trade is felt by the manufacturers
| in the cancellation Of orders for goods and
| a gradual weakening of the business.
At Harrisburg, Pa, during the past
four weeks there has been an apprecia-
bic falling Off in the corporation business
at the state department. as the result of
| there was large increase in the number
Of corporations chartered to do business
| in Pennsylvania. Many of the charters
which were ready to issue have been held
up at the request of the applicants. The
corpor alton business in the state depart
conditions of the commonwealth.
At Reading, Pa, not wishing to stock
| up, owing to probable dull trade IL war
begins, big hardware company has re-
duced its working time to four days per
| week. They formerly worked five and six
days q week.
At Trenton, N. J., the report of the pot
terry industry is that the war scare is hav-
| ing decided effect in restricting the sale
of goods. A number of buyers say they
have orders to buy only what is absolutely
necessary and in the smallest possible
| quantities. This means purchases only of
staples.
These are only samples of reports from
all sections of the country. Those from
the south are interesting and the west Is