Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1912-12-26
LOADING ] ! BIC GUNS
They Get Quick Action on the
Modern Monster Warship.
STORY OF a PRACTICE DRILL

WhaS tSappeneo After the Order 60
AFirs!" Was Very Different From
What Would Have Occurred Had
cordits and Projsctilss Been ussd.
The order is given to load. Some one
touches lever, and with a hiss mass
Of bright steel turns and twists back,
and the breech Of the gun gapes open,
Another touch on the lever, and from
beside you hydraulic ram shoots out
like golden tongue into the breech
and Immediately shoots back again
All is clear. Now, at your very feet,
hole gapes in the door Of the turret,
there Is Stat and crash Of metal. and
as you look down into the hole you sec
q small lift travelling up with incred
ible rapidity and internal clutter bear
ing on 1t the immense projectle, weigh
ing more than seven hundredweight
and, in another compartment, the two
cartridges OF cordite.
Up comes the lift. locks itself witch q
crash and spills out the projecti,e on q
metal tray In line with the open. breech
The golden tongue Of the rammel
shoots out again and pushes the pro
jectile into the gaping breech, extend
ing itself apparently indefinitely until
the projectile has disappeared. The
lift shifts IL little. bringing into line
with the gun Its other compartment
which contains the two half charges.
each cylinder holding $50 pounds OF
cordite. Out shoots the ram again
with no more respect for them than If
they had been sponges. and pushes
them steadily home behind the projec
tile, and, having done its deadly bust
ness. retires again out of the way to be
ready for another cycle Of the same op-
erations
Half turn of the wheel, and the
breech block swings home with a sigh
and a click. fright gun loaded. SIR
Now you wait in suspense, and voice
in the coming tower gives the range
$500 yards. The gun layer in his quiet
corner has all this time never taken his
eye from the glass. He turns one
wheel, and the whole turret swings
round over the ships quarter; he turns
Of imprisoned water the whole mighty
tonnage Of the gun, sweetly balanced
on its trunnions. rises and tits itself
to the push Of the hydraulic press.
The range is decreasing by some thir-
ty yards a second, since the target Is
ship approaching US at speed equal
to our own-afteen knots-and as the
falling ranges ore given the gun metal
wheel is turned an eighth or a quarter
Of an inch. and the muzzle Of the gun
sinks down little as. gently as fall
ing leaf. The sights are reported 'on,"
the gun laid, and the word we have all
been waiting for is sharply given
Sire" The gun layer pulls trigger
no bigger than that Of a pistol and
The projectile was dummy one
made of wood covered with leather.
and there was no cordite in the car
tridges. IL 1t had been otherwise the
pictures that adorned the commanders
room, the mirrors and toilet accesso-
ries on the cabin tables and the va
uous elegant adornments of the cap
tain's suit would unless they had been
previously packed away have come
crashing down from their places, and
the navigating commander, who hap
pened at the time to be explaining to
an unwilling listener on the quarter
deck by what skill and foresight he
had avoided setting the ships stern on
to the breakwater at Portland. would
have been blown of the deck.
These things were unnecessary, for
quite understood. The click and 81
lence that followed the word "Firuw
We're quite eloquent enough to me Of
all the shattering damnation they rep
resented-a projectile weighing $50
pounds hurtling to It's mark at the
rate of almost thousand yards se,.-
Ond.
But we in the turret would have
known nothing, for before 1t had reach
ed the target the breech block would
haze opened to the screech Of the air
last which cleans out the burning
fragments Of cordite in the breech the
rammer would have shot In with its
mop and out again, the ammunition
hoist would have come gathering and
screaming up, another projectile would
have rolled into the tray with another
two hundredweight of death packed
behind 1t. the hammer would have
pushed 1t home with kick. the. block
would have swung to again. the great
gun would have been sighted and
swung in the air. again the word would
have been given. and again the frag-
ment of concentrated power that men
had toiled in factories and drawing Of
fees, in laboratories aud fou,ldries to.
perfect would have been sent winging
through the sea air to spend itself in
iestructi ton.
And only. one man in the turret would
have seen its fate; only. he With his
eye to the telescope, who, had seen the
hull Of that ship in the distance cover
Ing the, threadlike cross on his glass
as he pulled the trigger would see and
guess when the distant target would
burst into yellow smoke what work
had been done.-Londons Standard. y
Not at All Easy.
Lucille-Oh. you can win Marie's
heart easily enough. All you need do
Is to give her all the money she wants.