The sun., 1900-08-25
NIGHTIEST OF BIG GUNS.
rBg 6ATHMANN Is-INCH EARTH-
oTAKE HURLER TESTED.

orAKE HURLER TESTED.
s,eee.fui Trial with Three shots Of the We
,oei,y and speed Required by Government
contract--How the Gun Was Made-It
purpo,e q. to Deliver Gun Cotton IL q
1000. Pound Projectiie Four Miles AWAY
-D.talI, OF tho Tea-The Terrino Shock
and Roar as the Great ProJsctiie Wa,
BurIsd Into a Hole In the Mountain Side
BETHLEHEM. Pa, Aug. A,-The monster
,sinch C;athmann gun, designed TO hurl gun
ootton earthquakes against hostile ships and
,ortieratlons, and the largest high pressure
modern gun ever made. was fired three times
,oday down on the Bethlehem Steel Com
nany's proving grounds in the presence OF
Gen. Niles Gen. Bu1ington and the other men,
hsrs of the Army Board Of Ordnance and For
,iacatlon For fourteen months this tremen-
dous piece OF artillery has been In course OF
oonstrlction at the Bethlehem works here.
The Bsthlahem Steel Company had nothing
"a do with the designing of the gun and in no
cav Is responsible for its success or failure.
Tho gun was designed by Louis Gathmann. q
chicago inventor now resident In Washington
and the steel company simply took the con-
tract 10 produce weapon after Mr.. Gath
nann'a design that would stand certain tests
and come up 10 certain requirements.
The gun was TO be OF is-inch callber. with
alencth Of ~ feet, and was TO develop muzzle
Velocity Of 500 feet a second and to stand a
strain of 1900 pounds to the square inch. The
Governnent contract required this, for the
Government Ia to pay the cost OF the guns
construction, Congress having appropriated
the sum Of sos 900 for the purpose. The con-
tract further required that ten shots be fired
from the gun. II the gun stands the test then
presumably II will be accepted and paid for.
and the Bethlehem Steel Companys responsible
ity In the matter will end.
I, was three Of these shots In the series OF
ten which Gen. Miles and the members OF the
Ordnance Board Witnessed to-day. Incident
ally, too. they saw other guns fired while they
were at the proving grounds, but the special
object Of their visit was to SEQ what happened
when the big Gathmann gun went OF. And right
here il may be said that the experiments to-day
were entirely successful. Not only did the
gun develop the muZzle velocity OF i.so0 feet
second and the resisting power equal TO 1900
pounds TO the square inch. but IL did IL with
still large reserve strength undrawn upon.
The record Of the third shot with a charge Of
800 pounds OF smokeless powder was l9.045
pounds pressure and 500 feet muzzle velocity.
All the experts present were convinced that
thegun was capable OF developing much greater
velocity with a slight increase In the charge
Of powder and without tn slightest risk Of
bursting.
Several Of the remaining seven shots were
nred to-day after the members Of the Ordnance
Board went away and the whole series probably
will be completed not later than Monday. Then
the gun will be tested by the ordnance of1cer
regularly stationed here. after which the gun
will be brought again TO the steel works and
receive the finishing touches OF paint and so
FORTH after which It will be shipped to some
Government proving around. presumably
Sandy Hook for the great and final test the
test which Is 10 determine definitely whether
the gun will do what its inventor and the com-
pany back Of him are confidently asserting 1t
will do and that Ia TO laud a sufficiently high
explosive against the side Of ship to anuihilate
the biggest aud stro usest armor-cad war vessel
anoat. Perhaps the Governmen will be salts
fed II the gun comes approximately near to
that end, although Mr.. Gathmann. the inventor.
and Mr. McMulleu. the New York representa-
tive Of the Gathma nn Gun Company, express
full couiden ce that the result will show that
they have underestimated rather than over
cohudfu hNluliy power OF
their weapon.
The Ordnance Board. consisting besides
Gen. Miles and Gen Burlington Of Gen. Wilson.
Gen. Rogers and Gen, Henderson, tho latter
being resident Of Illinois and the civilian
member Of the board. left the Jersey City sta
ton Of the Pennsylvania Railroad In a private
car at $40 this morning, They were at Sandy
Hook yesterday watching some tests there,
s snd can came here as matter q courtesy and
he experiments here In an official capacity.
Commander Rogers Of the navy. accompanied
ssp Si nov Lieut. S Meiss f?rmeTly OF the navy,
ordnance Mr. II, S. Snyder. assist to Pres
ident Linderman. and Mr., .Borie. all Of the
sccompaniS4 them here on Il the V sneoiaI SaS Su
Mr. = NJ Mclvain Yce-President OF the steel
WORKS, Mr. Davenport, superintendent, and
M 4 johnson, the assistant superintendent
seel works.
.Ths PROVING grounds are between seven
beside The tracks " The he T Ishis6 % TaIey Ia 1 RSiIo %
road, The large hill which rises to the right
2 you enter the grounds has been split In half
Ms into hole ATTY feet ss aeep. sh that % Y %tunSe%sd %
olt OF the barei rock at the foot Of the stone
.uarry Cllil, that the. projectile- from the big
S to test armor plate, in which case the
piate Is fastened 70 an enormous bulkhead
sand many feet In thickness.
sot well within the little reservation was the |
shormous RlistenlnR length Of the great gun. |
HS OF nickel steel and unpainted as yet, but |
" harrel and massive brooch are 30 highly |
pollshed that the piece has n thoroughly COM |
leed appearanCe. Gen. Miles Gen, Bnfflng- |
va and the other members OF the board ex- |
anilhed the weapon closely before any prepara-
Sots tor loading were made. The enormous |
,meech Weighing nearly two tons, 3, 800 pounds |
70 Pe exact, was much admired ueavy as II |
gSn Is easily swung to and fro by one man |
uthnR little crank with one hand
- crew oi seven or eight Hungarians did the |
,sssaV work OF handling the piece the work |
pEmn9 the great levers that slid II up and |
nWn on the inclined plane railroad track lead
1dfs GOWN INTO the quarry pit on which IL was
Laed II was aimed 10 hairs breadth for
" " mathematical centre Of the dark hole in |
W., w. Gun 2 thousand yards away. II became
W. ''99.H from the moment the preparations
w ~, HIlhR began that there was going 20 be
uoloe with the unlimited spectators The
LIVING grounds are small and the company
vIte rIaSte " a rule rgidly TO exclude all Persons
i,.. are ,hot ~ one way or another directly
Te'esled IN the results when a test is made |
t,s ~ uanger of somebody being hit BY flying
nv, ne l ol prolecile when crushed to pieces against
ksH kHot plate Is real one. as past experience
l.NNqbody as vet has been struck. but there
Rs, IN s1h more than one narrow escape and for
S%n ieaSon every effort is made TO keep people
tcsi ,let with all that can be done short Of
did dn ~ lorce they will crowd around. They