626 



ORDNANCE. 



OREGON. 



The Krnpp factory at Essen has been very 

 busy of late in making heavy field-guns for the 

 Russian Government. Besides numerous heavy 

 guns for coast batteries and for the fleet, which 

 Herr Krupp has supplied, the Czar has ordered 

 1,200 field-pieces of two calibres, one of 8.7 

 centimetres, or 3.42 inches, and the other of 

 10.7 centimetres, or 4.2 inches. This latter 

 gun is but little heavier than the present 24- 

 pounder of the Russian army, whose weight is 

 12.2 cwt. The guns are 6 feet 11 inches in 

 length, and are rifled with 24 parallel grooves, 

 the length of the rifling being 5 feet 2 inches. 

 They are all breech-loaders. The powder 

 chambers are 11 inches in length and have a 

 maximum diameter of 4.64 inches. A copper 

 band encircles the projectile near its base, 

 which cuts its way along the grooves as the 

 shot is driven forward, rotating the ball and 

 acting also as a gas-check. Another copper 

 ring of less diameter placed in front fits to the 

 bands of the bore and keeps the shot true to 

 the axis of the gun. The weight of the loaded 

 shell is 12.6 kilogrammes, or nearly 28 Ibs. ; 

 the powder charge is 4.4 Ibs. of large-grain 

 powder. The velocity is a little greater than 

 1,300 feet per second at 50 yards from the 

 muzzle, and 950 feet per second at 1,640 yards. 

 The Russian army has always been noted for 

 using heavy field-guns, and the cavalry is often 

 equipped with traces to assist in moving them. 

 The projectile of this formidable new piece is 

 a shell with a bursting charge of 1 Ib. of pow- 

 der. It is a double- walled shell, the outer 

 wall enveloping a peculiar arrangement of cast- 

 iron rings ; each ring is double, consisting of 

 ,an outer one cast about a smaller one, after 

 the latter has become cool; these rings are 

 composed of many wedge-shaped pieces, those 

 of the outer ring pointed inward and fitting 

 into those of the inner ring. There are 14 of 

 these double rings, each of which breaks up 

 into 20 wedge-shaped pieces. The bursting 

 charge lies along the axis of the shell. Al- 

 though the velocity of the projectile is not 

 great, the accuracy of the new gun at long 

 ranges is remarkable. 



A distance-calculator or range-finder, invent- 

 ed by the German general H. Berden, consists 

 of two powerful telescopes, with their sights 

 1 metre. The telescopes are about !$ metre 

 long ; when they are brought to bear on a com- 

 mon object, its distance is indicated on a wheel 

 connected with one of the glasses. The instru- 

 ment is mounted on a carriage, and can be nn- 

 limbered and a distance found in 2 minutes, or 

 in less time than any gun or battery can be 

 made ready. Range-finders have lately been 

 introduced into the British service; they are 

 chiefly of Nolan's design, which is made of 

 small enough compass to be attached to a sad- 

 dle ; Watkin's range-finder is also used to some 

 extent. The Nolan instrument, when in use, 

 is mounted on a tripod. 



An improvement in the manufacture of dy- 

 namite, invented by G. Fahnehjelm, of Stock- 



holm, Sweden, consists in the use of a highly 

 porous kind of wood charcoal as the absorbent 

 of the nitroglycerine, instead of the infusorial 

 earth usually employed. The new explosive is 

 called sebastin. In the explosion a partial com- 

 bustion of the charcoal takes place, which is 

 rendered more perfect by the admixture of 

 nitrate of potassa. The explosive effects of 

 the new compound are vastly greater than 

 those of ordinary dynamite, on account of the 

 large development of carbonic acid, and on ac- 

 count of the greater tension of the gases, caused 

 by the heat produced. The inventor claims 

 that the dynamic force of the stronger quality 

 of sebastin is between three and four times 

 greater than that of No. 1 dynamite, and only 

 about one-seventh less than pure nitroglyce- 

 rine. The strongest sebastin is composed of 

 78 per cent, by weight of nitroglycerine, 14 per 

 cent, of charcoal, and 8 per cent, of nitrate of 

 potassa ; a second grade contains 68 per cent, 

 of nitroglycerine, 12 parts of nitrate of po- 

 tassa, and 20 of charcoal. The peculiar kind 

 of charcoal used consists of young shoots or 

 striplings of poplar, hazel, or alder, carbonized 

 in an open fire ; the coal is pulverized, though 

 not too finely, in a wooden mortar. Its absorp- 

 tive capacity is very different from that of 

 common charcoal; it will absorb five or six 

 times its weight of nitroglycerine without any 

 danger of the separation of the oil. 



A new explosive compound for heavy artil- 

 lery, invented by Captain Charles A. L. Totten, 

 of the United States Army, consists of large 

 grains of gunpowder with a nucleus of gun- 

 cotton. The inventor asserts that the com- 

 bined powder and gun-cotton with lighter 

 charges is 4$ times more effective than gun- 

 powder. The gun-cotton nucleus is spherical 

 and about half an inch in diameter ; the pow- 

 der envelope has a quarter of an inch thick- 

 ness. The combustion of large-grained powder 

 is far from instantaneous, the grain burning in 

 continuous layers toward the centre, the nu- 

 cleus of the grains being blown out of the gun 

 still burning after the projectile has been ex- 

 pelled. Captain Totten asserts that 60 per cent, 

 of the powder is saved, and the tension of the 

 gas on the projectile is greatly increased, by the 

 employ of the gun-cotton nucleus, which ex- 

 plodes in a larger area, later than the powder, 

 and exerts little strain on the gun. 



OREGON. The leading products of indus- 

 try in Oregon are wheat, wool, and salmon, and 

 these are largely exported from the city of 

 Portland. The total amount of wheat and 

 flour shipped during the year, reckoning a 

 barrel of flour equivalent to 2.7 centals of 

 wheat, was 3,383,473 centals, or 5,639,121 

 bushels, valued at $7,310,520. Far the largest 

 portion of this was sent to Europe, mostly to 

 British ports, though a considerable amount 

 was shipped to San Francisco, and a small 

 quantity to Honolulu, China, and British Co- 

 lumbia. The following is a comparative state- 

 ment of the exports of wheat for four years : 



