The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-25

novel substitute.
 | Our lead was obtained chiefly and in the. last years of the war entirely from the lead mins near Wytheville, Va. The mines were worked night and day
 and the lead converted into ballets as
 The old regulation shrapnel shells were | filled with leaden balls and sulphur. The Confederacv mad neither lead nor sulphur
 to spare. and instead small iron balls
 manufactories established. which could | furnish the appliances needed, and fre- auently everything had to be done from
 the very beginning by the ordnance de- | For instance. in running the forses to
 make the irons for the artillery carriages we needed charcoal. To obtain this pur.
 chased the timber of a number of acres James River. and secured . detail of men
 to burn the charcoal for the use Of our forge department. During the winter
 timber and shipped 1t to Richmond. with
 which artillery carriages were made on
 which 10 mount the guns to fight the
 battles in the spring Men appointed for
 lected the hides of the slaughtered ani-
 malls that were used to cover the saddle l trees made of timber. cut by a temporary detail of men from the army in the field. | AZ tHo war COntlnueQ eHOTt8 were mdOo
 to build permanent and well appointed arsenals. as at Macon and Augusta, Ga. | The large arsenal at Augusta. under the management of Colonel Rains, was es- powder. Towards the close of the war 1t
 was making an abundant supply of very | superior character, equal and in some | respects superior to that imported from foreign countries.
 Under the demands of necessity. in
 many instances. cotton converted into l rubber cloth was used in the manufac-
 ture of infantry accoutrements, and was | found especially useful in making belts
 for machinery. Models of inventions were frequently sent to the arsenal, of which | large numbers were valueless. and those
 good in theory could not be tried for supplies.
 I remember on one occasion--the last
 year of the war-Ihat a large number
 of Spencer breech-loading rifles. the re-
 the arsenal, and though greatly desired by the troops, could not be re-issued for
 want of ammunition. In the effort to
 make the cartridges for the Spencer ri- | devised. with which to make the tools used for making the cartridges. Hence | the surrender of Richmond came before the cartridRes were made. plan was proposed at the arsenal to increase the accuracy and range and l thus render available and more efficient the smooth-boro muskets in possession of the Confederacy.
 The plan proposed was theoretically correct. and is worth mentioning, inas- much as very late in the war the ident- ical plan was sent to President Davis
 from. from Canada as a scientific gift of great This was sent by him to the War De- partment. and hence found its way to the arsenal. where the drawings we're
 regarded with interest. since they cor vryffh al the arsenal years previously.
 The idea was to fire an elongated com- | pound proJectile, made of lead and hard wood, or paper-mache.
 On firing the lighter material moving first. would press outwards the arrow head, and thus destroy windage, and the flight of the trajectory would be as- | an arrow. without rotating on the shorter of the projectile would be in advance of the centre of resistance of the air. At least that was the theory of the com
 pound projectile,, devised for the old smooth-bore musket.
 An attempt was made to use on the field round concussion shell from the howitzers as mortars. In the concussion | shell friction primer. properly wrapped, acted as a fuse. its heads terminated in bullet. which rested on the shoulder of. brass fuse that screwed into the shell. leaving an untitled hollow space about the bullet. When the round shell | struck any point except that exactly in rear of the prolongation of the wire. put l In the axis of the bore by using sabot. the momentum of the bullet would draw
 the friction primer and explode the shell. regardless Of the point on which round shell struck. A gun carriage was
 made for howitzers with a jointed trail. as thus they could be used as mortars. and fired at a high angle.
 These were rather experiments than in- stances of success. and are only men, toned now to show that the ordnance attempt to initiate the Federals They were prevented from accomplish ing what they planned by reason 0: the want of machinery to do the necessary work.
 During the siege around Petersburg 1t was discovered that the shells used for the large parrot guns were very defect ive-that Is. had but very short range.
 The shells would start off and fly well. and straight. revolving on the longer axis during first half of the trajectory. and then suddenly whirl on the shorter axis and drop almost vertically. One can tell by the ear the instant the axis of the revolution changes. If one gun is fired. The action of the shell being observed. the cause was obvious and the remedy suggested itself. The centre resistance of the air at the summit of the trajectory was in advance of the center of inertia. ana produced a couple that caused rotation on the shorter axis The ob- vious remedy was to make the front or
 
 oidal and diminish its length. and thus put the center of gravity forward of the center of the resistance. With this change made, the maximum range was attained, and the complaints Of the artil- lerist ceased.
 When We consider the absence of man. ufactories and machinery and of skilled mechanics in the South at the beginning of the war. its successfully furnishing ordnance supplies for so large an army during the four eventful years Is strik- ing evidence of the energy and resources and ability of its people.
 The success of the Ordnance Depart ment was due to it's able chief. Cen: J. Gorgas. and in large measure to the intelligence and devotion of its officers, selected by the sitting process Of special examinations.
 must add this. that never was an order received from General Lees army for ammunition that 1t was not imme- diately supplied, even to the last order to send a train load of ammunition to Petersburg, after the order was received for the evacuation of Richmond.
 As continuous work was necessary to keen a supply of ammunition at times serious difficulties threatened the arsenal, not oplv from scarcity of material, but