AN INVULNERABLE CANNON.

Kumara Times, Issue 457, 14 March 1878, Page 2

AN INVULNERABLE CANNON.

,r Herr Eruppbas -sblve&twcF probignjs which have long baffled the ingenuity.' of ballistic inventors—hoV to ffk Vgon so as to prevent the necessity takihg 1 aim after each separate discharge/ »and.' how to protect a gun in permanent or temporary fortification so as to render it practically invulnerable. Herr Krapp, by. asso( eiating the two difficulties, separately insurmountable, bassucceeded in proving both.

The apparatus employed is very simple. Iron plates about half a metre thick are put together so as. to form a little hat, large enough to hold gun and gunners. Hoof and sides are protected by ahputer covering of earth ; the hack is jiaftly open, the front, perforated by a hole for the muzzle, closed by a revolving ivalye. The, valye being, turned back, by the -machinery at the moment of firing, the next instant into : its former position, shileding .the interior of the metal apartment, as before. I There is also a ventilator to carry off [ the smoke, with a varitey of minor arj rangements, which, useful in themselves, 1 are yet not indispensable. Thus.much for guarding gun, and_ gunners.. As to 1 fixing the barrel, this is effected by connecting it with the front plate of the icon hut. . A ball screwed to the muzzle/ and moving in a socket attached to the wall of the metallic compartment, is stated to answer this purpose admirably. The rebound is allowed for by the elongating capacity of the socket; the direction is maintained by the firmness o£ the connecting links. Several experiments were made during November at Bredelar, Hhenith Prussia, iu the presence- ofa large number of foreign officers, and these gave the greatest satisfaction. The confidence displayed by the inventor and assistant remaining in the shed exposed to the fire of two-15-centimetre guns, was speedily shared by the spectators, who vied with each other in imitating their example. Ati the end of the ! unjh <jue exhibition, the delegates came to the conclusion that another and most important step had been made in the arc of defence.. For permanent fortfications, the value of the intervention needs no further comment after what has been stated ; field-works, it is true, will not so readily admit of being strengthened by iron blocks - 8000 kil<£ metres, iu weight/ except where a railway is near or cart be easily cou.structed. But are there many spots, how-a-days, inaccessible- to fthe** omnipresent rail ? Ini Oermany, it would appear, no tiine : >will be lost hi - turning 'the new device to? aciSouut. Sbra^