Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-10

The most powerful weapon IN the world.
which Uncle Sam is TO use along with
other monsters Of its kind IN coast de-
Tense, has been completed at the watervIiet
arsenal after four years labor. and now
lies In the seacoast gunshop there, await
ing transportation to Sandy Hook. where
It's remarkable estimated strength will be
proved or disproved. It Is very likely that
this tremendous weapon will never be fred
at an enemy; but even 30. the great ex-
penditure Of money II has necessitated will
not be wholly wasted, for who can estimate
the moral force exerted on hostile parties by
a gun that IL forty-nine feet long. weighs
$50 tons and can throw a missile sixteen
inches In diameter and ave feet four inches
long. weighing 1910 pounds, a distance Of
twenty-one miles7 Such a gun ought to bs
to a nation what a bulldog lie to an orchard
or an elaborate burglar alarm system to a
bank. This big gun is so heavy that II
cannot be shipped to Sandy Hook by rail
like ordinary little cannon. IL weighs more
than the heaviest locomotive, and the rail-
road companies will not take the risk Of
delivering It safely: SO one Of tho big New
York wrecking companies will pick 1t up
and put II aboard a barge, and thus take
IL to Sandy Hook by water. 1t is expected
that within a few weeks the FIRST shot win
be fred from this monster gun. and that
event will be regarded with much interest
By all military powers.
The one thing about this sixteen-inch gun
Is not its great length or its enormous
weight, but the almost uncomfortable dis
lance to which II can throw a missile. Major
James NJ. Ingalls, Of the Fifth artillery and
for many years instructor at the artillery
school for officers at Fort Monroe, is prob
ably the most expert officer in this country
at estimating the flight Of projectiles. Some
years ago the British government was trying
a e.2-inch gun in England. Artillery ex-
perts from all over the world were invited
to make an estimate Of the range, and
Major ingalls, plotted the fail OF the shot
only a few hundred feet short Of the actual
distance. while the other estimates varied
from 1880 yards TO a few miles short. This
same Major Ingalls, estimates that the six
teen-inch gun will send It's one-ton bullet
2o.s7s miles. With this gun mounted on
Sandy Hook It could reach all Of Manhattan
as far north as Central park and any part Of
Brooklyn; or, set up on Mount Tom It could
pump shell into the midst Of ThompsonviIle.
Such at least is the result reached by Major
ingalls, figures. The firing table for the
gun, prepared by Major ingalls,, shows that
this range Is attainable with a muzzle We
locity Of $500 feet per second. the necessary
angle Of elevation being forty degrees. The
trajectory OF the protective shows that In
ranging to 70.s7S miles the she'll would reach
the maximum elevation OF 30, 1916 feet. This
is enormously greater than the maximum
range hitherto obtained by any other gun.
which at present stands to the credit Of
the Krupp ,s.45-inch gun, which was fred
on the Meppen range. in the presence Of
the emperor OF Germany. April 20. 1892.
The measured range was found to be 22,120
yards, or. roughly speaking twelve and one
nAII miles. Inc greatest neignt reached
by the Krupp she'll in it's flight was 21,45s
feet. and the time occupied between the
firing Of the gun and the striking Of the
projectile was 7O.z seconds.
Major Ingalls, calculation or prophecy Is
not universally accepted. Foreign ballistic
experts ire skepticai. says the Scientific
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