Mexico Missouri message., 1912-05-09

-SOSEN<ND a
NV WENTY fourteen-inch guns. the
D largest naval guns in the
world, are being constructed
at the Washington navy yard
for the New York and the
Texas. tirst-class battleships OF the
dreadnought type, which are expected
to be ready for launching about a
year hence. Later on twenty or more
Of the great bores are to be built Tor
the Nevada and the Oklahoma dread
thoughts to be completed in 1914, and
the United States will then have four
war ships armed with larger guns
than any other navy possesses, each
OF the four battleships capable of
hurting seven tons Of proiectile a dis
lance of thirteen miles with each dis
charge of It's batteries, writes Arthur
NJ. Evans In the Chicago Record-Her-
aid.
Two or three larger guns, fifteen
and sixteen inch bores, IL Is true, have
been built by other naval powers. but
they have either been smoothbore or
have had faults in mechanism that
have made them unsuccessful OF oper-
alton. and they are not listed In the
battleship armament of the great
powers.
The fourteeninch monsters In the
shops at the navy yard are rivals OF
the Washington monument, the CAPT
,ol, the White House and the congress
sional library in attracting the inter
est OF visitors in Washington, and
continuous procession of sightseer
streams through the factory to watcl
! the manufacturer of the giant roar
ers. The navy yard is an ordnance
factory, and its machine shop is on
Of the wonders OF Washington. Up &
two years ago the thirteen-inch gui
was the largest manufactured, bu
since then the fouTteen-inch monster
has been the pet product OF the plant
q great black bore, fifty feet long
that stretches almost to the width o.
the shop when It is in the lathe anC
that weighs more than sixty-thre'
tons without its mount.
What They Cost.
The guns are forged at Bethlehem
Pa, and are finished here. They arr
made in sections, with successive
Jackets and hoops shrunk upon thu
central tube. just as a blacksmith
shrinks a tire upon wagon wheel
/ The Jacket is heated IN an electri
/ furnace that produces n temperature
| of 400 to 500 degrees, the core is In
| serted and the jacket is then coole
off, shrinking until 1t encases the tub
/ almost as closely as If both were on
niece OF metal. The gun made u
O.! layers of steel in this way is muc
stronger than one formed OF one piec
OF metal.
Travelling cranes pick up the gun a
If It were a toothpick, and place
in the barrel-boring lathe, where pow
erful machines bore out the barre
and chamber, after which the rifiin
lathe cuts grooves on the inside {
the bore to give the projectile a r.
tary movement. In the lathe the In
mense gun itself is rotated upon tn
cutting instruments.
BY the time the fourteen-inch gu
is finished 1t has cost S62,2Os. III
mount costs $4,000 more. The life {
the gun before lining is necessary
225 rounds, and the cost of each roun
of ammunition in warfare is somewhi
in excess of $500, Of which the pr
tectile itself costs $500 In targt
practice the cost of each shot is abol
5000. The foHrteen-inCh gun throw
a shell weighing ! 400 pounds a Of
lance OF nearly thirteen miles wit
such accuracy that the expert gu
ners can land the projectile som
where within a rectangle with twent
foot sides. The shell leaves the mu
zle of the gun travelling at a yelocit
OF nearly half a mile a second and (
distance Of 10000 yards It is capabl
of penetrating 1873 inches OF fac,
hardened armor The twelve-inc
nuns penetrate 1856 inches of siuila
srmo7 at the same distance,
. IN the yard is a display OF trophie
ttat illustrates wildly the grea
progress made In the machinery {
warfare. The CORVALLIS batter
captured at Yorktown. is arranged 1
a circle on a concrete stand Con
pared with the immense fourteen-inc
guns IN the shop, with their lengt
OF ffty.fve feet AID their weight {
siSty-three tons, the cannon OF Corr
wallis look almost like watch charmi
Each is ABOUT the size of a length {
drain tie Some OF them have handle
ON their tops like satchels, The