412 



MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREADWELL. 



one of these ? You say that "you do not know whether to press the trials any further at present, 

 as it seems like wasting ammunition/ 5 I think it is important now, however, to go to extreme 

 charges, and permit me therefore to suggest to you whether it would not be well to take these 

 same guns Nos. 3 and 4, and order an increase of the charges gradually, every two rounds, until 

 they burst or break. Probably, as the inner rings of these guns are all steel, if they burst with 

 high charges they will make fragments. But if they open at the welds, no pieces will be thrown 



about. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



Daniel Treadwell 



To Daniel Treadwell, Esq. 



Ordnance Office, 22 June, 1844. 



Dear Sir, — The foregoing Resume of experiments] has been hastily compiled from the vari- 

 ous reports. 



The measurements of the bores show no increase worth notice* The guns, as regards hardness 

 and durability, are all that could be desired. The openings of the welds appear to be the only 



mov 



Your 



G. Talcott, Lt. Col. Ordnance. 



Extract from the Report of Benjamin Huger, Captain of Ordnance, on the Firing with high Charges of 



two Six-pound Wrought-iron Guns, made by Daniel Treadwell, Massachusetts. — July 12, 1844. 



Note. — No. 4 had been previously fired 1,500 rounds with service charges, and the results 

 reported by letter of 22d March, 184-4. 



20 rounds. 2 pounds of powder. 1 shot and 1 wad. 



20 " 3 " " 2 " 2 " 



10 " 3 « « 3 « 2 " 



10 " 6 " " 7 « 2 " 



After the firing the guns were carefully drawn and examined with a mirror, and found to be 

 in good condition. The diameter of bore at each inch from the muzzle of these wrought-iron 

 and steel guns, proved to extremity, is given in a table, and shows that the change of diameter 

 has not exceeded ^jfo of an inch. The only disturbance in the first and second firings, those of 

 22d March and 16th May, was the slight turning of Nos. 2 and 4 in the trunnions, which are 

 secured to a ring, and this screwed on to the gun. [This was subsequently remedied by means 



] 



ght inches from 



(W 



800 pounds.) This gun, which had already withstood 1500 rounds of service charges, was 

 tested as above, and remains entirely uninjured. Mr. Treadwell savs : " No bronze 



gun 



Treadwell says : " No bronze six pounder 



. „ discharge of three pounds of powder and 



three shot, and, although cast-iron guns are sometimes made to resist that charge, yet the danger 

 from fragments, in the event of bursting, must ever prevent their use with such charges with 

 any degree of confidence." 





