31. What are stationary gun-carriages used for?
To fire the piece from, and not to transport it except for short distances.
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32. For what service are these carriages used?
For garrison and sea-coast pieces; although the siege-gun carriages just described may also be used in a fortification or garrison. Mortar-beds, to be described hereafter, are used either for siege or garrison service.
33. What are the chief requisites for garrison and sea-coast carriages?
Strength, durability, and facility in serving the guns, as they are intended only for the works of a place, coast-batteries, and situations where they are permanently fixed.
34. Why should these carriages be required to possess great strength and durability?
Unless made strong they would soon be shaken by the continued and rapid fire which the defense of a work may demand; and from their constant exposure to the weather they would soon decay if made of a very perishable material.
35. Is the weight of garrison carriages a matter of great importance?