The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-13
THE GATHMANN SHELL.
What 1t Is, aud How the Tests Are
Made.
From the Chicago Tlmes-Herald.


From the Chicago Times-H Herald.
New York, May 9.--Louis Gathmann, the
Chicago inventor, achieved a remarkable
triumph to-day down al Sandy Hook. A
big cannon loaded with gun cotton shell.
to which was attached one of his special
fuses, was fired The gun was blown TO
pieces, but the shell remained intact show
ing that through the device of Mr.. Gath
mann, gun cotton shells can he safely used
in war as engines of destruction The ex
pertinent further demonstrated that gun
cotton will not detonate when discharged
by means of a high explosive,
1t was believed the cruiser Vesuvius had
made a new era in naval warfare when
gun cotton shells were discharged by pneu-
matte pressure. In to-day's experiments
the gun was purposely exploded in order
TO demonstrate that gun cotton could be
used with the minimum of danger. The Gle
ment of safety was introduced Dy the
Gathmann fuse, which, as demonstrated
to-day, renders the explosion of a shell i'm
possible until it has passed through the
air.
For the purpose of experimenting a Is
inch smooth bore Rodman gun was buried
in the sand. The gun was sixteen feet
long, and weighed 1909 pounds. In 1t ives
placed a charge of 100 pounds of fine sraia
smokeless gunpowder. Then there was
added a Gathmam sheT containing 50
pounds of 80 per cent wet gun cotton. To
this she'll was attached the Gathmann
safety fuse, cylinder containing nine ana
one-sixteenth ounces of dry gun cotton and
thirty-flve grains OF illuminate of mercury.
In theory the movement of this she'll
through the air causes revolutions which
viii force The Gathmann fuse into The mid
die of the charge of wet gun cotton. a ter
rife explosion results when the shell
strikes the mark. 1t IS asserted by the in
ventor that gun cotton shells. fitted with
his fuse. can be used safely on board snip,
and they will not explode in gun, even
if the powder back of them should be pre-
maturely ignted.
In order 10 demonstrate this, Mr.. Gath@
mann insisted that the government should
give his appliance a thorough test. He
certainly should have no cause for com
plant as TO the thOroughness of the trial
made to-day at the proving grounds at
Sandy Hook. The service charge for a
three-inch gun is one and on@-quarter
pounds of the grade of smokeiess powder
used to-day One hundred pounds for
l5-inch gun was an excessive amount, and
sufficient to insure the bursting of the
gun In order to make the danger as small
as possible, Maj Heath ordered tie gun
TO be buried in Is feet of sand after it had
been loaded. The bore of the gun was
filled up with wet sand. Two layers of Tins
bers were also placed above the gun be-
fore the sand was filed in The powder
charge was fired from a tower mile
away, by means of a wire
For forty feet sand and timbcrs were
hurled into the air. After the explosion the
place where the gun had been buried was
a circular pit resembling the crater of
volcano soar -r-1N aeas
To the right and to the left. within dis
lance of forty feet in either direction, were
found fragments of the gun from SIX inches
to two feet in length The experts main
tanned from a study of a fragment that the
shell had traversed a foot or more of the
bore without being broken. Small frag-
ments of the wet gun cotton were also
found.
Mr.. Gathmann said that none of the gun
cotton had .detonatede2 otherwise sthepe
would have been no Unexplained frag-
ments. He said the large size of the pieces
of the gun which were found indicated that
only the powder had exploded. If the gun
cotton had detonated, the pieces would
have been much smaller.
Those who witnessed the explosion were
Rear Admiral Charles O'Neill, chief of the
bureau of ordnance of the navy depart
ment; Col. Phipps, Hudson Maxim John
f. Meias, James b. McMuHen and George
w. McMullen.