The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-03-25
German Monster Guns
Send Shots Into Paris
From 76-Nlile Range
french Ordnance Officers Explain Mechanism Of New
super Mun0n Of War-lOmbs May Have PrOpelers
Attached-Costs $4,OOu to Fire Each Charge. II IL

tins is small, but it asks for rcprs-
ais OH German cities. 3,.s..+
Prof. Paul Painlevc, former prem
Ter and president of the Academy Of
Sciences, told the Excelsior that by
using tungsten in the fabrication Of
the proiectilc, the tungsten shells
would be OF about half the diameter
of steel shells of an even weight, and
that thel cfore the atmospheric resis-
lance would be less, this accounting
for the extremely long range. He also
touched upon the possibility Of a pro-
pellor being employed on the prOjec
tile. ~ ',' .'.~f''0 Is .#.f
Austrian Manufacture
The newspaper LIE Journal in it's ar
ticle regarding the guns, says it is OF
240 millimetres calibre and OF Austrian
manufacture. 1t is very delicate
piece OF machinery, which must be
handled by expert mathematicians and
gunners, the newspaper adds, as the
loading and pointing is "a difficult
task. 1t declares each shot costs about
$4,000. This is new conception of
our enemies" the newspaper COM
ments.
The ordance experts were not
ready last night to commit themselves
as to whether the she'll was a sort Of
aerial torpedo driven by propellors,
whether an inner projectile contained
in the original shell has travelled q
certain distance from the gun, or
whether the original projectile itself
reaches its destination, propelled ner-
haps by an explosive Of force hith-
erto unknown.
In Saturdays bombardment TWEEN.
ty-four shots in all wero fired from
1925 a. m. to 3 o'clock p. n. shell
dropping every twenty minutes with
monotonous regularity. The lombard
ment presented all the characteristics
of a commandment by heavy artillery,
there being regular intervals between
the shots and the shells falling within
q restricted area Enemy aYiators who
flew over the city during the early
hours OF the bombardment regulated
the firing. @%s' .f'. "ra,#
A Prominent American chemist,
whose name Is withheld for military
reasons, in q statement to the Assoc
lated Press today concerning the long
range gun that is being used to bonn
bard Paris, advanced the theory that
the barrel of the gun is surrounded by
a magnetic field which keeps the shell
virtually free from the sides Of the
gun when it is being fired, thereby
Eliminating friction, which is the great
est cause of lost motion, and is great
ly Increasing the muzzle velocity OF
gun. The chemist pointed out that
apparently the same propulsive power
was being used as in other high vel
ocity guns, but in much greater guam
t1ty.. Tie added that the shell OF the
new guns travels to a great height
and largely through atmosphere much
thinner than that traverscd by the Or
binary shell, and therefore with less
air resistance. The opinion was CIV
en- that the shell probably is made of
highly tempered tungsten steel and
that the deterioration of the barrel
OF the gun is not likely to be as rapid
as in the ordinary high velocity gun
because of the elimination OF the fric-
ton. 1t was stated that heavy charges
OF explosives would tend to decrease
the accuracy of the gun.