The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-25
GUN" WILL
HIT AER0PLANES
American Ordnance Experts
Claim to Have Solved
Big Problem
ALL OTHER NATIONS
HAVE BEEN BAFFLED
New instrument of War Dis
charges Hail of Shot That
Spreads Out AS it
Proceeds

WASHINGTON. D. c.. July 24.-A
gun with an fnstantaneously acting
sight. which will scatter projectiles
that in turn will explode and S:at.e,
more proJectiles-fan wise. at a speed
ing aeroplane. has been perfected by
the War Department officials at ne
Watervflle, Conn, ARSENAL
Ordnance experts IF att rhe great
armies of the woris have been cop
ms with this problem, which At last
has been solved by An American.
With the completion II this mar
yelous gum, the war experts balieve
they have MASTER II the question wne-
Their the aeroplane, IN its highest per-
fection, car be i, serious menace TO
ships OF war. land f~oc..lcations, or
armies encamped, o. a natural bat.
terry. The War Department proposes
TO PROVE and he exfeers say that
they Will prove At Sandy Hook in the
very near future that he danger
from a~eroplanes loaded with 6estruc-
tive maerial has t.u.n met and ob-
dated by American skill ard In
genuity.
The new gun was shipped q day or
two g from Wsterviiie. Ccnn.. arse
nal TO Rock Island arsenal, where its
delicate scientific parts are being ad-
iusted. From Rock Island arsenal
1t will be shipped to Sandy Hook.
In the meanwhile the signal corps
will provide the material against
which h gun ts to be tested.
Not Lake Others.
one of the important considers-
lions In the invention Of Thu gun
was. OF curse, that IT should differ
very materially from the German gun
and the French and English attempts
at aeroplane d~estroyers4 1t WAS stated
fn-AQp shAy ell n~Avf.-sa t~~Iatr 20.
rejected AS faulty. and that the new
gun is entirely the work of the Blu
reau Of Ordnance of the War De-
partrnant. at the head OF which rs
General William Croxter
h reports OF the Bureau of In
teliigencs of the War Department
show that the German gun has been
a failure. and the am may be SAID
OF all makes M American gun Is
based on Il series OF secrets. One OF
the mos important IL the %protectile
itself. What is definitely known
about the protectile is that II can ne
placed accurately. Will explode at q
given moment and that from 1t will
radiate h pro1ectiies. which IN
turn VIII explode and cover an i'm
rnense cubic space. An expert who
described II to-day said that perhaps
the best comparison OF the effect OF
[fN - = a., NJ ACth "SbaA &c a.
w~ell-known shower Of stars in pyro-
technic displays. The space covered.
however. would be Infinitely larger
because at the moment the shell IL
self expiodes 1t radiates other shells.
They say, too, very confidently. that
unless the secret OF the explosive
should be discovered. this effect can
not be initiated by n other nation.
Has Wide Range.
l Tha afny-afinn NJ thu mn to on dn-
grees, that Is. II can be fired hort
zontaily and at every angle and di-
vision Of an angle up to the zenith.
1t has An azimuth range OF about
so degrees. 1t Is equipped with. a
range finder. which is instantaneous In
it's calculations and mechanism by
which the gun can be pointed In a few
seconds after h calculations to any
given point in the atmosphere. ana
besides this allowance can be made
for the moving object.
The experts are 80 certain OF what
ithis gun can do that they say that
their theories can be assumed as real
izations already. They admit that
two years ago. when the Ordnance
Bureau attempted to hit balloons
captive ana moving at Sandy Hook.
every balloon escaped. They say now
hat the captive balloon will be an
easy mark. as 1t has been go ar
ranged that balloons will be released
at various heights in high winds, and
that they Will be brought down with
unerrtng precision.
One OF the experts said to-day thai
the gun was. OF course. only one or
the types OF the future equipment OF
both army and navy.
The gun IL portable and can be
used on picket lines as the farthest
advanced outposts and run no dan
ger OF being captured by cavalry.
1T IS manifest" said one Of the
officials of the signal corps to-day,
that the battles of the future will
be preceded by a skirmish between
aeroplanes m both sides operating
against each other and by and be-
tween the aeroplanes OF an enemy's
and h aeroplane destroyer. viii, h
has been invented by the War De-
rtman