Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 75, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1918 — AMERICANS WILL HAVE A LONG RANGE GUN TOO. [ARTICLE]

AMERICANS WILL HAVE A LONG RANGE GUN TOO.

Plains for a super-cannon, a great long range gun, possibly similiar to the one with which the Germans have been bombarding Paris, have been submitted to Secretary Daniels by naval ordnance expert.! after months of experiment. It is understood, however, that the report include* a statement that the ordnance officer’ do not believe the military value of such s weapon would compensate for the time and money which must be spent in perfecting and developing it. American ordnance officers have been interested in the possibilities of long range guns for the last ten years. The belief that the “game was not worth the candle,” as one officer expressed it today, prevented rapid progress, but experiments were not dropped and, since the entrance of the United States into the war, added interest has been evidenced in the Navy Department. Reports were heard in some quarters yesterday that a range of 105 miles was expected of the gun now under consideration. Secretary Daniels would not discuss the matter in any way, but other officials declared no definite data was at hand on which to make any such estimate.