Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-06-24

NEW Err n " ARE "A RE
Mr.. WlLMoT ON the ABILITY OF THE
CRUISER vEsuWus.
Claims She Can Destroy City Destruo-
tion ct Santiago Only Half . Test--No
Need TO Hit; Shock Destroys-Range Of
tho Dynamite Guns. s
The United States dynamite cruiser
Vesuvius began q new era in warfare
when she made havoc of the Santiago
harbor Notifications Monday night,
June 10, with three Of her giant shells.
Army and navy men talked about her
recently as reverently as if, she were
something supernatural. Citizens gen.
orally compared her with Ericsson g
Monitor and said she is hundred times
more destructive. Nv :, .}s5 ''5 ,:ss 10y f
De Borden Wilmot is the representa-
tive of the Pneumatic Torpedo and Con-
struction Company of New York, which
designed and built the cruiser Vesuvius
and sold her to the. United States gov
eminent after she had undergone series
Of severe tests The, ship is 252ifeet
long, 26 feet inches beam, 10 feet. /
inch draft and has speed Of FL. 4 knots.
'sThe Vesuvius," said Mr.. Wilmot,
"has battery Of three pneumatic guns,
mounted in the bow: at a fixed angle of
Is degrees. The guns are So feet long,
Is inches bore and built rigidly into the
vessel. From all have read about
Monday nights trial with three shells
I am convinced that she has not shown
half of her ability. 49,
"What can she do? She can drop 500
pounds of nitrogelatin nearly two
miles away with accuracy. She can re-
peat this feat Is times in ten minutes.
That means 81 tons of high explosive
thrown upon the enemy's ships or forts
or whatever the object of attack may
be. The destructive power of such q
broadside is almost beyond computa-
ton. 1t is enough to destroy city, to
wipe it off the face of the earth and
eliminate every trace of it's existence.
The nitrogelatin is half as strong again
as dynamite. Imagine the effect Of 81
tons of it.
''The Vesuvius has not one small dy-
Mantle gun, but she has three big ones.
Their caliber is Is inches. I can give
you suggestion of their force. There
are three Is inch dynamite guns at the
Preside, near San Francisco. AS test
one of these guns sent a projectile con-
tanning 200 pounds Of nitrogelatin across
the Golden Gate into one of the noun
tains one mile away The explosion of
this shell dug a crater in the solid rock
IS feet deep and IS feet in diameter.
Of course it must not be forgotten that
the Vesuvius is using gun cotton in her
projectiles Gun cotton is only one-fifth
as strong as nitrogelatin.
"Where a shell strikes from one of
the guns of the Vesuvius the havoc is
awful. One of her projectiles dropped
in the midst of a regiment would elm
mate it from the war. If any man in
the regiment was not torn to bits, he
would not be fit for fighting. Against q
ship the Vesuvius will be deadly: One
Of her big shells dropping on the deck
would crush through the armor, and
exploding in vital part shatter. the
ship. If one Of these shells exp1odes in
the air or in the water within so feet
of ship Of war, it will crush her side
or bottom and sink her. If one Of these
shells explodes within so, yards of a
modern man war, it will render her
useless for fighting, for the defamation
will throw the bearings of her engines
out of line, dislocate the shaft or jam
the neatly fitted parts. Thus the ship
will become mere helpless target.
Many leading artillerists in the army
are greatly in favor Of the use of high
explosives, and in their official commu-
nications to the war department have
advocated its more extensive use. The
only thing that has worried them is the
absence of a convenient as we'll as a fit.
ting means of firing it. The great dyna-
mite guns at Fort Hancock and at the
Preside, San Francisco, are to a GER
tain extent regarded in the light of ex-
periments. In. the last report of the
board of ordnance to the war depart
ment suggestions were made for further
experiments with the old style smooth
bore guns as projectors Of dynamite by
means of moderate powder charges. OF
late a number Of, experiments along
these lines have been conducted at San
dy Hook with some measure of success.
The following extract from the last re-
port of the board of ordnance covers this
point: : .. !? + =
Experiments are now in progress
under the auspices Of this board with, a
view to discharging; high explosives
from powder guns. The batteries Of
these guns that have been erected at
Fort Hancock and at Fort Scott, San
Francisco. have shown that these guns
are capable Of throwing 100 pounds of
nitrogelatin a. distance Of 1890 yards,
200 pounds 8, 500 yards and 500 pounds
2, 600 yards with great accuracy. The
board, however, has not abandoned the
expectation of some time being able to
discharge aerial torpedoes Of great;ca-
SIC, S%xy e