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Show mmmmammWmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Hjl Saving Time and Labor In the Making of Heavy Ordnance-- Lessons of -the Present War Taken To Heart InGun Making -Tricks of the Trade. BY WALDON FAWCETT. OUR up-and-dolng Yankee has I m proven for some months that V he Is a Johnny-on-the-spot Jg when it comes to supplying any , power in need with arms and ammunition. ammu-nition. But how many good Ainerl-t Ainerl-t cans realize whether they favor such 1 exports or not that this playing of the role of armorer to the world at largo is likely to work out mightily to the good of tho Republic should this nation ever bo called upon to defend itself against a foreign foo Next to being armed to the teeth there is nothing like knowing whoro to lay hands on weapons when they are needed. Uncle Sam has nothing to do with tho export of American-made war equipment to Europo any more than i ho has with any other private busl-I busl-I ness, but ho is mightily concorned about obtaining an adequate supply of "peacemakers," as tho biggest guns aro sometimes called, with which to outfit his ships and seacoast defenses. Henco tho desire of the government to work in more or less closo har-, har-, mony with the great steel plants of tho country. Tho "War Department and tho Navy Department have gun ehops that rival the plants of any power on earth but wonderful as theso aro they aro not qualified to perform every function in the transformation of Iron oro into 14-lnch guns. Thus it has been tho custom to purchase forgings from commercial steel plants and leavo it to Undo Sam's own workmen work-men to put on tho finishing touches -indeed to perform all tho painstaking and exacting operations of gun making. mak-ing. Rapid Progress in Gun-Making. If tho recent story of American gun making is a chronicle of short cuts to efficiency so might It also bo said that tho whole modern history of Yan-keo Yan-keo ordnanco manufacture has involved in-volved an advanco by leaps and bounds. As lato as the year 188 1 tho United States was entirely destitute of modern artillery and, worso yet, lacked tho means of manufacturing it. Then, all of a sudden, the powers that bq finally got busy and tho President Presi-dent sont abroad a board of army and navy officers who were told to find out how our cousins on tho othor side of tho Atlantic managed their gun making. The establishment of Undo Sam's two foremost gun factories may be traced to tho activities of theso globetrotting globe-trotting ordnanco Inquisitors. They visited Russia, Franco and England and as a result of their recommendations recommenda-tions the Government mado tho beginnings be-ginnings of tho great naval gun factory fac-tory on tho banks of tho Potomac river, at "Washington, D. C , and tho big ordnanco manufactory at Water-vliot Water-vliot on tho Hudson. As a soit of "annex" to tho big gun factory at the national capital is tho "proving ground" located at Indian Head, Maryland, to which the big guns aro conveyed by voyage of two dozen miles down the Potomac In order that they may bo formally tried out ere they aie placed on pormanent sentry duty afloat or ashore. Tho buildings at "Washington cover forty-seven acres and they aro constantly con-stantly being augmented, as witness tho provision last year of a new foundry foun-dry that is up-to-dato in all respects and capablo of turning out castings of tho largest slzo in steel, cast iron and bronze. Building Up A Thunderer. Perchance every leader of this has heard of the wonders of tho shrinking shrink-ing process in big gun making when a lC-ton metal "jacket" Is fitted within with-in four one-hundredths of an Inch over a tube and welded by shrinkage, and yet this masterpiece of delicate work executed by asbestos-gloved workmen is merely the most spectacular spectac-ular feature of a series of Industrial processes, evory ono of which Is a marvel In Its way. Tho operations of turning and boring might Impress tho chanco visitor almost as decpb . , ,. r -7 m' z. 1 7Y3i-&S Ccm Factory " . 1 H fffUSfSSSmWSKB fSSm did ho realize how a miscalculation of a fraction of an inch would play havoc with tho tedious latho work that extends over hours and days. All modern guns of largo sI?o aro what aro known as "built-up" guns Unlike tho crudo cannon of our forefathers, fore-fathers, tho twentieth century thun-neror thun-neror Is not mado of a solid plcco of motal but is "built," literally as well as figuratively, by shrinking around a central tube or foundation tube various layers of massive steel sheathing Known as noops. xuost. important 01 theso hoops Is tho ono known as the Jackot, which is immedlatoly over the rear end of the tube and extends well forward on it, thus bearing tho brunt of tho forco of tho explosion when powder charges are fired in the completed com-pleted gun. Tho first step In tho "building up" or assembling of a big gun comos with tho placing of tho tubo In a shrinking pit where it Is to receive tho "jacket' and othor hoops. Thcro is no such thing as hurrying in this part of the proceedings for an interval of thirty hours is required to heat a 14-lnch jackot to tho tomperaturo of 825 degrees de-grees P. that Is deemed necessary to Insure its shrinkage with a grip that will provo everlasting Then there must bo allowed a liberal Interval Inter-val for cooling. After this tho samo performance, moro or less, Is to bo gone through with to get In place each of the fivo or six hoops that go to mako up the assembled gun that play so conspicuous a part in gun making tho outsldo of tho gun Is smoothed off and tho muzzlo Is given Its distinctive bell-llko flaro. After that comes tho fitting of tho breech mechanism, tho putting In placo of the business ond of tho "peacemaker" and then, provided with a portion of Its mount, tho weapon Is ready to go to the trial ground for its proof firing Tho moro handling of ono of tho shooters upon which Undo Sam ro-lles ro-lles to enforce respect Is no mean chore, as may be surmised from the fact that our standard heavy gun, the 14-lnch, has a length of 5 1 feet and weighs more than 63 tons Why, the shell which such a gun fires hurls to a distance qf 21 000 jards has t weight of 1,400 pounds But tho Introduction In-troduction of powerful electrically operated cranes has provided a short cut over all old-tlmo methods of handling hand-ling the guns completed or In process of manufacture Theso huge burdon 1 bearers pick up tho guns and swing i them thither and thither Indoors and , out with an case that Is awe-Inspiring and yet thero Is delicacy as well as ( method in their madness as is attested Ocn Yecrntec? 'or. Z,z7iztrt ppzov&d' Type of C&z?:zE?qz? Finishing Tho Gun A Ticklish Task. That Undo Sam has been ablo this past few years to speed up the manufacture man-ufacture of" monster guns is the moro romarkablo when we stop to consldor that tho task of finishing such a gun Is almost as ticklish as tho assembling process already referred to. For one thing, tho assombled gun must be put In a latho and tho bore brought down to a diameter exact to tho fraction frac-tion of an inch. Chnmborlng Is another an-other painstaking operation, and then comes rifling which consists In cutting cut-ting spiral grooves In tho surfaco of the boio right up to ltho muzzlo In order to glvo each projectile a desired twist as It leaves the gun. Finish-turning gives tho big gun thatv neat, buslncss-llko appearance that so Impresses tho Innocent bystander by-stander whon he sees ono of these weapons mounted and ready for action. ac-tion. By means of tho hugo lathes by the fact that when it comes to tho shrinking operation tho largest of the cranes proves Itself capable of not only centering Its many-ton burden bur-den within one thirty-second of an Inch, but lowers It with fino deliberation delibera-tion at the rate of one foot per minute. Short Cuts In Rebuilding Guas. Whllo Uncle Sam has been saving steps and minutes at this stage and that of tho gun making process it must bo confessed that the greatest economics eco-nomics havo been attained In rebuilding rebuild-ing guns. Perhaps you had not heard that It Is tho custom to rebuild the big guns. Fact though; guns aro "rebuilt" "re-built" much as automobiles and typo-writers typo-writers aro rebuilt and tho procedure Is every bit as important in Its way ' as tho manufacture of now guns, be-j be-j cause it keeps old guns in service which Is of course better than relvlm; solely upon new ones whon your need Is urgent. No wonder, then, wo take 1 1 1 H off our hats to tho new process which 3 II enables Undo Sam to rebuild a gun II In precifady twenty-five days instead jj of requiring an interval of seventy- I five days, as it formerly did, to renew ' I the youth of one of our protectors. , I If wo may Judge from tho tests ' w 1 I which havo been made, modern high- 'fl II powerc"d guns using smokclebs powder 1 II 11 the kind that Undo Sam manufac- I 1 tures and uses havo almost unllm- M I ill Ited life under normal conditions That ' A j is, tho gun itself docs not wear out I a I but they crodo In tho bore very rap- ' j J I 'I idly owing to tho high powder pros- sures which they must sustain and I Q ( tho consequent high temperatures to j ll I which they are subjected. This is tho I explanation of why it pays so well '. to prolong tho life of a big gun by I refining tho weapon or renewing tho j boro The process of rejuvenating our ffi I heavy ordnanco has been tremendous- g I ly facilitated by tho practice In re- I J t cent years of building all such guns ' jjj with conical liners susccptlblo of easv ik$ removal. This has dono moro than uS anything else to cut down tho time rjd required to give a gun new Insldes. 't Tho shrinking pot that Inferno of r j tho gun makers, Is used In rollnlng .Ijjl a gun even as it is In shrinking on tho 'm "Jacket" of a new gun It is Just here. Jfj indeed, that the conical "liner" proves yx its superiority over tho cylindrical liner which has lately become obso- iM lote. The cylindrical liner when it i j was worn out had to be removed by if . boring, a tedious process of cutting JJlj j that involved great loss of tlmo and iH S labor. In tho case of a gun with a "In! I worn-out conical liner, however, the ifil process Is speedy and simple. The gun M Is placed In the shrinking pit and r I heated to a temperature of about 500 i U I degrees. Then cold wator is poured Ijjlj j through tho liner with tho rosult that . j It cools suddenly and contracts as it Hj cools In consequence of which it drops jj! j out. Of course, the gun must be heat- 'l ! ed again to insert the new liner, but 'J when the now lining Is in placo the j iBI mass of motal Is allowed to tako Its LMlj own tlmo to cool, no water being y sprayed on. After tho reconstructed jjjl gun Is thoroughly cooled It Is cham- M bercd, rifled and finished jjj |
