Evening journal., 1900-03-30

fire field gun once In about three
minutes. Now we can fire several shots
in minute. Within recent years the
French have adopted a field piece ca
pable Of being fired, It is reported, 90
times a minute. Our rifed 3.2 light ar
tlllery arm is a great improvement over
the old l2-pounder of Napoleon, but the
immense strides made in gun construc-
uon during the 10 years since the in
PRODUCTION Of the first model in 1855
have rendered it obsolete In compari-
son with the rapid-fire machine OF the
same caliber now in use by the armies
Of Europe This disparity Is due main
ly to the new all-metal cartridge and
the successful means adopted for check
ing recoil, the most novel having been
recently submitted for test by an Amer
lean inventor, who, by very ingenious
device, makes the powder gas, after
II has performed it's work on the pro-
jectile, exert a pull forward on the muz-
zle Of the gun as opposed to the back
ward motion due to the initial pressure
OF the gas against the bottom of the
bore Space will not permit my noting
the many ingenious devices submitted
by our inventors to improve machine
guns and other military weapons. 1t
is to America that the world looks to-
day for improvements in military ap-
pliances. The ingenuity of our invent
ors has produced the Sharpe carbine,
the Colts revolver, the Snider rife the
Calling, Gardiner and Maxim guns. the
Hotchkiss quick-firing cannon, each in
its turn the best of its kind. and many
more wonderful war devices. which are
being sought after and experimental
with by foreign governments. 1t is a
principleWith us to be very conservative
in adopting any new ordnance. Our
authorities wait until the European has
gone to the trouble and expense Of ex-
pertinent, and then embody the results
of his experience. This is a very eco
nomical method, but it is apt to prove
disastrous should a war come upon us
suddenly
In heavy seacoast guns real progress
has been concerned with the increase in
their power by improving the powder
and the materials and workmanship or
the guns and projectiles. The guns of
our artillery consist of rined steel
breech-loaders. For a time all nations
We'd with each other in increasing the
lcaliber of their large guns, the limit be-
ing reached in a 36-inch mortar. There
is now a reaction in favor Of a reduc-
tion in size The largest in our sys-
TEN is a l6-inch gun that has just been
completed at the Watervliet arsenal. 1T
is probably the only one that viii bel
made. This tremendous engine fires q
projectile weighing 2,4O0 pounds, has
a muzzle velocity of 2,300 feet per sec
ond shooting 576 pounds smokeless or
l.l76 pounds Of brown powder The
kinetic energy of this enormous missile
as It leaves the muzzle Cf the gun isl
ISS,s0l foot-tons. To get a complete idea
Of this force, conceive Of an engine of
over 10000 horsepower being neces-
sary to produce on an instant an
equivalent power. An Illustration IS af-
iOrded by the following comparison:
One OF our modern battleshlps weighs
over 900 tons, and if the energy
stored by any one Of these 16-inch pro-
iectiles could be applied property to
this enormous dead weight it would lift
the battleship, completely loaded and
ready for action, a distance of eight
feet
A limited express train, consisting of
locomotive and Is loaded Pullman
coaches moving at the rate of a mile a
minute, if stopped instantly by a solid
wall Of masonry would have consider
ably less energy than is represented by|
a 16-inch shot striking armor plate.
The effect of such a blow upon a bat
tleship can be only family imagined.
The general of today has a bewilder-
ing array of auxiliary appliances for
fighting. He has a line, or electric
light, signaling apparatus; field tele-I
graph equipment; wireless telegraphy;
pCrtable field obserVatOries. furnished
with delicate range-inding instru-
ments, telephones and powerful tele
scopes; observing balloons telephotOI
cameras. which give him detailed pic
lures Of the enemy's unseen position
maay miles away; aerial torpedoes;
guncotton and dynamite and explosive
gelatin for blowing up obstacles. tear
ing up railroad lines and dealing whole
sale destruction to the enemy He has.
armored trains, traction engines for
heavy transportation, portable shields
for his scaling parties. automobile am-
balances and many other appliances
that we could mention The arts and
sciences are drawn upon to serve him.
The ablest inventors place the products
Of their ingenuity in his hands. Yet
we have not reached the
limit Of military progress. Fresh in
ventions are continually reinforcing
present appliances, and startle us by
their novelty and promised efficiency
Today we have captive observing bal
looms; tomorrow they will be navigable
these to be superseded by fighting
machines equipped as aerial destroyers.
LEW. COT1RT'S WORK