The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1917-12-27

4
board or slowed away.
The Constitution. on the other hand,
presents q bewildering array of rig
ging and spars, and she is wholly con-
structed Of wood. A dpy modern
shell exploding under her<6R on her
deck would do as much damafp proba-
bly, as an entire broadside ftom hip
similar TO the Guerrero. rI1dEut
change In the design is. of connDS' 0ue
In large meae4re. to the introducf5e4 q
steam as propulsion Fol-
lowing this EEL hull wss intro
duced.
The 81 q thss constitut,os,
stirs thS lon perhaps stin pote
than d 4 deck. Topped ~ 1
low q eh makes one wax d.,
stoog akS. this deck savoro ~
pr ION. CHANGING at the row
or p-four Founders, thirty in
y can readily picture the
ID atmosphere. the terrified
sweating, half naked fgureo3
to reload the clumsy piec0Ds]
hnce and ever and anon a shot
hg through the futile woodGIsI
sending splinters In all dr.
3 Topping from the gun deck and fft4
trets Of the Rhode Island to tfls 81. (
me chamber of horrors, the yidtor ]
cannot fail to wonder how In Ser a. j
nous engagement the Constitu3pn ~.
Tered loss Of but seven kaed "a
seven wounded out Of a cr0l nflb6
officers and men. Perhaps ~ 1m6Wer
8 foun1 In the inaccuracy Of t. guns
Ind poor craftsmanship Of the gum
,ers. More likely. however, It is due to
he fact that the explosive shell had
lot then been invented. Aside from
ne splinters, twenty-four pound shot
trough the hull stood little chance Of
loing really great damage unless 1t ,
truck mast, q gunner or the gun car I
iage itself.
The guns Of the Constitutions day {
ad an effective range OF possibly a
nile. although history tells us that the
cal execution was done at ranges
( from one to three hundred yards. \
'hink Of the engagements Of modern Il
wherein naval duels are 3
ought at ten miles range and where O
he opposing ships are actually out of \
Ight from the gun deck and barely
isible from the fighting tops! Think O
guns aimed with the aid OF mathe- m
laticsl What marvellous strides SCI r,
ice has made I'm times of peace and r,
! the short space Of hundred yearsi m
As an interesting comparison Of the =
ms Of today with those OF 1912 we "
ay call attention to the fact that, r
lille the total broadside discharge
the Constitutions battery would
Mount to 684 pounds Of metal, q sin
g projectile from one Of our coast A.
.fense mortars weighs half ton. =,
Even more striking Is the fact that a.
g projectile from a modern four -,
en- inch piece Of ordnance such as M,
at carried by the superdreadnaughts Nc
eighs practically as much as one Of a.,
e big guns Of the Constitution. In a.
her words, instead of hurting a small -,
II of iron at its enemy the modern :.
liter Of the seas could actually throw th.
e Of the Constitutions cannons itself
the opponent were the cannon Of
table shape and form.
And, furthermore, the explosive
arge in the projectile would be great cal
by far In power than the entire or
arge used to fire the old cannon. tai
Is means that the modern engine Of Inn
actually takes a mass OF pht
ell equal In weight to the old gun pot
ded with high explosive and lands diu
8 entire mass on the deck or inside or
hull Of the enemy's ship. where It abe
Stanley Curtis In
pular Science Monthly.