Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-08-31
AMERICAN INVENTOR
SCORES TRIUMPH
Mr.. labram's Invention Saves
the Day for the British
Army.
NECESSITY MOTHER AGAIN
Without the Aid Of Ills Long Fire Gun
English Would Have Been Com
PEELED to Abandon Kim
berly to Beers.
From the Century.

From the Century.
Although Mr.. Labrarn;s services were
known and appreciated by the authori.
les, it was not until the second month
Of the siege that the people of the town
rs a whole and the rank and file OF
The troops came 10 realize the versa
ility of his genius. From the some
what prosaic problems of water, food
and lighting the chief engineer of De
Beers suddenly turned to a work which
set all Kimberley talking.
When the siege began the artillery
strength of the town consisted of the
Fwenty-third battery, Royal Garrison
artillery, with six seven-pound noun
ain guns inc q local volunteer bat
cry of six seven-pound guns These
Twelve pieces had each an effective
'ange OF about 1000 yards; two unre-
liable old Cape police seven-pounders
completed the list. The in~adequacy OF
such equipment was in itself serious
enough. 1t paralyzed the whole scheme
If defense. The full gravity of the sit
iation did not appear, however, until
he beginning of November, when Col
,nel Chamier, who commanded the
artillery forces, reported that the IN
nunition for his guns was giving out.
4 moments reflection will show that,
With her cannon silenced, Kimberley's
loom was accomplished. Small as her
runs We're, they prevented the enemy
rom bringing up their heavy ordnance
% within 1000 yards of the town, and
hey made possible a number of minor
operations outside the barrier. such as
'econnaisances, patrols, and the graz
ng Of horses and mules. In fact. their
presence insured a marginal area
ound the town essential to defense. II
hey went out Of action, the enemy
would inevitably move up their artil-
cry and batter the place from point
blank range.
Attempt to Conserve Supplies.
The authorities at once reduced the
expenditure of ~ammunition; but still
he supply dwindled. Apparently there
vas only one possible upshot. At a
Meeting Of the staff Mr.. Labram asked
Z he might see one of the seven
,ound shells. After examining it care
'ully he said, Il guess / can make
Kings like that all right" His conf
lence was not Immediately communi-
lated to the officers about him. They
Knew that the manufacture of shells
S highly specialized work, and Is on
med to the great arsenals of the world.
On inquiry, it appeared that the only
powder procurabie in Kimberley was
Intended for blasting, was, with
tut special preparation, wholly insult
tble for artillery use. Mr.. Labram,
however, refused to be deferred by
toSi IlOll IdI dit IIlooI
lie obtained a requisition from the mill
tary stores of such material as was
likely to be of use in the experiment.,
Ind began york in the De Beers shops.
His foundry may be said to have been
he child Of his own brain, for he was
without even reliable handbooks to
guide him. The most important part
If shell manufacture is the liking of
/ satisfactory fuse. Mr.. Labram over
,ame this difficulty by invention. He
designed a percussion fuse to be in
'erted In 81 hole drilled for it's recep-
ion in the point of the shell. h fuse
consisted of a brass body with d screw
thread outside and a steel block, or
~,lunger, working freely in an axial d.
'ection inside. The plunger, through
which a hole was bored, was pointed
1t the front end. In q recess In front,
/ percussion cap was held in position
,y a screwed plug.
How Invention Worked.
While the shell Travelled forward, the
plunser, being loose, remained at the
pack Of the fuse. On a sudden stop
page, however, 1t not Onward and
struck the percussion cap. A spark
hen Travelled along the hole and ex-
oloded the bursting charge OF gun
powder contained In the body of the
shell. To prevent the plunger from
moving when the shell was handled,
L light Spirai spring was so placed as
% require compression before the nip
pie could touch the cap AS an extra
~precaution, safety wires were provid-
I'd, which had to be broken before the
plunger could nov The united
strength of these safety attachments
vas not more han sufficient to pre-
vent premature explosion in case OF
accidental fall.
In practice Mr.. Labram's astonishing
invention proved entirely satisfactory.
IN an amazingly short time this man,
who had scarcely seen a shell until a
Few days before, was supplying the
artillery headquarters with between
sixty and seventy projectiles every
wenty-four hours-shells, moreover, of
A quality which the military authori-
les, after the exhaustive test of over
.hree months continual use, pro-
bounced extraordinarily good"