H. Baden Pritchard

“ Indeed, in the case of very heavy guns located in a casemate or on board ship, the Germans reproach us with the assertion that we must needs have recourse to all sorts of complicated and awkward machinery in loading, while in their case a simple pulley or crane is all that is necessary. Either, say they, we must expose our gunners through the open port when loading, or, as in the case of the Thunderer, rely blindly on hydraulic apparatus to work the guns for us. So stands the question: perhaps the present war will bring us a solution of it.—Nature. ”

“ RECENT wars have had particular interest for the man of science. If we go back some fifteen or twenty years and consider the different wars which have unfortunately occurred since that time, we shall find connected with each one of them certain features which undoubtedly mark progress in the art of killing and wounding. ”

“ The delicate machinery permits the torpedo to swim at any depth below the surface that may be desirable, and it flies straight in the direction it is aimed, at a speed of something like twenty miles an hour. If it fails to strike the foe, then the intelligent apparatus at once rises to the surface, becoming innocuous as it does so, and may in this condition be captured without difficulty. ”

“ Some argue—and on very good grounds, no doubt—that the more sharp and terrible warfare is made, the more speedily must it come to an end, and hence look with favor upon the means taken every day to render weapons more destructive and the soldier more cunning in his dangerous trade. ”

“ France has done nothing lately for the regeneration of its ordnance, and there remain but Great Britain and Italy to represent muzzle-loading artillery. But Italy, although she has adopted the British system for very heavy guns, is by no means a confirmed believer in it, and will doubtless hesitate before following our example very far, beset, as she is, with neighbors armed with breech-loaders. ”

“ One other expedient Uchatius has recourse to in making his cannon. When he has cast his gun and chilled it, he proceeds to dilate the bore. Wedges of steel, shaped in the form of cones, are forced into the tube of the gun one after another, until the calibre of the weapon has been increased by something like seven or eight per cent. This expansion or dilation of the tube has not only the effect of hardening or steeling the core, but also of rendering the gun more elastic and capable of resisting more effectually the strain put upon it at the moment of firing. ”

“ About ninety per cent, of copper and ten of tin is the mixture commonly employed in making ordinary bronze, and eight per cent, of tin is the proportion preferred by Uchatius. The difficulty in casting bronze, as those who have any experience know full well, is that of securing homogeneity, soft particles of tin becoming isolated in the mass, and giving rise to the defect known as "tin-pitting." ”

“ The Uchatius gun is made of so-called steel-bronze. Chilled bronze would be a better name, since Uchatius casts his metal in a chilled, or metal mould, in the same manner, pretty well, as Sir William Palliser produces his famous chilled projectiles. Bronze, as everybody knows, has been a favorite metal with gun-founders from the earliest days, and in the East, especially, magnificent castings of this nature have been produced. ”

“ In construction, the Austrian gun is so similar to that of Herr Krupp, of Essen, that the latter claimed compensation for an infringement of his patent when the manufacture of the Uchatius gun was first commenced. The Essen works, our readers may know, supply not only Germany with steel breech-loaders, but have provided the present belligerents with all their modern artillery. Russia has still many brass cannon on hand, and Turkey a goodly number of Armstrongs, but both powers mainly depend upon their steel Krupps. ”

“ Wires may thus be cut and communication stopped in the heart of an enemy's country by fearless riders, who have but to draw rein for an instant to effect the mischief, while lines of railway in the neighborhood are entirely at their mercy. ”

“ Whether we have lost the secret of bronze-casting, or whether in former times they were more skillful at the work, certain it is that founders of the present day are unable to secure so uniform an alloy as formerly. This was very apparent when some eight or ten years ago our own, Government adopted, for a brief time, bronze artillery. ”

“ We do not propose to discuss this argument, nor to enter at all into any comparison between the wars of our forefathers and those of to-day, but at a crisis like the present we need hardly apologize for bringing before our readers some points illustrating the marked influence of science upon modern warfare. ”

“ The present Russo-Turkish War cannot well be less interesting than those that have so recently preceded it, and we may especially point out two directions in which fresh examples of scientific warfare will probably manifest themselves—in connection, namely, with the cavalry pioneer and the Whitehead torpedo. ”

“ So far as practical trials have been conducted with the weapon, the Austrian Government have every reason to be satisfied with the Uchatius gun, which compares favorably with the Krupp steel cannon in the matter of accuracy and durability; while, as regards its cost, it is far cheaper than any other rifled ordnance. A steel field-piece costs upward of £100, even when not protected with rings, while the iron-steel weapon, manufactured in this country, costs about £70 sterling; the steel-bronze cannon of General von Uchatius, on the other hand, are made for £35 apiece. ”

“ In the head is a charge of some violent explosive, such as gun-cotton, or dynamite, which explodes as soon as the torpedo strikes an obstacle. The motive power is compressed air, which is forced into the machine by powerful air-pumps, immediately before the torpedo is discharged into the sea, no less than 600 pounds on the square inch being the pressure exerted. ”

“ A torpedo of this sort striking the sides of an iron-clad would almost infallibly send her to the bottom, and although it has been proved that a network or crinoline around the ship is capable of retarding the progress of a "fish" of this nature, and exploding the same harmlessly in its toils, it is obviously a very difficult matter thus to protect one's craft. ”

“ With the employment of a gas-check at the base of the shot to prevent windage and so secure the full force of the exploding charge, the use of studs in a shot appears to be unnecessary, sufficient spin being imparted to the projectile by the soft metal of the gas-check before named, which causes the shot to rotate after the manner of a Snider bullet. ”

“ In a belt round their waists they carry a few pounds of gun-cotton or dynamite, and with this highly-destructive explosive they may work incalculable harm. A small charge of gun-cotton placed simply upon a rail and fired with a fuse suffices to blow several feet of the iron to a distance of many yards, thus rendering the railway unserviceable on the instant. ”