The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-12-03
TO STOP F~LAREBACKS
INVENTION THAT WILL MAKE
WARsHIPs MORE SECURE.
Disasters Like That Which Occurred
on the Missouri viii Be Prevent
ed by Device Of Two Ma
val Officers.

The navy department has adopted q
scheme for preventing harebacks OF
the Kind that occurred In the after
l3-inch turret Of the Missouri in April
last, killing % men ana S officers.
The device is the invention Of navy
officers and Will involve the laying up
Of every battIeship and large cruiser in
the service at some navy yard for a
period Of from one to three weeks, as
well as the expenditure OF a big sum Of
money.
1t will be recalled that after the dis
aAtrous accident N the Missouri there
was more or less Generalization in the
navy for fear Of repetition Of that hor-
ror, The navy department issued or
ders that commanding officers should
exercise more care in firing drills, and
that reduced charges should be en-
pioyed in order to lessen the danger Of
accident. At the same time a. board
Of naval officers was appointed to eX-
anime thoroughly into the whole ques-
ton Of smokeIess powder. for it was
thought that the mysterious and chang
ing qualities Of the powder now in use
had something to do with the mishap
This board has gone into the most com
pIete chemical analysis Of various kinds
Of smokeless powders with the result
that the type used in our navy has been
materially improved.
But the most important duty Of this
board was to develop a device for pre-
venting ilarebacks. After the firing Of
a rifle a certain amount of unconBumed
gases gathers and sometimes fingers in
the tube Of the weapon. Occasionally
1t Is expelled in the shape of a flame
which Is seer at the mouth of the gun.
There Is danger of this gas or flame be
Ing blown back into the barrel OF the
rifle and of igniting the powder charge
prepared for the next firing. That Is
what happened N the Missouri. Some
Of the flames shot down into the am
munttion room, killing or frightfully
burning the men below and the officers
and men in the turrct.
A number Of devices were submitted
to the board Of officers appointed TO
consider this subject, but one after an
other was found defective. At last n
Joint invention Of Licuts. Knapp and
Sawyer proved successful, and has
since been adopted, 1t Is a simple
scheme, but its application entails a
considerable amount of work. 1t con
sists Of drilling three small holes,
about the size of a lead pencil. through
the rifle at the rear and leading into
the barrel just ahead of the breech
plug. These holes are drilled diagonal |
ly and connected up with a pipe that en-
the rear end of the weapon
Compressed air Is applied for this sys-
TEN from the power in the hosting
room below. The mechanism works
automatically, As the br&ech block is
withdrawn, the gas check pad touches
a lever which starts the pump to work
ing Immediately a powerful current
Of air Is forced through the three holes
and into the barrel, Everything in this
Is forcibly elected, all gases. flames
)r remnants of the powder-bag.
In the trial of the device at the
Washington navy yard a pair of oyeralls
and a Jacket that had been left by a
workman were showed into the barrel.
When the force was applied the clothes
were shot out of the mouth with force
enough to carry them 50 feet across the
oom. The mechanism is so arranged
hat the barrel is cleared out before the
'reech-block Is withdrawn, so that
here Is no possibility of the succeeding
powder charge being fired by lingering
lanes,