While on this side we are all too much interested in our own country to join in the chorus of “God Save the King” with any great enthusiasm, we can, nevertheless, wish King Edward VII a long and successful reign.
The Great Rifle
What is, without doubt, the most formidable gun ever constructed is the one recently built at the Watervliet Arsenal for the defence of New York harbor. While its calibre is but 16 inches, smaller than many guns already in use, its range is 21 miles, or half again more powerful than its nearest rival.
The length of the new gun is 49 feet 2 inches and its weight 126 tons. It throws a projectile whose length is 5 feet 4 inches.
The cost of firing a single shot is $1,000.
Eighteen other such guns are to be constructed and placed at such vital points along our coast as New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Hampton Roads.
There is something about these large rifles which appeals to and fascinates nearly every one of us. We all wish to see the series completed and distributed. But, further than that, let us hope that such terrible engines of destruction will never be turned upon a human foe.