Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-09-20

ine Oiu CONSTITUTIONS twenty four
Founders Were Great Cannon, but
Modern Monster Gun Could Fire One
Of Them Bodily Ten Miles.
The frigate Constitution. fighter of
thirty-nine battles and winner of ever,
one of them. today offers the student
an exceptional opportunity to compare
the naval fighting machine of q hun
dred years ago with the superdread
naught of the hour Peacefully float
Ing ut wharf in the Charlestown
Nlass.l navy yard, "Old Ironsides
speaks volumes to the thoughtful Wis.
itor who has perhaps just few l4in
utes before stepped down the ganswal
Of modern ship
Aside from the vastly different meth
DDS Of placing the guns, perhaps the
most striking contrast between the ma
val architecture of century ago aud
that of today is seen in the actual
structure of the huh and superstruc-
lures. The warShip of today has not II
piece of wood visible. with the posi-.
bic exception of the deck. which is
wood over steel Foundation. Stripped
for action. the modern fighting craft
presents positively naked appearance
with every movable object cast over.
board or slowed away.
The Constitution. OH the other hand
presents bewildering array of rig
ging and spars, and she Is wholly con
structed of wood A single moderr
shell exploding under her or on her
deck would do as much damage proba-
bly, as an entire broadside from n shin
similar to the Guerrero. This vast
change in the design is. of course. du,
In large measure to the introduction OF
steam as u means OF propulsion. Fol
lowing this the all steel hui was intro
duced.
The gun deck of the Constitution
stirs the imagination perhaps still more
than does the spar deck. Topped by
low ceiling, which makes one want to
stOop as he walks, this deck savors OF
a prison dungeon. Glancing at the row
of long twenty-fonr Founders, thirty III
number. one can readily picture the
smoke filled atmosphere. the terrible
din. the sweating. half naked figures
straining to reload the clumsy pieces
of ordnance and ever and anon shot
crashing through the futile wooden
wall sending splinters in all direc
tions
Stepping from the gun deck and thp
turrets of the Rhode Island to this old
time chamber of horrors, the visitor
cannot fail to wonder how In her ia
nous engagement the Constitution suf
fered loss Of but seven killed and
seven wounded out of crew of 4lG
officers and men. Perhaps the answer
is found in the inaccuracy of the guns
and poor craftsmanship Of the gun
ners. More likely. however. It is due to
the fact that the explosive shell had
not then been invented, Aside from
the splinters. twenty-four pound shot
through the hull stood little chance OF
doing really great damage unless II
struck mast. a gunner or the gun car
riage itself.
The guns of the Constitutions day
had an effective range of possibly a
mile. although history tells us that the
real execution was done at ranges
of from one to three hundred Yards
Think of the engagements of modern
warships. wherein naval duels are
fought at ten miles range and wherr
the opposing ships are actually OUT OF
sight from the gun deck and barely
visible from the fighting tops. Think
of guns aimed with the aid of mathe
matics! What marvellous strides sci
ence has made In times of peace and
In the short space Of a hundred years
AS an interesting comparison Of the
guns Of today with those Of 1872 we
may call attention to the fact that
while the total broadside discharge
of the Constitutions battery would
amount to 6S4 pounds of metal, s'n'
gle projectile from one of our coast
defense mortars weighs half ton.
Even more striking is the fact that
the projectile from modern four
teen inch piece of ordnance such as
that carried by the superdreaduaughts
weighs practically as much as one of
the big guns of the Constitution In
other words. instead of hurling small
ball of iron at its enemy the modern
fighter of the seas could actually throw
one of the Constitutions cannOns itself
at the opponent were the cannon of
suitable shape and form.
And. furthermore. the explosive
charge in the proiectile would he great
er by far in power than the entire
charge used to fire the old cannon
This means that the modern engine Of
destruction actually takes a mass of
steel equal in weight to the old gun
loaded with high explosive and lands
this entire mass on the deck or inside
the hull of the enemy's ship. where IL
explodes. Thomas Stanley Curtis In
Popular Science Monthly.
A Huge Dinner Can.
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