Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1881 — Ab Old Mortar. [ARTICLE]

Ab Old Mortar.

The Governor of Cyprus has sent to England one of she oldest pieces of ordnance in existence. Its form is that of a cup or goblet, having the mouth wide and deep to receive a large stone shot, while the pedestal has a much narrower chamber for the powder. This chamber is seven inches in diameter, extends thirty inches behind the mortar, and terminates in a vent at right angles fully an inch in diameter. It is probably of Venetian manufacture. Be brief; for it i£ with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed the deeper they burn.