MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREAD WELL. 



419 



end a wedge-shaped block, which, when forced between the springs, pr» ea them 

 apart. On the other end of the shaft a A is fixed a wheel, ri ; to this is 

 fastened a rope, which is wound up when the gun recoils; by puUing»upon this rope 

 the gun can be drawn forward for firing, qq is a guide tongue, fastened by on. 

 end to the side of the ship under the eye-bolt, and passing beneath the carriage 

 in grooves in the axle-trees, and may be used to train the gun. 



Mr. Treadwell laid his gun-carriage before the Naval Department and explained 

 its advantages. To gain further information as to the efficiency of the recoil appa- 

 ratus, Commander Wadsworth received orders to proceed to Boston and there 

 examine it in practice. He reported as follows: 



Commander Alex. S. Wadsworth to Commodore W. M. Crank. 



Bandy Hook, Angtnl 15, is4.". 



Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that I have examined and tested the gun-carriages of 

 Mr. Treadwell at Boston, so far as it can well be done on shore. The principle of checking thi 

 recoil by mutual friction-plates appears to be good and sufficient with the service charge of pow- 

 der; but its application to ship gun-carriages, as in the present instance, would 1 think present 

 many inconveniences, and render them unsuitable. This could be more properly tried on a ship 

 at sea. Only one of these carriages "was in readiness for trial, on which Mr. TreadwelPs gun was 

 mounted, and fired fourteen times, generally with the service charge of four pounds of powder. 

 The carriage runs on trucks ; the breeching is formed of ten parts of a three-inch rope mailed 

 together so as to present a broad flat surface the width of the gun. One end of it is attached to 

 a revolving axle, which passes through the cheeks of the carriage under the gun, and the other 

 end secured to the port. It is wound up on the axle when the gun is run out, and unwound when 

 it recoils. On one end of the revolving axle extending through the cheek is a number of metal 

 friction-plates — fifteen or twenty — eight or ten inches in diameter, acted upon by a spring which 

 is worked by a hand-screw. This checks the recoil. The whole projects about nine inches 

 from the carriage. To the other end of the axle is attached an iron wheel about twelve or four- 

 teen inches in diameter, used with a single whip through a block in the side of the ship for running 

 out the gun. This also projects about nine inches. Underneath the carriage, and lying on the 

 deck with one end bolted to the water-ways, is a tongue of timber about six inches square and 

 eight or nine feet long, having a rack on it and a pall and lever attached to the inner end of the 



carriage when training. When firing the gun with four pounds of powder, the recoil seemed to 



be checked sufficiently, and controlled by the friction-plates, and prevented from running out 

 again by the rack and pall. . . . 



To Mr. Treadwell. 



Bureau of Ordnance, 8 September, 1845. 



Sir, — The gun-carriages constructed under your directions for the wrought-iron guns, I 

 apprehend, will not be found to answer in actual service. The tongue under the carriage will be 

 found very inconvenient on board ship, — taking up room and obstructing the passage on deck, 



