The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-10-27
THE men WHO SHOOT
Annual Report of Admiral O'Niel of
the Naval Bureau of
Ordnance. .. ..
A New Shell That Can Be Seen by
the Firer, but Not by the
Enemy.

Washingt on Oct. 27.-Admiral O'Niel
chief Of the naval bureau Of ordnance, IN
his annual report. made public to-day
says that the ordnance bureau wants
ST.. 1896 next year, of which amount
$40, 900, 900 isto be Devoted to arms and
armament for new ships. The gunshop at
the Washington navy yard during the past
year turned out pa guns, prepared sets
of forgings for 146 more and has TO In
course Of manufacture. The bureau Is
preparing new type of the three-1nch
gun. so caliber in length, Of sem1-auto-
matte character to replace all guns or this
size now in use in the navy. Adm1rai
o Mel says that for the first time In years
the manufacture Of armor has progressed
in satisfactory manner, 1872 tons haV-
ing been delivered at the various ship
yards during the year. with prospects OF
largely increasing the deliveries.
No improvement worth speaking OF
seems to have been made in the quality
Of armor Of late. Guns, powder and pro-
jectiles have each made a decided ad-
vance. rendering it all the more neces-
| sary that there should be an Improvement
in the quality of the armor, but none
seems to be in sight at present.
Recently the armOr manufacturers VOL
unfairly made reduction Of ten shillings
per ton on the royalty for the Krupp pro-
cess.
With the exception Of ignition and shell
powder. no black other than smokeless
powder has been purchased or manufac-
tured for the navy since the Spanish
American war. All new ships, beginning
with the Kearsarge and Kentucky, have
been supplied with outfits Of smokeless
powder, and in addition some thirty of
the older vessels have been thus supplied
The most interesting event during the
year in connection with projectiles is the
development Of a new type of shell COM
bining the advantages of the armor pierre
ing with the common shell; that is, having
| the perfOrating power Of the regular ar
NOR piercing projectile with the capacity
for large bursting charge. The require
| ments for these shells on test are that at
a prescribed velocity they shall completely
perforate, unbroken, a plate of hard
| faced armor a caliber in thickness and
then be in condition for effective BURST
ing. A number Of shells Of this descrip-
ton have been ordered, and the first Of
three lots have successfully passed the
requirements. These shells are fitted
with soft caps.
A novel device tried during the year
| was the tracer which renders a shell
visible during the night to the gunner. but
invisible to the persons at the target, this
being accomplished by the insertion Of a
burning composition in the base of the
shell.
The use Of electric power for handling
guns and turrets is unqualiiedly Endorsed
as better than any other system
Admiral O'Niel finds that the best way
to illustrate the tremendous development
| of artillery in late years is to cite two
| cases, that of the six-inch gun and the
| twelve-inch gun. The former used to
| weigh only 4.8 tons, was only thirty cali
| bers in length, with a muzzle energy of
2'77s foot tons and a practicable rate Of
fire of 21a aimed shots per minute. The
new type is so calibers In length uses
smokeless powder, weighs eight tons, can
! be fired eight times per minute and has
a muzzle energy of 1886 foot tons. In
other words it is 600 per cent more power
ful than the old gun. The Pinch gun
shows an increase in energy over the old
gun Of 351k per cent Admiral O'Niel says
that no such rate of increase is looked for
| Ill the near future.
There is to be a general renovation of
the batteries Of the older ships. The bu-
reau IS considering the feasibility Of re-
placing the present turrets Of the Oregon,
! Indiana and Massachusetts, with new ell
| liptical balanced turrets, adding material
ly to their efficiency.
Admiral O'N1el has much to say re-
| speeding speed versus armament He ar
CUES that ship Is naturally a compromise
| between various necessities, and says:
| "All nations are afflicted with the speed
craze at intervals, and this country is nc
| exception and unless each batch Of new
| vessels can equal or beat the worlds rec
| ord they are usually chara cterized as fai
| ures, and in Difference to public sentiment
| the tendency is to design vessels Of the
| highest possible speed, irrespective Of the
uses for which they are Intended and ir
consequence enormous sums Of money
have been expended by several countries
in producing large and fast vessels which
have but trifing value for fighting pur.
poses.
1.-THE best vessel is not necessarily the
one that can most quickly get in or out d
battle or keep out Of battle, but is rather
the one that can remain in battle tho
longest after she gets there
OF submarine boats the report says tina
no important developments have taker
place during the past year, either here o.
abroad, though quite a number Of these
vessels have been built or are in course o
construction. The seven boats ordered
for the United States navy are nearl!
finished and will soon have their officia
trials.
Admiral O'Niel went to Europe lag
summer and looked over the great nava
ordnance works there. He says he wa
deeply impressed with what he saw, bu
makes no comparisons between the differ
ent establishments, merely remarking tina
different methods, all equally good, ar
preferred in different countries with re
, spect to gun construction. He declares
however, that while there are no such es
! Establishments in this country in point Q
size and capacity as many of the ordnanc
factories of Europe, 1t is gratifying t
know that such as we have do not suffe
, in comparison with any Of them in regar
to the character of the work or the meth
cd of perfol ming it.
:, The last chapter of the report Is devote
.. to On urgent plea for the better instruc
ton of the officers and men in gunnery
r STERILIZED MILK IS BAD
. Boiling Does Not Kill Bacilli-Pro1