108 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



tends along the embankment on the bluff-front of the fort for nearly a 

 quarter of a mile below it. Its position is such as to command the 

 lower bay ; but it may aLso be pointed in the direction of the city ; 

 and the Narrows are just below its mouth. 



The trial of this gun, after it was mounted at Fort Hamilton, is thus 

 described : 



It was decided, after the vent of the cannon was cleaned, to fire a 

 charge of 50 pounds of powder. A box containing a 50 pound 

 charge was then brought up. When lifted into the mouth of the gun. 

 it did not occupy more than% quarter of the space. The gunners did 

 not understand how so small a pile of powder, wrapped in cotton 

 cloth, was to be ignited ; and so this charge -which is the regular ser- 

 vice charge of the 15-inch guns was taken away, and a 100-pound 

 bag of powder substituted. 



Two men standing on the embankment or parapet in front of the 

 gun, raised the charge to the mouth ; a ramrod was brought forward 

 by four men, and the charge driven home ; the ramrod being used by 

 the men as though it were a battering ram. A fuse was then inserted 

 in the vent of the cannon, and the word was given for the crowd to 

 retire. The report of the discharge was loud and deep, but not sharp ; 

 it was a heavy boom, not very unpleasant to the ear, but yet in its 

 effect stunning. Volumes of smoke, resembling dark and dense 

 clouds, rolled more than ten rods from the cannon. The recoil was 

 very slight. 



At the second discharge the gun was shotted, and a smaller charge of 

 powder 50 pounds was used. The bore having been carefully swab- 

 bed-out with a wet sponge, and the charge carefully sent "home," the 

 hoisting apparatus was next employed to raise the ball. Three men did 

 this work; and after five minutes pulling at the chain, the shot was 

 brought into position before the mouth of the cannon. The shot was 

 held in a clamp with two arms inserted in holes in the ball, and a bar 

 was also inserted in the shot, to aid in its management. Nearly half 

 the shot entered the muzzle and the other part was outside. This was 

 the point of difficulty. The question was how to release the ball. It had 

 to be supported by main strength of the men who managed the ma- 

 chinery. 



At this juncture Captain Rodman, who superintended the firing, di- 

 rected two of the men to get under the shot and brace their shoulders 

 against it. They at once assumed the perilous position. By dexterous 

 management the Major took the teeth of the clamp from the ball and 

 withdrew the bar, at the same moment starting the ball on its course in 

 the gun. 



The cannon was aimed at a spar buoy in thu direction of the lower 

 bay; there was no inclination ; and at a quarter past three o'clock the 

 signal was given for the spectators to retire. The discharge was effected 

 by means of a friction fuse. The report was not louder than the first, 

 owing to the lighter charge. The huge ball could be seen from the mo- 

 ment when it left the smoke of the powder. It struck the water at a 

 distance of about a thousand yards from the shore. It threw up a cloud 

 of spray, and richocheting, flew along the surface of the water for the 

 distance of about three inilf-s and then sank. Another shot was next 

 fired, with a larger charge of powder, and with the gun considerably 



