1879.] on the ' Thunderer ' Gun Explosion. 249 



tho gun from an air space would not have occurred 4 to 5 feet in 

 front of the projectile. 



I will now leave tliis subject of other suggested causes, and will, 

 without pausing to describe them, merely remark that precautions 

 have been proposed by tlie Committee, which, if adoi)ted, would 

 render double-loading in future practically impossible. I will also 

 refer you to Diagram 19, which exhibits the improved construction 

 of the rammer indicator on board the ' Dreadnought.' 



In conclusion, let me say that the fellow 38-ton gun being, as you 

 know, in England, I do hope the authorities will accede to the recom- 

 mendation of tho Committee, will try that gun with air spaces, and in 

 any other way that anyone can reasonably suggest as having any real 

 connection with the ' Thunderer ' explosion ; and further, I trust tliat 

 then this gun will be double-loaded and fired. I do not think that 

 such a trial is needed to give confidence to the service at large ; it 

 certainly is not needed to give confidence to those who are best able to 

 form an opinion — witness the attendance at the w^orking of the self- 

 same kind of guns the other day on board the ' Dreadnought ' — but 

 I believe such an experiment with the fellow gun would be the most 

 ready and most efficacious mode of satisfying the general public, who 

 have not the means of investigating the question, or of coming to a 

 right judgment upon it. 



Pending such an experiment, if by what I have said to-night I have 

 assisted in restoring confidence to the audience present, and I hope, 

 through them, to many others, in the safety of the guns on which we 

 rely for our defence both on sea and land, I shall feel I have a suffi- 

 cient excuse for the trespass I have made on the time of my hearers 

 this evening. 



[F. J. B.] 



Vol. IX. (No. 71.) 



