Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1900-10-03
THE GATHMANN. GUN.
A Wonderful Firing Machine Now Be.
 ing Tested.

The new Gathmann gun which wa,
 successfully tested at South Bethle
 hem, Pa, last week, is not an enlarge
 ment of the ordinary type of coast de
 fense ordnance. It is an attempt tC
 make of practical effect the theory or
 which the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius
 was constructed. The Vesuvius, il
 will be remembered, is equipped witt
 three long fixed tubes, from whicl
 charges of guncOtton are hurled by
 compressed air distance of mile ol
 two. But two defects about this ar
 engagement have been found that make
 the cruiser practically useless. The
 comparatively slow velocity of the
 projectile. added to the fact that the
 elevation of the tubes cannot be
 changed which destroys all accuracy
 of aim, and long before the Vesuvius
 could approach within the necessary mile or two of any modern fortifca,
 ton or war ship she would probably
 be reached by a shot that would ex. plode her magazine and scatter bits of the cruiser over the sea for leagues around.
 The Gathmann gun, the inventor hopes, will be able to send a shell con- taining 600 pounds of gun cotton a distance of fifteen miles. No warship afloat could withstand the explosion of such charge. The shock of the sudden impact of the gas when the or dinary gun is fired is so great that the projectile must be of extreme thick ness to withstand it. There is little space, comparatively, in the shell for the explosive. If the thin and heavily charged projectile that Gathmann pro poses to use should be fired from an ordinary gun the shell would explode within the barrel and the cannon be torn to pieces. Such an accident hap pened during the inventors experi- ments at Indian Head with twelve inch gun four years. ago.
 Gathmann's new gun, for the con struction of which the government contributed S65,OOO is forty-four feet long and weighs fifty-nine tons. The big 16-inch rife to be mounted at Romer shoals, is six feet longer and weighs more than twice as much. The reduction in weight of the Gathmann gun is made possible by the small charge of powder necessary. The shell is not intended to be armOr piercing, and does not need great ve- lOcity. The bore of the gun swells at the breach, so that while the nose of the projectile fits tightly, the shell it. self is surrounded by air. Conse- quently, the pressure from the ex- banding gases, at the discharge, is distributed over the whole outer sur face of the shell. At the same time it Is distributed over the inner surface by an ingenious arraugement, so that there is no tendency to crush the pro jectile. The base of the shell Is a plunger arrangement, which may be pressed inward. The gun cotton with which the projectile is loaded is surrounded by water. On the discharge of the cannon the gases strike against the slid ing base, pushing it inward, and the pressure is transmitted from the wa ter to the nose and td the sides of the shell, thus equalizing the pressiife from without. The Gathmann pro- jectile differs from all others in that it is propelled by pressure on the front of the shell instead of on the base. Since the torpedo escapes all danger of crushing, its walls may have a maximum thickness of only l lhree-eights of an inch.
 The destructive effect of an explo- ! sion of 600 pounds of guncotton is No battle ship afoat ! ,ould withstand the shock. It is be- l ieved, too, that if the torpedo should l De discharged within 100 feet of a var vessel the ship would be disabled. The continued success of the Gath nam experiments would be of the Teatest importance for the coast de ense of the United States.