The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-01-08

NJ aad ;Ae s9tIa1iy large guns with
which our hattieships are and
VIII be armed. though dating
back q good many mare shsn % years.
has aow reached Ssage where even. the
mast sSaEch defenders OF the 'ssu.lt-Gp
gun. which has held first place for forty
years. have 10 admit that they have not
known nearly SO much about their science
as they thought The cause of all This is
the s-inch cast~s;eei gun invented by Dr.
Richard J. GatlIns. the venerable inventor
Of the small raIsi-iire weapon which bears
his name.
For more than a week The United States
orananee Board. over which Gen. Nelson
A Miles pres.des. has beer conducting a
test OF the new gan ST the Sandy Hook
proving ground. and the results already OBJ
tanned have been pronounced remarkable.
The oEt1nanee board itself. not content
with the ordinary test 20 which the new
piece has already been subjected. at the
last meeting appropriated slS.ogo for amrnu-
milton with which the piece is 10 be fred
with large charges 30 times at the rate
Of ten shots day whenever clear weather
permits. Ii has already been ascertained
that the gun can stand the tess. OF a di-
ameier pressure OF 81 GO pounds To the
square inch. and there Is no reason 10 sup
pose. according 10 experts. that II VIII not
oui,ive the pressure OF $500. which is the
maximum.
DR.. Calling and his friends among ord
nance sxpeTS- are confident thai it Will 30
more than that. They believe that IL viii
sHrpass IN durability any gun yet manu-
facfured, and that the process by which
The gun was made VIII eventually render
the built up gun. made OF a central cylla-
der and a series OF outside Jackets. a thing
Of the past. In spite Of this. DIR. Gatlng
has energetic opponents even among ord
IN Ia shats
spects, but say that he does nos fear. OF
them and his new gun DIR. Calling in an
interview yesterday said:
In spite of the favor which the new gun
has been accorded by the members of the
ordnance board. there are a number of
ordnance experts who are not quite ready
10 accept IL I anticipate however that
the gun Will prove itself 10 be- Just what
say Il Is. and when that is done there will
De nothing left for my rivals to do but
accept my invention at It's real worth I
have undertaken 10 reVol1rgonlze heavy
sunmaklng. and IL Is but natural that VIVA,
am doing should be accepted slowly.
q y
Way back before the Bassener process
had been discovered. and men were making
steel IN little b;s-~in erucibies that could
almost be manufactured by hand-a gun
maker conceived the idea of using this SUI
ordnance. and the built-up gun was the
result They first made tube all In one
piece, and around IL put series OF iron
bands, heavier and more numerous layers
al the base and comparatively few abont
the mazzie. When alloys of steel were dis
covered the gun Improved and made even
tualay a magnificent weapon, but never
theless a defective one. This last war did
a great deal TO convince ordnance men
that IL was not the gun after all. The de-
feels are there; No matter how clever n
mechanic a man may be IL Is impossible
for him 10 put ali Of these Jackets oil, a
gun and set them all In place nj an even
tension Again. out near toe muzxle OF the
built-up gun. where there are but one or
two layers OF Jackets. these jackets merely
lie one against the other. instead of dove
failing or OVERLAPPING. The result IL that
when the gun Is fired the inner cylinder
which Is the bore. eiengates under the heat
and the jackets, having nothing to hold
them together. separate
las the firing Is kept up ard the <slin-
der continues 10 iengshen the intsrstices
between the Jackets widen, and after a
while they get wide enough 10 take In a
half dollar. The cylinder not being strong
enough Of Itself to hold It's shape. buckles
until the lower edges Of the Jackets meet
again. Then the CUR IS useless. The dan
ger of the piece bursting IS great. also.
FIJI a barrel with shot. and IL viii burst
where The highest hoop is, Put a MUM
Der Of Jackets On piece OF ordnance. SUBJ
jecs II 70 a great pressure. and the Jacket
which Is AZ the highest tension meslsures
It's total strength.
Even II the pressure should not he great
enough to burst any Jacket. what use In
a gun when the line OF It's bore has ceased.
through the backling process, 10 be- a
straigh, line. and become downward
curve. The history Of the Spanish war
tells US that few OF the shots from the
heaviest built-up guns on the hattieships
hit the ships Of Cerveras fiest. This may
he ascrtbed 10 various reasens one being
that the pieces are unwieidy, but IL Ia a
fact that there were guns on our shtns
which suffered Just the effects that have
explained.
England had 20 abandon the hu.i;-up
gun. English ordnance makers are nog
making the wire-wouSi guns az enormous
expense. the process OF casting g gun that
will stand TIE test having sagriea them
The London Times publishes the statement
that ore 81 Ensland's largest aIllt-up guns
bent nearly two Inches near the snuzzie
and The trunnions. Our naval ordnance
EXPERTS talk seriously of abandoning ihs.
large gun entirely. ard 1t rs my belief that
when my new cast gun proves a success
the bnilt-up and wire guns all both DIS
appear.
.
The process by which nv new gun is
MADE attacks the old process - heavy gum
making fornlaahy al tao points First.
nv my trass.s az casting produce nm in
90. which is devoid az bfoTAaieE ard flaws
IRE gan NOW under - AZ sandy Hook
vas cast ia a flask thai was ordinary es-
cent THAI e was fst With the molten metal
f-s.n she fzst.0fn instead % the top. "a rad
nearly always been THE case before The
materials rasf are sseet~!ron casing and
sand placed. 80 sNisai ~ 3 pit The duct
by which tire hot metal IL Introduced into
she aask en;erE y from tAs bottom. Ey
,nss rYsserI1 10 asr ssn mix With TIE nlsfa1
"a s. essr1ee from me fdEuars Tire metal
entering tbs flask bang hsayfkT than the
ngr already tf.ees. forces = upward ana
takes tfs place. TIE result iS j pe-fer; in
goa uitAout a haoSnoIe TIE manner IN
which the metal "a L enters TIE flask az
xu:ass a sharp Fztst. wtfigh cortsnues ~
he aask nlls. giving th@ CUR ire advan-
taxa o. xfsstiv increased FsFsisfafe@ "a a
secres 80 yet. as wsa ~ The alloy ssa3
Ia sne sts%L