Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1891 — BIG GUN BURSTED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BIG GUN BURSTED.

The Six-Inch Breech-Loader After the Seventh Round. The accompanying illustration shows the remains of a six-inch breech-loading gun of the latest pattern, which burst on board the British man-o’-war Cordelia while that vessel was cruisiag in the Pacific Ocean a short time ago. The explosion cost the lives of six men, two lieutenants, and four seamen, twelve-other men were badly wounded, while great and

remarkable damage was done to the ship. The gun was being used in tiring practice and it appeared to be sound at the end of the sixth round. It was loaded with common shell for the seventh round, but when the charge was fired the gun burst with terrific effect. The ship shook violently, and pieces of iron flew in all directions. The foretopgallant lift to the royal yard, a rope at the extreme top of the mast, was cut. The breech block and a large portion of the gun carriage were hurried across the deck which was burst through and a part of the gun carriage was blown down into the main deck, while fragments of the shattered gun fell into the sea hundreds of yards away to starboard.

THE BURSTED GUN.