The San Francisco call., 1904-11-24
WORK ACCOMPLISHED.

ing the thousands of employes.
WORK ACCOMPLISHED.
The necessity of the proposed i'm
provements can be in a measure illus
trated by summary of the great work
accomplished in the past fiscal year
and that under way at the naval gun
factory. The expenditures for the year
for ordnance work and materials
amounted to S5,353 120. The value of
finished work sent out from the factory
during the last year was Sc, 1885, 106 The
reason given for the excess .of value
shown in finished work sent out" over
that of expenditures for the year is that
a lot of the work finished was COM
menced in the preceding year and in
some cases the year before, but goes
into the accounts with this years pro-
duct. The value of unfinished work in
hand at the beginning of the present
fiscal year was $6,6O0,O00.
1t is an axiom that money, material
and labor are more carefully expended
under strict supervision at the naval
gun factory than in almost any other
department of the Government Every
ounce of metal and every minute of la
Dor expended is requi to be accu-
rately accounted fer, it is said.
During the past year shipments of
ordnance material (guns, etc), were
made to III United States naval ves-
sells in commission, the total weight OF
the articles shipped being 6,S56,00O
pounds, and to the proving ground at
Indian Head 1866 900. or a total of 49,
922, 900 pounds of ordnance material
sent out of the gun factory.
Great credit for the handling of these
vast supplies of war materials and for
the complex recording of all receipts
and expenditures in the large establish
ment is due Major Jesse B. K. Lee.
chief clerk to the superintendent of the
naval gun factory and his force of as
sistants
POWER OF MODERN GUNS.
Speaking of the development in the
defensive powers of the modern guns Of
the American navy, as illustrated at
the Washington naval gun factory, an
experienced machinist and advance
worker said to Star reporter:
This general development is not due
alone to improvements in guns or pow
der, or projectiles, but to the simulta-
neous and progressive development of
all three.
Less than half a century ago the
heaviest gun known was the 6S-
FOUNDER. This gun was about nine
inches bore, and fired a 6S-pound pro
jectile, with 16-pound charge of gun
powder, but was powerless against
four and a half inches of wrought
iron. Our battleships to-day are
equipped with 12-inch guns, which.
with a charge of 400 to 425 pounds
of smokeless powder, are capable of
driving an S5O-pound projectile
through fifty-one inches of solid
wrought iron. In olden times 1T re-
quired nearly four minutes to load and
fire one of the now obsolete 6S-pound-
ers, while the new terrible 12-inch
guns can be loaded and fired in about
fifty seconds with perfect safety.
IF a projectile from one of the old
68-pounders hit its mark it was due to
good luck rather than to good man
agement but ii is a matter of proud
record that our modern 12-inch guns
have scored seven hits in less than
six minutes at target practice, while
our 6-inch gun has a record of nine
shots and nine hits in one minute"
The statistics of a modern 12-inch
breech-loading rifle, as turned out by
the naval gun factory, makes an inter
esting showing. Its weight is 101, 300
pounds, or over 45 tons. Its total
length, SO feet inches. The greatest
diameter of gun body is As inches; total
length of bore, 1920 inches; capacity
of chamber, 1908 cubic inches; total
capacity of bore, 51,355 cubic inches;
travel of projectile. 346.06 inches;
weight of charge, service velocity, 425
pounds; weight of projectile, $50
pounds; ratio of projectile pressure. is
tons; muzzle velocity (service), 2100 feet
per second; thickness of steel which
shell will perforate at muzzle, 2416
inches; at 1900 yards, 2O94 inches
Washington Star