The sun., 1900-08-25

the powder. Each bundle was about all q man
could comfortably reach AROUND and each
pair Of arms. Near the breech Of the gun, was
set Of scales such as are used for weighing
staggering under their burcen. PLACED these
armtuls OF powder fagots. Then they were
carefully weighed. Two hundred pounds was
that figure at each ,uccessive shot until tho re-
guired velocity and pressure were developed.
ures of the thee e1psriment. % @ T Mr. GatSmann "a aid Il
was made at the Dupont works after formula
was n no great M mystery @ about il and that has IS
per cent Of nitro glycerine and other ingred-
tents 10 proportions that have been used before.
Yet ail agreed that Il was very successful In ac-
compllshing lis work to-day
Well. the little bales OF kindlng wood looking
projectile In the breach Of the gun. and then at
once there developed among the spectators a
very pointed interest in the location and
They were amO hundred yards AWAY ss and
m. s tso X Sr Ne fhs O. o s the gun ns S
pany did not quite like Il. The two Gathmanns,
and IGn said notf1bng 1b RIt sHT5ed on at
on 10 The rear Of 1.-THE the M gun I Mr.. j. B. McMulien
said the ali, cyclone that went with the eI-
where to the front Of. the gun. whether
there. were bomb-proofs or not. So, he
6s sd RAILROAD hs SISher @ t The paIy
I while had slowed themselves away in the bomb
| proof with Lieut.. Meigs, who had charge OF the
his ear the receiver Of the telephone line that
%hths Ss Ss SSS sS' gR dd BY yht the Ss
was slowed away Gen.. Miles stood
With his hands. IN his pockets leaning against
bored and decidedly uncomfortable from the
heat, And 1t was hot cooped up IL the pen be
WSs%s Ssas t. as tel sa T hs 61 II
streams all over your body.
IL wish. said Gen. Burlington. Il had the
70 work. ;. I'd like to tie him to the muzale OF
"Noy gentlemen. interrupted Lieut. Meigs
Gen. Miles tool. his hands from his pockets
and stuffed them IN 3 his % saTs EEery6ody else ,S
long warning cry back by The gun and an in
sS snds esto was hssns
had i Ps ss ssS S s.S Ss atHst 3 E BSSns
shower Of dirt and dust from the roof and sides
Of the little fort. Then came the crash. a sharp
II seemed followed by on awful ,on-rushing
9 P all ses en yoSa
isss I in Volume than the last. until finally Il
fainter and fainter and ~ length same 70 al
end. Several men within the bomb,pEE2GS,t
started 10 get out OF tIle sUtllnR neat ana ullCk
dust the moment the first, crack Of the ex-
back. came o1 W w..
there are parts fyins they have not all come
When at last the noise had all died away and
splinters OF rock and iron there was rush for
the outside air The deep quarry gorge between
projectile had been hurled was a curious sight.
II seemed to be densely filed with thick, yel-
TeSdy eTpapsd to s the smoke q
the gun until they remembered that there would
be little no smoke from the gun for the reason
the men who had been through similar tests
E f aos s S Ss e ds Sed by ss fSas Sas
and s0s snS dss ,ss % "a oyep she m
the projectlle crashed into It the hole IN the
face OF the cliff smoked with the dust Of pow
dered rock as the muzzle OF gun smokes after
But the strangest sight Of all was when the
81 ne sSee S
beads Of the men behind the gun whose
through a fiery screen. That came from the
fact that small charge Of powder was used.
The result that ali OF 1t was not burned at the
first fash and blazed NJ In fierce fire when
the air was let In from the opened breeoh. In
II sls :sSgPS s6o, y szys %. pounds SI p2Srds5
this last shot was let OF the sight was one
at the gree, gun itsel, viii not aS Quickly forget
Of Of nearly ffty feet farther than the length Of
was .. 90 tons; muEzle velocity. 1926 feet. For
1sI snGt the .be rd
lnra 4
But these experiments with the Gathmann
gun are but prelimlnarie. to the great expert
Gathmann gun is 10 hurl earthquakes. 1t is a
torpedo thrower In other words. the torpedoes
eSon shf' has he over The
or submerged torpedo thrower both In
range and In accuracy. OF aim. The Gathmann
torpedo viii be; be fred from rhed s gun and
Penetration Is not aimed at All that the
Gathmann proposes to do IL 20 deliver tho
The goods will do the rest. Any, ordinary |
projectile at four mil range will be TOO |
much spShi 70 90 muSn PenetaohT ~ tbs ,beorH Sn-
will just be ready 10 begin business when Il gets |
there. 1t s assumed that no vessel anoat will |
cotton when, as Ia believed, only 400 pounds |
were needed to send the Maine 70 the bottom,
BOOK and the great question is as TO what the
target viii be. 1t has been suggested that |
couple OF the old monitors that are no longer 9it |
must he target that will enable the experi- |
menters TO determine definitely just what the
gun will do. All that has now been shown is
that a gun has been m ade that is up to the con-
tract requirements, but the main and vital
question OF whether the gun can do what II was
required to do Is still to be determined,
After the three shots with the GatbmRnn,
iO-inch gun with steel proJeotile was fred at
the same piece OF Krupp armor plate which
was used as test for the ,armor OF the Russian
warship recently turned out by the Cramps
The arinor got another scar. but otherwise re-
mained un damaged.
Gen Miles was much interested In a new
gun Just turned out by the steel
company, II weighs carriage and all, 700 pounds
backs in 2OO-pound parcels. In one test made
before the board II was taken apart in thirty |
seconds and In another In fifteen seconds and
this with green men.
All the members Of the Ordnance Board
left for Washington this evening. Commander
Rogers went back TO New York.
SHOOIING AZ GRlIESEND.