The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-09
DIR. e1rEno WRITES or HIs Bro Gun.
OverannealinG OF the Breech He Relieves
Explains the BURSTING.

EshphNhua w buF4thuAs
To THE EpIroR OF THE suS-Sirs In
your paper OF tho 9th. and other Of the clty's
papers. articles appeared relating to the trials
OF the S-inch Calling gun. I trust a brief
statement coming from me. as the inventor. in
regard TO the method OF constructing the gun
and the reason why the gun was ruptured at
the fifteenth round may be OF interest TO your
readers and the general public. Every possi-
BILE care was taken TO have the gun made OF the
best material. Including the alloys used. ana it
seemed after the gun was taken from the
mold that q perfect casting had been produced.
The gun was then roughly bored. after which
IL was placed In m annealing furnace pro-
p~aratory to the mandrelling. at which process
/ desired the members of tho ordnancS ReATi
to no present.
A day was set by the board for such man
drclling to take place, which was the 18th 81
last March. and the board was to no prpsent.
The heating up OF the gun was commenced n
few days previous to the above date. and after
the gun had become red hot l received n tele-
gram from a member Of the board saying that
owing to q press OF business, the country be-
Ing then on the eve OF war with Spain, IL was
requested that the mnndrolling process be
postponed from the 25th until the goth of
March.
The question then arose whether The gun
should be allowed to cool Off or be kept heated
up In the furnace until the arrival 81 the board.
l conferred with Mr.. Bartol. the general man
ager OF the Otis Steel CompanT, and he thought
II would be better to keep the gun still heated
in the furnace than to allow It to cool of and
then have to reheat It. This delay was most
unfortunate. for the gun having to remain so
long NEARLY eight days and nights In the heat
ed furnace became overannealed. which greatly
injured the quality OF the steel.
The annealing furnace was so constructed as
to allow oil parts Of the gun to be heated ex-
cept about three feet OF the muzzle end. which
extended outside of the furnace. and this was
done because the front end OF the gun was not
to be mandrelled. Some two days before the
mandrelling was to take place i requested Mr..
Bartol to have the front wall OF the furnace
changed so as to take in the entire gun. that
We might get the entire metal OF the gun Of an
even temperature before the cooling process
commenced, which latter was done by forcing
a current of cold air through the bore Of the
1 wish the reader to bear in mind that tho
metal In the muzzle OF the gun was kept heated
for about two days only. while. as previously
was kept heated for nearly eight days and
nights. AL the metal that entered into the gun
was made IN one furnace and was OF the same
The, test OF the strength of the steel in cast
mace, samples Of which were taken from both
the breech and the myzzle. showed equal
strength, wnlcn averaged q tensile strength OF
little over 100000 pounds TO the square inch.
It should be noted that the Government, in
speGItGr; ,b after tet the , cum t had hesn ,Im ma
ordered that two sample pieces should be taken
from both the, mmzzle and breech end of the
gun and tested. The samples taken from the
muzZle gave n tensile strength OF about 9B. 0OO
pounds to the square inch, while the samples
than 10000 pounds to the square inch. Such
being the case. | firmly believe that this varia-
by the over and prolonged heating Of the
breech, 1t Is well known by expert steel men
great degree it's strength and elasticity. and
science has not been able to restore strength
to overannealed steel.
Inspector. and his report OF such test will
verify my statement in the case A copy OF the
and all l have said in relation to the breech
and main body Of the gun having to remains SO
Bartol and all the officials of the Otis Steel
Company.
before stated. caused by. the members OF the
board not being able to be present at the first
Vp%Ithi have e'% been I"G aV SoifIahhe Ia oth eI 1 Mor det IN
carrying out my plans and specifications in all
breech OF the gun to the furnace heat a little
over two days only.
II this had been, done. as was the case with
trouble of overannealing or overheating the
metal.
If the metal in the gun had not been injured
as above stated. the gun. in my judgment.
would have been able to stand ali the endur-
ance tests that, might have been expected OF It.
with full service charges. without any injury
whatever.
1t should be borne In mind that should the
steel used. in any kind Of "A gun be over
1t would be detrimental to It. and
also thatthe first sample of any new invention is
never perfect.
In my opinion il is only a question OF time
when the method OF making high-power guns
on the built: up plan. as is now In vogue in this
will have to be abandoned, as has
been done in England.
l earnestly hope that the papers that have
published articles disparaRing my
system of making heavy. ordnance will do me
the Kindness t9 publish this statement. which
was at Sandy Hook yesterday and saw the
gun and examined the fractured parts. and /
am convinced from the nature and appearances
OF the broken pieces that the sole cause OF the
bursting Of the gun was due 10 the overanneal-
of the steel. aS before stated.
NEW YORK, Jan. Z. RICHARD j. GATLING.
mn "