BIG GUNS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 154, 14 April 1876, Page 15

BIG GUNS.

Just at present there is a mania in Europe for the manufacture of enormous cannon. One would think that several of the great nations were trying to see which can bring out the biggest gun. When the English 81 ton piece was successfully completed, it S( Allied likely to hold the field for some time without a rival ; but before three months have elapsed we find that Italy has ordered four 100 ton guns from Sir William Armstrong, and that Krupp, in Prussia, " has in hand " (figuratively speaking, of course, though Krupp is a giant in a business way at least) a monster of 124 tons. Of course John Bull does not mean to lie outdone, and it is announced in the English journals that " the authorities at Woolwich are prepared to commence a gun of 160 tons as soon as permission is granted." What Krupp will say to this remains to be seen, but we should not be surprised to hear by the next German mail that he has " taken in hand " a 200 ton gun.

How much destruction all this formidable artillery is destined to cause when next the dogs of war are let loose in Europe we cannot predict ; but it is certain that before they fire their first shot these big guns make big holes in the national treasury. The 81 ton gun has cost $75,000, and the price named for the " Newcastle Infants " of 100 tons for the Italian navy is $120,000 each. We have not seen it stated what the Krupp monster is to cost, but it will probably be $150,000 or more.

The testing of these guns, to say nothing of their use in actual service, adds not a little to this enormous expenditure. Every time the 81 ton piece is fired it blows §125 into the air, 240 pounds of powder and a projectile of 12G0 pounds being the charge of the first trials. In some of the rounds, 250 pounds of powder and a 1465 pound shot were used. It is now proposed to increase the bore of the gun from 15 1-2 inches, after which operation the charge will be proportionately augmented. The Italian guns are to fire projectiles of 1860 pounds each, while the Krupp cannon will send a ball of 1040 kilograms, or about 2300 pounds, through the air ; but how much powder is to be used in doing it we are unable to say. One gets, howevei 1 , a new idea of the power of gunpowder when he learns that a few hundred pounds of it can propel a missile of more than a ton's weight over a distance of several miles. In the case of the 81 ton gun, the shot of 1260 pounds left the muzzle with a velocity of 1400 feet a second, and a momentum that it would carry it v through 20 inches of iron plating at a. range of half a mile. The Duilius, for whose armament the tour 100 ton Armstrong guns are intended, is described as being the most powerful ironplated frigate ever yet devised. She is to be armored with plates 10 inches in thickness, and moved by engines of 7000 horse power.

Historical! — Vide " Jurors' Reports and Awards, New Zealnad Exhibition." Jurors : J. A. Ewen, J. Butterworth, T. 0. Skinner "So far as the Oolony is concerned, the dying of materials is almost entirely confined to the re-dying of Articles of Dress and Upholstery, a most useful art, (or there ar9 many kinds of material rhat lose their colour before the texture is half worn. G. HiiiSCH, of Dunedin (DrjNEDitf Dye Works, George street, opposite Royal Georjje Hotel) exhibits a case of specimens of Dyed Wools, Silks, and Feather, and dyed Sheepskins. The colours on the whole are very fair, and reflect considerable credit on the Exhibitor, to whom the Jurors recommended an Honorary Certificate shoull be awarded." Honorary Certificate 639: G-ustav Hirsch, Dunedin, for Specimen of Dying in Silk Feathers, &c.