Evening star., 1908-01-18

| try because the work is agreeable. there
is an opportunity for the development Of
skill and ingenuity, the eight-hour law
| is enforced, and fifteen days vacation
are M,su also S paid "a for Christmas. New Year.
Decoration day. Labor day and Fourth OF
July, which makes total OF twenty
holidays without deduction Of wages
among the workmen. and the esprit de
corps is greater than In any other IN
dustrial establishment In the United
States.
Twenty Big Guns This Year.
| There is so much work to do within
the narrow limits that the men are
| employed in two shifts. about 2SOo
work from 8 am. to 4 Rm.,, about
1000 from pm. to midnight and
so are engaged during the rest OF the
night to keep the machinery going. The
| work is now up to date, and the yard
will turn out about twenty big guns TINS
year. 1t takes six months to make
i2-inch gun. and last year fourteen
12-inch guns in progress for the pat
tieships South Carolina, Michigan. Della
ware and North Dakota. The new pat
tleships require twelve big guns each;
/ The old ones were satisfed Wath 1our ana
eight big guns EACH
Rear Admiral Leutze. the commanoant'
saws: I'VE can keep up with the con-
struction Of ships and have one or Two
extra guns a year for reserve
What is the life of a l2-inch gum"
asked.
.'That has not been decided" replied
| Admiral Leutze. "The average gun will
endure being fired about $50 times-some
of them more and some OF them iess-n9l y
It can then be refined and rerif1ed and is
just as good as ever. We are refining
J several old guns now.
The foundation Of a Pinch gun is
q hollow tube forty-fve feet long, with
made Of the finest steel and nickel and is
heated and pounded over and over again.
| compressed into various forms under pow
erful hammers until the particles of
metal are so blended and the texture Is
SO dense as to give 1t the tensile strength
and what is called the elastic limit re-
uuired The tube originally weighs 35 600
pounds and is brought here In that shape.
being the same size the entire length. the
steel about four inches thick from end to
end. The first step is to put a jacket, as
it is called. upbn the breech end of the
gun. This Is band Of similar steel and
nicked twelve feet long. eight inches
thick and weighing about 1900 pounds.
The tube is placed in we'll forty
four feet deep in a great pit In the center
| Of the gunshop, and a stream of water is
flowing through It to keep the metal cold.
1t is made fast at the bottom and stands
perfectly erect.
The Jacket has been slowly heated for
thirty hours to temperature of GOO de-
| grees Fahrenheit In a monster oven.
! When the hour is ripe the top of the
oven is lifted of by one OF those enormous
travelling derricks I have told you about
and laid to one side. Chains are then
made fast to false cap band that has
been fitted upon the end Of the Jacket. and
at motion from Mr.. Hayes. the master
mechanic in charge of the gunshop, the
engineer who navigates the derrick be-
gins to hoist the monstrous cylinder. AS
4 1t slowly rises from the oven a man tests
the temperature of the metal by stroking
| 1t gently with two pieces of solder, one
in either hand. That in his right hand
melts at 61O degrees; that in his left melts
at 500 degrees. SO that he can tell how
hot it is by the effect Of contact.
Putting on the Jacket.
When the jacket is entirely out of the
| oven it is moved slowly across the pit to
an open place where the bore is care
| fully swabbed out to remove all impuri-
ties 1t is then gently and quietly car
ried to the left until 1t rests Immediately
| over the long tube, and guided by the
| motions of Mr.. Belts. the assistant mas
| ter mechanic and several other men who
surround 1t In the pit. wearing gloves Of
| asbestos. the tension OF the chains is
gently relaxed and the jacket slides ST.
i
Belts and his men twist 1T back and
| forth.
The accuracy with which this is done
| may be judged by the fact that the hol-
low of the jacket is only five one-hun-
dredths of an inch larger than the diam
eter Of the tube. That space. almost
| inconceivable in it's rninuteness.- is occu-
pied by Aim OF oil with which the tube
has been coated in the morning. The
shrinkage of the steel in the jacket as 1t
cools will not only absorb that space.
but its mighty force will squeeze the
| tube twenty-seven -hundredths Of an
inch smaller than 1t was. This strinkage
is calculated TO a one-thousandth part Of
an inch. SO that when the gun Is fired the
strain Of the explosion which is first on
the tube will be communicated to all of
the other parts OF the gun with the same
| force. and the resistance win be equally
distributed.
It took just four minutes to slip that
81. COO pound jacket upon the 35.OO0-
pound tube-so perfect Is tbe working of
the machinery and the skill of the men.
Mr. Hayes has put Jackets on more than