A New Rapid-Fire Gun

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 14, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 33.

A New Rapid-Fire Gun

THE United States new rapid-fire gun will, it is said, “hurl a steel projectile weighing 55 pounds a distance of 24 miles at the rate of 4,000 feet a second. At the highest point of its flight, the projectile rises 51,853 feet above the firing point, or nearly 10 miles. Ten shots a minute can be fired, so that it is possible to fire 18 shells and have them all in the air before the first one strikes 24 miles from the gun, the time of flight of each projectile being 108 3-10 seconds. The chief feature of the new gun is centered in the construction, which embodies entirely new principles over the present built-up or hoop patterns now in use by our government. The tube and main body of the gun are composed of curved steel sheets one-seventh of an inch thick, extending the full length of the tube. These sheets are wound by square steel wire one-seventh of an inch thick. Ten miles of this wire is wrapped around the outside of the tube in order to harness in the enormous force and energy utilized by the weapon.” The powder chamber is much larger than those of other types.

THE Washington (D. C.) Evening Star of July 22 quotes the Pilgrim series of Sunday-school lessons (Congregational) as saying in the lesson on Genesis 1: “Some students have talked about millions of years as included in the world’s history, but conservative geologists believe that present processes have been going on for from 30,000 to 50,000 years.” And again: “We have here not a scientific account of the process of creation, but a brief panoramic vision of its development. No positive scientific explanation of the origin of the world and the introduction of life on it is as yet possible. Sometime it may be able to speak with some definiteness relative to the process; but it can never tell us how or by what power the process was set in motion.” Sometime, we hope when it will not be too late, men will see that God’s Word is science—true knowledge—and that the wisdom of man is foolishness with God.

WE are now told that “the great 126-ton 16-inch rifle, costing over $500,000, almost completed at Watervliet Arsenal, is now practically pronounced by ordnance experts to be a failure, and probably never will be fired. The recent bursting of one of the thirteen-inch guns of the Kearsarge while at sea practise has caused doubt in the minds of the naval authorities whether such huge guns will stand the test of a single engagement. The huge 110-ton naval gun built by the Armstrongs for the English ship Sans Pareil, after twenty-five rounds of fire sagged forward and was disabled, and had to be put out of service. On the continent General Miles found cracks in all the big guns. The 120-ton Krupp gun exhibited at the World’s Fair, and the 119-ton Krupp gun on the Italian coast, have proved total failures.”

DESPATCHES from Berlin state that the weekly financial reviews “read like confessions of national financial sin.” They are horrified at the disclosures of mismanagement and peculation in the conduct of financial concerns whose credit has stood high. Our German friends may comfort themselves. The Germans are quite as honest as the people of other nations. The financial sins that will shock America after a little are now in due process of commission. We have the impression that Germany will deal far more effectively with her financial sinners than we shall be able to with ours when the crop now maturing is ready to harvest.—San Francisco Chronicle.

On account of charges of cowardice and other conduct unbecoming a naval officer made in a recent book on naval history against Admiral Schley, in the Spanish-American war, the proofs of which book were read by Admiral Sampson, the former has demanded a naval court of inquiry. This Secretary Long has granted, and has appointed the court, of which Admiral Dewey is chairman.

THE claims of the United States against the Turkish Government for damages growing out of the Armenian troubles, chiefly the destruction of educational and missionary buildings at Harput and Marash, amounting to $95,000, have at last been paid. It will be remembered that many religious people were in favor of collecting these at the muzzle of naval guns, a most unchristian way.

THE “clerical” party, which means the Roman Catholic party, has triumphed in the elections in the Netherlands over the Liberals. This means the State subservient to the church for four years, at least. The ultra-Calvinists stood with the Catholics for a division of the school funds for sectarian education. The Liberals opposed all State sectarian teaching.

COLOMBIAN officials took an insurgent from a Hamburg-American line steamer at Savanilla, July 29, contrary to the protest of the captain, who was sailing under German colors. The German flag was called “a dirty rag.” And now the matter will have to be settled between Germany and the Colombian Government with the Monroe doctrine mixed in.

THE franchises recently voted away for nothing by the Philadelphia City Council to certain politicians were sold by them to the Union Traction Company for $2,250,000. The company controls thirteen new franchises. This gives it almost unlimited power.

As we are about to go to press, the welcome news comes that the long drought has been broken in the middle West, good rains have fallen in many localities, and temperature generally is much lower.

Strikes in the West.—There are now on strike around San Francisco Bay, chiefly in the city, the following: City Front Federation, comprising fourteen organizations of sailors, longshoremen, marine firemen, teamsters, porters, packers and warehousemen, pile-drivers and bridge-builders, hoisting engineers, ship and steamboat joiners, steam and hot-water fitters, marine cooks and stewards, etc., to the number of 10,000; machinists and iron-workers, 4,000; cooks and waiters, 1,500; sand teamsters, 500; Oakland teamsters, 800; total, about 15,000. The chief bone of contention is the principle of unionism. The employers are determined to treat with their own employees as individuals, and not through unions, or, as often expressed, “to run their own ‘business,’” while the strikers are contending for the right of organization. There is considerable to be said on both sides. Some of the organizations are out on the question of hours or wages or both. There has been some mob violence on the part of strikers and their friends, in the treatment of non-union men; some have had to work under police protection and have had police escort to and from their work; yet notwithstanding, several have been badly bruised, and noses and arms have been broken. In two or more cases the men roughly used were found to be union men. Such is the “justice” or “reason” of the mob. Business is paralyzed, and many interests will suffer, especially in fruit shipments.

Strikes in the East.—The strike in the East promises settlement at this writing. The mills will stand as at present, union and non-union, those having unionized since troubles began will be recognized as union mills; the regular union scale of wages will be paid in all union mills; the unions may extend their organization into other mills without interference or prejudice by the company, if the workmen so desire; no steel worker shall be discharged because of his connection with the Amalgamated Association; all mills in the steel trust shall be open to all workers with or without union cards; the Amalgamated Association will not demand that the Steel Trust sign the scale for all the mills; and the signing of the scale for union mills shall last twelve months. The losses at present are thus estimated: To the trust companies, $5,200,000; to the men $7,600,000, a total to both of over $12,800,000.

AT the recent Congress on Tuberculosis, in London, Dr. Robert Koch, of tuberculin fame, gave it as his opinion that there was but little danger of infection from tuberculosis in the use of tuberculous meat or milk. He bases this on experiments that seemed to show that the disease is quite different in bovines and humans, inasmuch as the bovine could not be infected by germs taken from the human. But Dr. Koch’s opinion is strenuously combated by men who have made it a study for years in this country. They say that the human will take it from meat and milk, and tuberculosis taken in that way is the most virulent of all.

THE First National Bank of New York has declared a dividend of approximately 1,000 per cent. on its old capital stock of $500,000. Its capitalization has been increased to $10,000,000. At its old capitalization its stock was worth in the market $6,000 a share. Since its new capitalization $800 a share is asked, and $700 a share has been bid, so that the 100,000 shares are worth in the market $70,000,000. What has raised this stock is the desire of Mr. Rockefeller to control it. The struggle lies between the Rockefeller and Morgan interests for control of the greatest bank in the Western world.

THE Southern Pacific Railway Management very properly ordered the discontinuance of all saloons on the broad and narrow gauge ferry boats of the Southern Pacific, also those on its Sacramento River steamers, and on the Solano, plying between Port Costa and Benicia, inasmuch as it properly prohibits its employees from using intoxicating liquors. But now the liquor dealers of San Francisco demand that the order shall be recalled or all liquor shipments from the East will be given to the Santa Fe. We hope, for the sake of morality, that the good order will be enforced.

THE last of July two of the largest sailing vessels afloat left New York for Yokohama. The British bark, Brilliant, carried 1,750,000 gallons of case oil, and the American bark, Acme, follows with 1,500,000 gallons.

HEAVY rains in Arizona have done great damage in the San Pedro Valley. Some houses, two miles of embankment, and ten miles of railroad track have been washed away.

THE noted geologist James E. Mills, a pupil of Agassiz, died at San Fernando, Mexico, July 25. He was born in Bangor, Maine, Feb. 13, 1834.

THE railroads of the United States employed 1,017,653 persons in 1900, and paid them an average of $576 a year, or a total of $576,865,230.

IT is recommended by King Edward that Lord Roberts be given the sum of £100,000 for eminent services in South Africa.

WORD comes from the north that three prospectors were shot by Aleutian Indians on Unimak Island in June.

SEVERE forest fires have been raging in Nevada County, California, causing much loss of property.