Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-04-10
FRIGHTFULNEss IT'S ONLY USE.
U. s. Expert Gives His Opinion OF
German Mystery Gun, S

. b. e
. AK .>.--------. 53tg Ef 50
j. Bernard Walker, editor of the
Scientific American, ar ordnance and
naval expert who has frequently been
called into consultation by govern
ment officials, givos the following as
his conception 1f the new German
gun that is bombarding Paris:
If we could see the long range
German gun about which there is so
much talk just now, we should find
that it Is built upon the we'll known
principles which govern the construc-
tion OF guns of ordinary range. Any
nation that thought it was worth
while could have built a 9h inch
gun with range Of 70 miles; but
all military men except those of the
German breed have realized that they
have no use for gun OF super-mnge.
The German breed had use for such
gun as part OF Its program of
rfrightfulness-he this dropping Of
unaimed shells into the city OF Paris.
THE range of gun depends main
ly upon It's muzzle velocity and the
angle at which 1t Is fired. The angle
Of elevation which gives the greatest
range Is about 43h degrees. The
muzzle velocity for she'll of given
weight depends upon the powder
pressure at the base Of the shell and
the length Of time during which that
nnW6nr &C. I'M
: time element Is governed OF course
mainly by the length Of. the gun.
> 'The longest range guns used for
military purposes are so times as
long as the diameter Of their bore, or
SO calibres long as it Is expressed.
Evidently, then, If you want to in
crease the range OF a given she'll,
such as the 9.1a -inch she'll which has
boon thrown into Paris, you could
solve the problem by increasing the
peMaer ehersss aRdtt be seE$h 81 The
sun. Also, at the cost OF wearing
cut the gun very quickly, you could
increase the powder pressure on the
base of the shell. In other words.
the question Of burning sufficient
amount Of powder at a sufficiently
high pressure in a sufficiently long
gun, and there Is no mechanical rea-
son why q gun of these conditions
could not be built and operated sue
cessfully until it's rifling was worn
out--a. condition which would very
quickly be reached.
"a gun of the great length requir-
ed, If it were mouDted in the usual
manner, would bend under Its own
weight, or droop, as it Is called. This
tendency has been met in the Ger
man gun either by supporting the
long chase OF the gun in stiff >seel
truss, or, as Is more likely, mounting
it. on mass of concrete with face
incline Of 431a degrees. The gun as
thus mounted, would, Of course, be
incapable of being elevated in a ver-
tical plane. The fact that all shots
which were fired have fallen in a
definite area, whose diameter is
about what tie dispersion Of the
shots at such great range would
call for, Geems to indicate that the
gun Is 81 the immovable type-im-
movable, that Is to say, except in the
direction of recoil."
German Gives Details.
Geneva, Switzerland, March 30.--
Lieut.. Gen. Won Rhone, German
authority Of ordnance and Inspector
Of artillery, gives In magazine OF
which he is editor, additional details
in regard to the long distance Ger
man guns with which Paris is being
bombarded. He says they are 90
metres (65M feet) long. The empty
shell weighs $50 Kilograms $3.50
pounds), and the charge weighs the
Same. The projectile attains a
height Of 80 wilometres ,(18. g miles) ),
and descends from the aky line like a
meteor on It's target.
Gen. Won Rohne says 1t requires
about three minutes for the she'll to
reach its destination. The greatest
difficulty in the way OF increasing the
range was overcome by sending the
pro1ectile high enough to reach the
rarified air. "a
A"fSy5;, tl'3.t .-i
Fairfield Junior Red Cross.
Fairfield school organized Junior
Red Gross on March OF with }ha fol-