A Monster Gun.

Evening Post, Issue 27, 10 March 1865, Page 3

A Monster Gun.

¦The New York Herald of the 2nd inst., records the trial of the great 20-inch Rodman gun at Fort Hamilton, in presence of a large number of citizens and military and naval officers, an excursion steamer, with flags and music, having gone down the bay with spectators. The gun weighs nearly 17,000 lb, and the carriage ia in proportion. Its diameter is nearly six feet at the breech, and its bore is 2G inches. The solid shot it throws is 1080 lbs in weight ; and the regular charge of powder, 100 lbs, which may be incroasQd to 125, if great range or extraordinary momentum is required. Three shots were fired at the trial. The first was a blank cartridge containing the regular charge of powder \ the noise was not greater t' an that of a 10-pounder Parrot loaded with solid shot nor nearly so shrill. The recoil of the gun was only two feet. The second shot was with 50 lbs of powder, and a solid shot of J 080 lbs. The shot was driven 600 or 800 yar.ls, when it dropped in the bay, ricochetted two or three times, knocking up splashes of •pray as large as a ship in full sail, and twice as high, and finally disappeared in the water. The recoil of the gun was just enough to show that it could work easy. The t'tird trial was with the same weight of shot, but with a full charge of 100 lb of powder. The report was very little louder than the preceding one, and there was no perceptible concussion of the ground, The shot, how. ever, whirled through the air from the angle 925 degrees, at which the gun was elevated, and after describing a beautiful arc which - was visible to the naked eye, dropped into the water about four miles off, throwing up such a volume of spray that it could not be seen whether it ricochetted or not. The noise made by the collision of the ball in the air was like the wail of a giant, like the peculiar noise made by a hurricane passing through a ship's rigging." The gun had recoiled five feet. The range was to be tested some future day with 125 lb powder charge, when it was expected to be between five and six miles, DtiETXMNo in "Rerun. — There have been troubles In his ho'iness's military household. Tne Roman correspondent of the Morning: Post writes :— " The usual peaceful repose of the corps of noble Btiardß has been disturbed by a diK'l between two of its members, the Marquis de Monte and the Duke Lmte, who fought with sabres last week, fortunately without other result than a slight cut. on the Duke's linnd. Tlie Pope was very angry at fltlch a ffa grant infringment of his positive prohibition of duelling, and, in spite of the interpositi in of the Duke of Castelvecchio, Commandant of the corps, insisted upon their immediate dismissal. The duel arose out of a box on the ears inflicted by young Prince < )rsini on another scion of a princely Roman house, a member of the noble guard, in a public cafe. It wrs ixpected that a duel would have been the result of so open an ailront, but when it was known on the following day that a reconciliation had taken place, forty of the guards had waited on the Duke of Catelvecchio to demand the expulsion of their comrade from the corps. His voluntary resignation having rendered this unnecessary, something more was cons' dered requisite for the honor of the corps, and consequently the above mentioned duel was enacted. Duelling is severely punishable by the laws of Rome, but as the cimmandant demonstrated to the Pope that in the present instance the trangresoion arose from zeal for the honor of the corps, his hol'ncss was pleased to remit any penalty beyond the dismissal of the two combatants. Cuest-fallen.— A lady who has made a fortune by confectionery, applied to the Herald's Colrge for a coat of armq, and was rather disci mflted on beirg told that they could only give her a— lozenge. Some kind little milliners have, out of their scant earnings, subscribed, we observe, in aid of the victims at Warsaw. This is indeed a pretty illustration of the Needle being true to the Pole. The other day a father, remonstrating wiih his boy upon his lying iv bed, said that the sun had been up these three bours. " That's m great wonder, father," replied the son. " If I had as many miles to travel to day as the sun hw, I would have risen as so>n nshe."