Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-08-14

cannon and armour plating began, the
government appointed in 1883 COM
mittee of inquiry, with Capt. NOBLE as !, "a q
member In the same year, 50 Ia pidiy q
had he come to the front, he was
made assistant inspector of artillery
1T was in 1850 that he began his fam
Gus partnership with the late Lord
Armstrong. who 10 years before had
abandoned the q,iieter paths OF the LAW
and founded a small factory at Ei :s cfsai
In 1850 he had just added an ordnance
department. and saw thai the prlillaTt
young artillery officer was the man ne
wanted. EThe two worked together for
40 years. while the factory grew from
small things to become one Of the big
gest industrial establishments In the
world.
Sir Andrew Noble was largely re-
sponsjbie for the change from iron TO
steel as a material for big guns, Some
thing better was needed thln5 the heavy
bronze and cast-iron cannon that had
baen doing duty at ssebastoppl.5 In
faw years Noble had left them miles
behind and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the science Of
cannon building
THIS Is how big guns are built at BIS
wick ". n
Rcd2hot steel ingots arc.forced into
rough cNlindricll shape, either by ne
bounding of steam-h hammers tsome Of
by hydraulic presses. The larsestEfol
the latter gives Il pressure OF nearly
G.10O tons 4&s
Nowthat the roughforging has been
made it has to be tested, and this Is
| a critical part OF the process. A few
pieces are cut off from the main forg-
Ing. heated iii oil at a Temperature of
about LOO degrees Fahrenheit. and
fixed firmly in iron jaws. Hydraulic
pressure now tries to- tear each lump IN
two, the strain sometimes rising TO-
46 tons on i each square inch. II all
the sample pieces stand the test the
forging is held good enough to make a
gun. IL not, another forging Is made
If the test is satisfactory the rough
inside and turned on the outside.
Then it is hardened by being dipped
into a bath. of hot oil; then bored and
turned again TIL smooth then an-S
nealed, or allowed tocool slowly from a.
high Temperatures then 1t is fine
process Is that Of testing the surface.
1t Is tested both chemically and by
mirrors.
GROONED LIKE A SCREW.
The gun is now we'll into shape, but
it needs strengthening. deep pit 3is
dag, and the gun set upright In t, Red
not hoops OF steel are uiol y =. -
on top AS they cool they tighten
After each layer of hoops the gun Is
planed by a lathe to make 1t smooth
for the next layer. KS
Now the inside Is rited or grooNed
| like a screw. When the powder cha M
Der has been bored out and the breeci1-
block fitted the gun is nearly ready for
its trials. The Elswick big guns are
tested near Silloth. on the fiat and
lonely shores of Solway FIRTH
ia Many are the inventions that the
| artillery world owes to Sir Andrew
Noble. & The debt might be summed up.
] in this: Sir Andrew was the first man
to apply scientific methods OF Tesearcn.
to gun making, which had hitherto
| been largely Of a rule-of-thumb affair
| One Of the most ingenious inventions.
| however, is the chronoscope, which
| measures the speed of a shot at .d1t i.es
1 ent parts of the bore of gun cutting
1 plugs" passing through the circum-
1 ference of the gun to the bore, are
| screwed into the sides of the gun. As
1 the shot passes its foremost edge
1 presses up knife which cuts wire.
| This intercepts an electric current. and
| the instrument thus makes the record
| He has,4ftoo, after exhaustive re-
search, published valuable taple .oyi
| which the heat and the gases produced
by any charge in any gun can be cal
| culated and analysed.
FOND OF SHOOTING.
| Sir Andrew is very fond of shooting
| and Of tennis. When Young ne was a
4 noted athlete. His home is in the heart
of desmond Dene the most beautiful
i public park in England. II onors nave
/ been showered on him for his services
TO science. He has been decorated by
seven foreign govrnments.
story is told of two l1lswick chill
i .dren who once saw Sir Andrew pass
$40 YOU know who that Is with the
white whiskers?'' asked one.
1 NO
well. that's Noble. was the awed,
1 answer.
1 rs that him.
Yes, that's the man my father says
invented pop-guns." And four reVen-
4 tial eyes followed the great inventor
Il Pearsons weekly.