"You must know, sir," answered J.T. Maston, looking dignified, "that an artilleryman is like a cannon-ball, he can never go too far."
The debate was getting personal, but the president interfered.
"Be calm, my friends, and let us reason it out. We evidently want a gun of great range, as the length of the engine will increase the detention of gas accumulated behind the projectile, but it is useless to overstep certain limits."
"Perfectly," said the major.
"What are the usual rules in such a case? Ordinarily the length of a cannon is twenty or twenty-five times the diameter of the projectile, and it weighs 235 to 240 times its weight."
"It is not enough," cried J.T. Maston with impetuosity.
"I agree to that, my worthy friend, and in fact by keeping that proportion for a projectile nine feet wide, weighing 30,000 lbs., the engine would only have a length of 225 feet and a weight of 7,200,000 lbs."
"That is ridiculous," resumed J.T. Maston. "You might as well take a pistol."
"I think so too," answered Barbicane; "that is why I propose to quadruple that length, and to construct a cannon 900 feet long."
The general and the major made some objections, but, nevertheless, this proposition, strongly supported by the secretary, was definitely adopted.