Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-03-22
CAPTAIN PLATT
completes TEST

"Thp tests have all becn very Satls-
| factory" said captain W. T.. Plat. the
officer who has been examining the big
guns around Honolulu. this morning
while the firing was in progress at Fort
Ruger
in the tests made at Pearl Harbor
and of the small guns in Honolulu,
there was not even small screw found
loose after the tests We're made, and
think the same can be said after the
mortars we are now testing are ex-
amined.
This is the last of my work here,
these four mortars winding up the
work and completing the tests of the
guns now in place l expect to re-
turn to the Coast by the Wilhelmina,"
he concluded.
There was n considerable crowd
which went to Battery Harlow at Fort
Ruger in automobiles this morning, the
time set for the firing of the first gun
of the battery being 10 o'clock.
on account of the non-arrival of
General Macomb commanding the de-
partment the first gun was not fired
until long after that hour, and then
when the general did arrive there were
two Japanese sampans off Waalae
beach in the field of fire, which de-
layed the start still longer.
The sampans finally moved out of
the way. and then between showers
the first of the mortafs was fired with
a charge of Sc pounds of powder and
a 1000-pound projectie.
A burst of flame leaped into the air
when the lanyard was pulled for the
discharge, and the projectile could be
heard on its upward flight for many
seconds, finally coming down in a long
arch and falling into the sea 1000 yards
from the firing point. 1t took A Sec
onds from the time the gun was dis
charged until the squirt of white wa
ter was seen marking the striking point
in the ocean.
All the four mortars were discharged
with the same charge during the first
round, and the measurements of pres
sure. etc, We're taken after each shot,
the angle of elevation of the pieces
bringing the proiecties down into what
is technically known as the fifth zone,
which is approximately 1000 yards from
the battery
In the second round the weight of
projectile was 42S pounds, and the
charge of powder was increased to the
maximum pounds-which threw the
projectile 5000 yards from the battery
out into the sea, landing in 65 seconds
from the time of fire.
All the tests were successful, and
Captain Plat and the other officers
present stated that they We're perfectly
satisfied with what the battery could
do, The four guns which were tested
a year ago We're not fired today, only
the others which had not been tested
previously.
Up on the parapet looking directly
down into the mortar pit number of
the spectators with the observing army
officers stood, and some followed the
flight of the projectles from the time
they left the mouth of the guns until
they were lost to sight in the sky,
which they pierced for about two miles.
There were present besides the COM
manding general, officers from Fort
Shafter and the marine barracks and
Il number of civilians, r. w Breckons,
Marshal Eugene r. ITendry, Supervisor
Harry Murray, Augustus Schuman,
General Soper, M. f.. Prosser and
others.
The scream of the projectiles could
be distinctly heard for a long distance
| on either side of the battery the noise
decreasing as they erached the highest
point and then beginning in different
key as they descended.
Several times during the firing, OPP
erations had to be stopped on account
of the rain blotting out the field of
fire, but as soon as the showers passed
1t was again resumed
1.-THE idea of a mortar is to get the
projectile as high in the air as posi-
BILE" said Captain Plat, land the mo-
mentum it attains in failing will do
all the necessary damage to anything
| it strikes. Fitted with PERCUSSION caps
these projectiles will bore through the
decks of the stanchest men of war and,
piercing their interiors, will explode
With disastrous results.
In the longer range fire we use a
heavier charge OF powder and a light
er projectile."
Many of the spectators had enough
of the noise before the first round was
fired and several left for town then.
the others remaining for the last shot
to hear the scream in the air and watch
for the spout of water in the ocean
marking the place where the GASTRIC
struck