The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-30
WHEN THE BIG GUNS BOOM.
SOME STRIKING PHENOMENA OC-
CUR DURING ARTILLERY FIRE.

Disaster at 1fmes-Great Care
Taken by ArtiIIerists to Avoid
Firing Too Rapidly.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
That human reason must keep very
close TO the shores of experience if il
would avoid shipwreck in the depths
of error was demonstrated last week
by the unexpected effects of the test
made of the twelNe-ineh guns at the
Preside. The experiments were un-
dertaken by the government in order
to determine what effect the detona-
ton of great masses Of smOkeless pow
der would have upon The neighboring
station-houses. Instruments and lines
of communication. Ordinance experts
were almost unanimous in the opinion
that much damage would be done not
only on the reservation itself, but to
property throughout the city. Especial
ly was the firing of a salvo. or con-
certed discharge of three guns, antic-
ipated with apprehension, and even the
school boys were ready with their
states to prove that three times one are
three. Readers of the daily rapers Will
remember that the expected did not
happen. The salvo proved as harmless
as the simultaneous shooting of three
popguns, and the multiplication table
was the only thing that suffered any
harm. The reverberations from three
guns were much less powerful than
the reverberations from one. Many
other phenomena were almost equally
remarkable, as will shortly appear, and
a consideration of the shrewd guesses
at their cause which scientific men have
since made under the name of theories
is eminently in order.
Bacon Had the Right Theory.
Lord Bacon was one of the first to
popularize the inductiVe system of rea-
soning. His method, to put 1t bluntly,
was to experiment first and theorize
afterward and to keep what he be-
lieved close hauled to what he knew.
No man in the entire country is better
qualified to speak authoritatively con-
corning the action of high explosives
than Mai. w. P. Birkhimer inspector
of artillery at the Preside. Yet when
he was interviewed Immediately after
the conclusion of the experiments he
carried Lord Bacon's precepts so far
as to advance no more than hesitat-
ing opinion on the cause of the unex-
pected results.
1--WE really know nothing about it,"
Mai. Birkhimer began. I'VE can tell
what happened, but can only guess
why it happened. The experiments
were undertaken by the government to
test the effect of the firing of heavy
ordnance upon its own property. Yet
the damage was less than we expected,
almost none whatever being done in the
immediate vicinity Of the batteries. The
men used no protection of any kind
not even the officer who stood close in
the rear and pressed the electric but
ton which discharged the guns. The
man at the telephone was also very
near, though no one was allowed to ex-
pose himself needlessly. But it was
the shock affected us all in way. Aft
er it was over we would be tired out.
The system seems to be wearied by
the jar produced by the explosion of 800
pounds of smokeless powder, which is
the regular service charge for one Of
the twelve-inch guns. 1t costs about
$500 to fire them and no scientific body
is rich enough to carry on experiments
of this kind. so the government tests
have to be made the most off,
Natural Nervousness.
Doubtless a part of the affection is
a nervous one, and comes from anx-
iety as to what the monsters of war
will do. Those who know nothing fear
nothing, but the officer who has a life
long acquaintance with the powers of
destruction he is playing with, no mat
ter how careful he may be Of his per-
sonal safety, cannot be unmindful of
the fate of his men, should the I'M
known factors of danger. which the
greater care cannot wholly eliminate
manifest themselves in sudden acct
dent
Some scientific men in the city have
expressed the opinion that the small
effect of the simultaneous firing Of
three cannon is due to interference
among the sound waves. This theory
has the advantage of being without
rivals, for no other guess has ever
been suggested. A sound wave, ply
sicists believe, is q. condensation in the
atmosphere. closely followed by an
other, and this by another and another
until the sound ceases. Between one
condensation or bit of packed air and
the next is a partial vacuum, When
disturbance In such a way that it's
vacuum correspond with the condensa-
ton of the other the atmospheric pres
sure is equalized and silence ensues
BY turning a vibrating tuning fork be-
side the ear a position may easily be
found from which no sound is heard,
the pulsations from one prong inter-
fering with those from the other. Try
the experiment and perhaps you will
understand why the salvos made less
impression on the surrounding country
than the single discharges of the same
guns.
There are three effects noticed when
the charge explodes. The Earring of the
ground, which increases as the muz-
zle is raised and the recoil or 'l1ick'
IS directed more directly downward;
the gust of wind which strikes the OBJ
servers face, and the wave OF sound
which causes the real damage. Per-
haps there is some scientific justfi-
cation for the biblical statement that
the walls of Jericho fell before the
blast of multitude of horns.
Sound Waves Do Harm.
Curiously enough the harm done by
these enormous sound wages is at a
considerable distance from the gun.
Many windows have been broken in the
Richmond district, though none in the
preside. One house on Twelfth avenue
was badly wrecked, even the tiles of
the bathroom being shaken from their
places. Houses within 500 yards sus-
tanned no damage whatever, says Maj.
mile and a half windows were broken.
Many people within a mile will tell you
that they did not hear a sound, while
some four miles OFF declare that their
houses were greatly damaged. We
were firing past Fort Miley, three miles
away and directly in front, and the
effect there was slight. But in Rich
mond, a mile and a half to one side,
the damage was considerable. Every