Rapid-Fire Guns J Save Lives 



In Line Shooting with the Rapid-Fire Guns a Projectile About Six Feet L ;.. 



The End Which Is Inserted in the Gun Is a Cylindrical Piece of Steel Slightly Smaller 



Than the Bore of the Gun. The Line Is a Hemp Rope About the Size of a Wash Line 



THE three and six-pounders with 

 which all the sea-going cutters of 

 the scr\'ice are armed now are used 

 to shoot lines to vessels in distress. For 

 years they had served as nothing more 

 than ornaments on the decks of the 

 cutters; for it never was necessary to 

 use them in the enforcement of customs 

 and navigation laws. They were carried 

 mainly for their moral effect. 



These guns have been found far more 

 effective in line 

 shooting than 

 the line guns 

 formerly 

 carried — small 

 brass cannons 

 of the type seen 

 a t life-saving 

 stations along 

 the coasts. 

 Although the 

 cannons were 

 in use for many 

 years, they 

 were never en- 

 tirely satisfac- 

 tory. It was 

 almost impos- 

 sible to aim 



The Old 56-Caliber Sharpe's Carbine Is Also Used 

 Now as a Line Shooter. A Blank Cartridge Is Used 

 to Fire the Projectile to the Vessel in Distress 



S89 



them with any degree of accuracy, and 

 accordingly line shooting with them was 

 a "hit or miss" matter in the majority 

 of cases. 



In line shooting with the modern 

 rapid-fire guns, a projectile about six feet 

 in length is used. The end, which is 

 inserted in the gun, is a cylindrical 

 piece of soft steel slightly smaller than 

 the bore of the gun and about a foot in 

 length. It is tapered down to a rod 



about a half 

 inch in diame- 

 ter and five feet 

 or more in 

 length. There 

 is a forged eye 

 at the end of 

 the rod to 

 which the end 

 of the line is 

 tied. 



The line is a 

 loosely-twisted 

 hemp rope 

 aliout the size 

 of a wash line. 

 About one 

 thousand five 

 hundred feet of 



