Cannon ball

“ Think of a cannon-ball rushing through the air at a speed of a thousand feet per second; it is capable of wreaking disaster on anything which it meets, simply because its rapid motion is the vehicle by which the energy of the gunpowder is transferred from the gun to where the blow is to be struck. Had the cannon been directed vertically upwards, then the projectile, leaving the muzzle with the same initial velocity as before, would soar up and up, with gradually abating speed, until at last it reached a turning-point, the elevation of which would depend upon the initial velocity. ”

“ Everywhere in this liquid mud you see broken glass, unexploded shells, cannon-balls—every trace of camp life. You seem to hear the noise of a cannon-ball falling only two yards away, and from all sides come the sound of balls, which sometimes hum like bees, sometimes groan and split the air, which vibrates like a violin-string, the whole dominated by the sinister rumbling of cannon, which shakes you from head to foot and fills you with terror. ”

“ By taking a ball of solid lead of a smaller size than the calibre of the musket, and placing it on the charge in a gun, and as much or nearly so of powder, over the ball, the effect we are assured is, that when the gun is fired, the ball will pass out without any very sensible force, and even drop [40] a few yards from the gun, although the report will be as great as if the charge and ball had been used in the usual manner. This trick is often performed by jugglers, to the great astonishment of the spectators. The mode of catching a cannon ball is also of the same character. ”

“ We forget the usual rate of a cannon-ball in good condition, when he is in training—and before he is at all blown. So do we forget, we are sorry to confess, the number of centuries that it would take a good, stout, well-made, able-bodied cannon-ball, to accomplish a journey to our planet from one of the fixed stars. ”

“ In the old days of round cannon balls it is said that the gunners used to wrap greasy rag round each so as to make it fit the cannon and to prevent the force of the explosion to some extent wasting itself by blowing past the ball. That is one of the functions of the driving band. It is made of copper which is comparatively soft, and it forms a fairly tight fit in the bore of the gun, so that while the shell is free enough to slide out of the gun it is tight enough to prevent the loss of any of the driving force of the explosive. ”

“ The range of these giant cannon is enormous and their destructive power great, this being added to by the fact that the explosive shell has replaced the solid round shot of old-time gunnery. A 14-inch gun of 45 caliber can discharge a 1,400-pound projectile at a muzzle velocity of 2,600 feet per second. If we compare this with a locomotive going at the speed of sixty miles an hour, we have in the latter a speed of eighty-eight feet per second to compare with the 2,600 feet per second of the cannon ball. ”

“ The first two factors are obvious; the heavier the cannon ball, the more powder it will take to blow it a certain distance, and contrariwise.
The third is somewhat unwieldy to work with and definitely problematical in its effects. Up to a certain point, increasing the angle seems to increase the range, but after that point is reached, an increase in elevation decreases the range of the weapon. In view of this, it has been decided that all cannon will be fixed at the best angle for maximum range and the other factors varied to change the actual distance the cannon ball is fired. ”

“ Cannon balls go furthest at an elevation of 30 degrees, and less as the balls are less; the range is furthest when fired from west to east in the direction of the earth's motion, which for the diurnal rotation on its axis, is at the rate of 1,037 miles per hour, and in its orbit, 66,092 miles.
The air's resistance is such that a cannon ball of 3 lbs. weight, diameter, 2.78 ins. moving with a velocity of 1,800 feet per second, is resisted by a force equal to 156 lbs. ”

“ All strokes at billiards are distinguished by the name of cannons or hazards. Cannon is a contraction of carambole, and is a stroke in which the player strikes both balls in succession with his own. The [599] “losing hazard” is when the player’s own ball is forced into either of the six pockets, after contact with the other ball. The “winning hazard” is made by forcing the ball played upon into either pocket after contact.
Fig. 5.—Cannons.
Here are a few examples of cannons made from the cushion, without the use of the side-stroke. They only indicate the infinite variety that can be made. ”

“ The only movable side is the cannon ball in front, so they all pound against that and give it such a shove that it goes ten miles before it stops. The external bombardment by the cannon ball is, therefore, preceded by an internal bombardment on the cannon ball by the molecules of the hot gases, whose speed is about as great as the speed of the projectile that they propel. ”

“ The late Joseph Manton has the merit of being the first modern inventor of rifled cannon. His idea was, that if a motion on an axis parallel to the horizon could be given to cannon balls, they would range farther and with greater accuracy. As there exists great difficulty in causing the rifling in a gun to act upon an iron ball, he constructed a cup of wood, into which the ball was fitted, projections being made upon the wood to fit into the groves of the rifle; the spinning motion thus being communicated to the ball by its wooden adjunct. ”

“ To determine the law according to which a projectile, such as a cannon ball, moves through the atmosphere is a problem very imperfectly solved at the present day, but in which many successive advances have been made. So little was known concerning the subject three or four centuries ago that a cannon ball was supposed to move at first in a straight line, and after a time to be deflected into a curve. ”

“ Usually the player being afraid of missing the cannon causes ball 1 to strike ball 3 too full, and thus drives it down the table, very likely so as to lose the break. Another type of stroke which easily results from nursery play is that wherein ball 2 has got too far forward and is left very close to ball 3. If ball 1 is favourably placed, a series of fine cannons may be played irrespective of the cushion, the secret being not to be too fine on the third or cannon ball, and so to avoid the danger of leaving all three balls in a straight line. ”

“ A boy who had been posted on the works, on account of his keenness of vision, to warn the men when a cannon-ball was coming their way, had only just been complaining that they did not heed his warnings, and while he turned to the men this shot which did all this hurt was fired by the enemy. A large cannon-ball in those days weighed 30 pounds, others much less. The author remembers Admiral Colomb telling the Harrow boys in a lecture that a Captain of those days could carry two or more cannon-balls in his coat-tail pocket; the balls of modern guns have to be moved by hydraulic machinery. ”

“ If a cannon is pointed horizontally over a level plain, the cannon ball will be just as much affected by gravity as if it were dropped, and so will strike the plain at the same instant as another which was simply dropped where it started. One ball may have gone a mile and the other only dropped a hundred feet or so, but the time needed by both for the vertical drop will be the same. ”

“ The player who makes the greatest number of points in each round wins the game, and takes the lead in the next. The rule as to balls rebounding beyond the baulk line, or being forced off the table, is the same as in the preceding game,
The Cannon Game, sometimes played on a table without holes, consists entirely of cannons, that is to say, two balls struck in succession by the cue-ball This game is played 50, 100, or 150 up, and the holes into which the balls fall are sometimes counted in addition to the cannon. Three balls only are used a white, a spot-white, and a black ball. ”

“ R′′ must be the point of impact, and that makes the stroke so fine that ball 2 will travel much more slowly, and ball 1 as much faster; hence, to get the cannon, ball 1 must be struck extremely low to compensate for the loss of recoil occasioned by taking ball 2 so fine. So, if it be desired to make ball 2 in this case travel as far as before, additional strength must be used to compensate for the fineness of the stroke. ”

“ When its rate of movement is not much faster than that at which a man can walk, and when to all appearance it might be stopped by the pressure of the foot as readily as a cricket-ball, it yet possesses the power of inflicting serious injury on such an attempt being put into execution. This power is easily understood if the amount of force is remembered which must still be inherent in the cannon-ball for it to overcome the inertia of its own mass, and the resistance to which it is exposed in passing over the ground on which it is rolling. ”

“ We would, therefore, need gunpowder one hundred and forty-four times as potent as any gunpowder we now possess if we expected to shoot a cannon ball away from the earth altogether. Need it be added that the resisting power of the cannon would have to be enormously increased to withstand the stress that such an explosive would generate. In fact, it is perfectly certain that no materials known to us would be strong enough to form a weapon sufficiently tough for the purpose. ”

“ During the War of the Revolution, cannon were fired at short range, and it was the custom to load them with grape-shot, or small iron balls, when firing against a charging enemy, because the grape would scatter like the shot of a shot-gun and tear a bigger gap in the ranks of the enemy than would a single solid cannon-ball. ”

“ Then poising the ball for a little in his hand, and viewing it with an air of contempt, “There!” said he, tossing it carelessly from him into the air, “he that likes may gang and fetch it back.”
The ball, as if shot from the mouth of a cannon, flew on in a straight line completely over the wall, and alighted on the roof of a house at some distance beyond it. Its weight and velocity forced it through the tiles, and with a crash which immediately caused the house to be evacuated by its inmates, it penetrated also the garret floor, and rolled upon that of the next storey. ”

“ This gives them added purchase and far greater power of resistance. Were they of equal length the pressure upon the ball would be distributed and it could be wrested from the grasp far more readily. No mechanical contrivance has ever been designed that is comparable to the hand in flexibility, deftness, adaptability, or power of prehension. It can pick up a needle or a cannon-ball at will. Its touch is as light as a feather or as stark as a catapult. It can be as gentle as mercy or as harsh as battle. ”

“ We do not long examine the calibre of a cannon when its ball decapitates us. And even if they miss—these eyes—at least they dazzle us by their fire, and he is glad enough who can get out of shot-range. ”

“ So, also, a cannon-ball having a great velocity may pass through the side of a ship, doing perhaps comparatively little damage, while one moving with much less velocity may do vastly more damage by splintering the wood to a considerable extent. For the same reason a rapid ball hitting a person may occasion less suffering and do less harm than a slow ball; for a rapid ball kills merely the parts which it touches, leaving the flesh around in a sound state, while the slow ball bruises over a large space. ”

“ If a cannon-ball was fired in a straight line at a distant target, the gunner had to elevate the aim if he would hit the target, for the ball described a curve and would keep dropping to the earth until it struck the ground. ”

“ Now these experiments, though made by Mr. Hutton with cannon-balls of a small size, may nevertheless form just conclusions when applied to cannon-shot of the largest size. And such conclusions inform us of the real force of powder when fired, either in a cannon or a mortar, impelling a ball or bomb of a given weight; that is, they discover with what velocity a given quantity of powder drives those projectiles in a second, or in any other assigned portion of time. ”

“ You must remember, boys, that bombshells and rockets are fired in the air, that they may fall down upon the place attacked, but cannon balls are fired straight. There is a way, it is true, of firing cannon, called ricochet-firing. The gun is loaded with but little powder, and the ball is thrown just over the parapet of the enemy, that it may fall into the works, and roll and bounce, destroying all before it. ”

“ The resistance of the air, which seems to most persons a wholly insignificant item in the inquiry, is so enormous in the case of a cannon-ball as to become by far the most important difficulty in the way of the practical artillerist. ”

“ Muzzle-loading.
The 72-ton Krupp guns; bore 15.75 inches, weight of steel shot 1700 pounds, charge of prismatic powder 452 pounds. Guns all steel. Breech-loading.
Cannonade. The act of discharging shot or shells from cannon for the purpose of destroying an army, or battering a town, ship, or fort; usually applied to an attack of some continuance.
Cannon-ball. A ball usually made of cast iron, to be thrown from cannon.
Cannon Baskets. The old English phrase for gabions.
Cannon-bullet. A cannon-ball.
Cannoneer. A man who manages cannon. ”

“ Where a ball (or in fact any missile) is advancing rapidly through the air, there is formed in front of it a small aggregation of compressed air. (In passing we may remark that the compressed air in front of an advancing cannon ball has been rendered discernible—we can hardly say visible—by instantaneous photography.) ”