The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-06-01

| most interesting spots to be found any
where. Strictly speaking, it is not navy
yard at all but a gun factory. Here it is
1 that all the heavy guns and most Of the
| light landing and boat guns for the navy
| are built. The amount Of work done in
| this great national factory is enormous
even in times OF peace, but now that the
/ lathes. engines and tools are running at
full speed "a hours out of a. the number Of
! guns and gun carriages turned out is near
| ly trebled
Passing through the gate with it's trim
| marine sentry pacing to and fro, the visitor
| sees uniformed officers fastening this way
! and that, busy with their duties, and hears
on every side the dull, rumble of ma chinery,
| the heavy thud of the triphammer and the
| snorting of the steam cranes. A small
/ army of craftsmen in the offices are busily
| preparing plans and drawings for the use
| of the gun builders and the civilian bosses
! and fOremen of the shops are everywhere
| keeping watch with eagle eyes. Theirs Is
most responsible duty, for any careless
and incompetent workman with single
slip of his tool might spoil a gun or car
| rage which had cost the government thou
sands of dollars to put together.
| The putting together assembling Of
| a modern gun is apparently simple mat
| ter. But it is really one of the most delicate
operations in the world. The greatest care
and precision are necessary to make the
| ton too many Of a plane or boring tool.
| would injure the part beyond repair. Hence
comes much of the fascination in watching
| the construction of one of the big guns
| it grows in massive and polished beauty
| ready to take it's place on one of our men
| of-War.
| First, of all the tube of the piece
| comes to the factory from one of the
| big steel companies the Bethlehem the
| Midvale, which have the contracts to fur
I nj oh N1a f11hn tn,
! rough with only a core bored out, and looks
| like heavy piece Of steel pipe For the
| fOur-inch guns it is Ii feet inches long,
| while for the 13-inch guns it attains a length
| of 40 feet This tube forms basis for all
! future operations. modern gun is built
up by slipping upon 1t number Of jackets
! and hoops and shrinking them to perfect
adjustment. A 13-inch gun when finished
| has Ii separate and distinct parts which
| have been assembled and fitted to the
| minutest fraction of an inch. AS the caliber
and size of the gun diminish, the number
Of parts is reduced, and the fOur-inch piece
| is composed of only five. In building up the
gun the rough tube and the bands are first
| placed in lathes and carefully planned down
| to the dimensions required. The diameter
| of the interior Of the jacket which is to
slip over the tube half way it's length,
| must correspond with mathematical exact
| ness to the diameter of the tubes exterior
| while the hoops, which in turn fit over this
| This work Of planning is done in the great
north gun shop, as it is known at the navy
| yard, and when it is completed the tube
| and the bands have to be carried to the
| "shrinkage pitt at the north end of the
| shop, where the next process is to be under
gone. There are three heavy travelling
| cranes in the shop of no. 49, and Is tons
lifting power capacity respectively. and
! they pick up the huge pieces of iron and
| carry them to their destination as easily
| q M QS had of
| all.
| The shrinking pitt is a deep hole sunk
in the floor of the shop and fitted at each
end with an oven. These ovens, in which
| the bands are to be expended until they
| can slip over the gun tube, are heated by
an air and Oil blast to a temperature Of 700
| degrees F., for this degree of heat is neces-
| sary to expand the heavy jacket for the II
to 13-inch guns. At the pit the tube is
| planted carefully on end close to the oven,
| In which is being heated the jacket that 1t
| is to receive. Pipes are so arranged that
| q stream Of water can be run continuously
| through the core Of the tube. to keep it cool
| and prevent expansion by the heat. as the
| hot jacket slips over it. When all is ready
| the men who are to perform the delicate
| task stand at attention. Each one Of them
| has his particular duty, and they are
| trained to act IN concert, like a company
of soldiers The jacket has been placed in
| the oven and sealed up, to await expan-
| dC.
| word the travelling crane comes up and
| lifts off the hot lid of the oven. exposing the
| jacket within the hooks are made fast to
| clamp previously attached to the jacket.
! and the heated mass is lifted carefully
| from it's fiery bed. The engineer Of the
| crane watches, with hawk-like eye, the
| signals of the foreman below, and when
| sufficient height has been reached the jac-
| ket is swung the tube and lowered.
Men with immense canvas mittens guide it
| as it comes down, and adjust it in place.
| When it has been slipped over the tube
| streams Of water are turned on to cool
| it. AS it cools it shrinks back to it's
| original size, and the delicate operation is
complete.
| Strange as it may seem, after coming
| through it's fiery ordeal the jacket hard
| ly shows sign OF heat 1t is lifted from
| the oven. There is a slight blush tinge,
| and that is the only thing to distinguish
it from the cold jacket which went in.
| The exterior Of the tube and the interior
! of the jacket being exactly the same size,
| only the slightest expansion is required to
make one slip over the other. From 3-10O
| to 5-1OO of an inch is all that is allowed
| even in the monster 13-inch guns. So the
speediest and most accurate work is nee
essary after the jacket leaves the oven, for
| if the iron should cool off before it was in
place it would clamp at once upon the
| tube and the gun would be ruined. A SINH
| lar process is gone through with in slip
4
| The shrinking Of part on another
! makes an absolutely perfect weld. and after
| once the band is in place nothing short Of
| chipping it off piece by piece would re-
| move it. The shrinking Of the different
| bands of the piece having been finished, it is
| again put in the lathe and turned down to
| the required size. and the edges of the band
| are beveled off to give it a neat appearance
1t is then ready for the delicate operation of
1 rifling.
Only the most experienced mechanics in
the shops are in charge Of the rifng ma
chimes for the perfection with which
| they perform their work the whole utility
| Of the gun depends. The auger which cuts
the grooves is carefully adjusted and lubri-
Gated and the little hard steel chises fit
ted on a long beam which runs through the
bore of the gun commence their work
Only the smallest fraction of inch is
! taken off at time, and the greatest care
| Is required in adjusting the auger exactly
| When once put in position the lathe does
! the rest of the work by slowly turning the
| gun as the tool eats its way through.
| After being rifled the gun is placed on
| a car and carried to the breech mechanism
| shop, where the interrupted screw breech
| block in use in nearly all the navies Of
| the world, is fitted. The carriage with it's
recoil cylinder for taking up the "kick' Of
| the piece when fired, having been finished
| in the naval carriage shop with as
| scentious care as the gun itself, the gun Is
put together and shipped a barge down
| the Potomac river to Indian Head to be
! tested.
Homemade Cream Cheese.