The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1899-01-19
COSTLY MONSTER MISSILES.
steel Te@pered with ne Mneh Care as
= Razor Blade.

= Razor Blade.
The invention of the modern high
power guns has brought into use
projectiles that are the finest product
Of ingenuity and improved machinery,
calling forth the best efforts Of skilled
artisans. Instead of cast iron GLOBES
that could be turned out by any foun-
dry twenty years ago, use Is now maze
of grades of steel tempered with as
much care as a razor blade, and ground
and polished with as much exaeutuae
as a surgical instrument.
The complete story OF the manufac-
ture of armor-piereing projecbiles by
the steel works in Reading Is a secret so
carefully guarded that 1t has always
been hard TO obtain. as only employees
and government inspectors are permit
ted to enter the company's immense
machine shops. Shells 4, ), g, s, 10, Il
aud ID inches in diameter are made FOR
the navy, and s, 3 and II inch sizes for
the army.
Here Is the history of the making Of
a 10-lneh shell, and as the projectiles
of all sizes are made in the same man
ner it gives some idea OF the vast
amount of labor required to equip n
fleet.
In the casting shop molten steel Is
cast into a solid piece twelve and a half
inches in diameter. 1t is then taken to
the forge room, where, after being re-
heated, 1t Is hammered down to ten q
three-quarters inches, and considerably
elongated during the process. Next It
is conveyed to the machine room II
placed upon a specially constructed
lathe and turned and pointed. The only
parts of the shell that bear against the
rlfed surface Of the gun are the eonlcal
end and the copper ring that encircles
the base. This ring Is soft, so as not
to injure the riding. After the finishing
cut has been given to the pro1ectiies
the diameter OF the largest part of the
cone is 1913 inches and that of the body
of the shell Is $50 inches.
Then the Extracting score Is cut.
There Is a V-shaped groove, in which a
tool can be fastened when 1t Is desired
10 withdraw the shell from the gun.
The next move Is the boring OF a five
inch hole In the base OF the proJectile
to a depth OF fourteen inches. Temper
Ing follows. In this process the shell
is suspended, point downward, into a
receptacle filed with molten lead, and
is allowed to settle until the metal rises
above the cone base.
At first the temperature OF the lead IS
but 500 degrees, but 1t Is increased
gradually to 1900 degrees. The work
of heating continues for many hours,
when the shell is withdrawn and
sprayed with water, to give 1t a hard
exterior. Next follows u bath In a vat
filled with secret Ingredients, after
which the shell Is cooled with a Jet of
water.
Once more the shell goes back TO the
machine shop, where the hole in the
base Is widened half an inch aud the
depth increased two inches. The hole
Is then threaded aud a screw plug In
serted. Here the extreme diameter OF
the cone is ground down to ten inches
exactly. The workmen now apply the
band score" which Is a groove for the
reception Of the soft copper band.
After the soft steel cap has been fitted
to the tip OF the proJectile, on the theory
that when the shell strikes the armored
side Of q battleship the point Will be
protected without any Interference
with its penetrating power, the work IS
finished so far as the steel company IS
concerned. 1t is then boxed up aud
shipped to some United States arsenal.
where II is filled with an explosive COM
pound aud made ready for It's work OF
Observation-Disclosures Record.