Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/421

* GUNGL. 371 GUNNERY. made many tours, Guiigl's compositions being the most popular features of the programmes presenleil. His Berlin Orchestra was established in 1S43, with which organization he made a tour of the United States six 3ears later. His other positions were: Royal Musical Director (1S50), and Bandmaster of the Twenty-third Regiment of Infantry, stationed at Briinn ( 1S5S). From this time on, most of his life was employed in concert tours. He has left about four humlred compositions, for the most part waltzes, many of which have vied in popularity and eifectivenesa with the waltzes of Strauss. He died at Weimar. GXJNMAKING, GUN-FACTORIES. See Orii.nam'e: Sm.ll Arms: SiioTr.r.. GUN-METAL, or GUN BRONZE. See Alloy. GUNNEL, or Butterfish. A kind of blenny {Pholis gunnellus), which has an eel-shaped body six or eight inches long, and occurs abundantly along rocky shores, among alga?, on both sides of the North Atlantic south to Long Island Sound, and on the coast of France. It is deep olive in color, with a row of dark spots on the back, and is remarkable for the quantity and thickness of the mucous secretion with which it is covered. There are other species, all shore fishes of the northern seas. GUNNER. In military usage throughout the world, private soldiers of the various branches of the artillery service are described as gunners. In field batteries the soldiers who drive and have charge of the horses of the battery are usually termed 'drivers.' In the United States Army the cannoneers are the non-commissioned officers and men who ride on the field piece and lim- ber, and who work the guns. The grade of first or second class gunner is open to non- commissioned officers and men who qualify by examination. The grade carries with it an in- creased rate of pay. the soldier being distin- guished by a decoration in the form of a projectile of scarlet cloth worn on the sleeve of his coat. (See Military Insignia.) In the British Army there is a warrant rank in the garrison artillery known as master gunner, but it is gradually be- coming obsolete. In the naval service the gunner is a warrant officer who. under the ordnance offi- cer, has charge of the ship's ordnance, magazines, etc. He is usually an ex-apprentice with a good record, appointed after examination upon the recommendation of the commanding officers. Gun- ners and boatswains (q.v.) to the number of six annually are eligible for commissions in the line of the navy if suitably recommended and after passing the requisite examination. As an assistant to the gunner, there is a petty officer, known as the gunner's mate. See Navy under United States. GUNNER'S QUADRANT. A mechanical instrument used in the artillery service, either to give the elevation directly or to verify the angles obtained by ordinary sights on every kind of gun and mortar. In the 3.6-inch and 7-inch mortars two seats for the feet of the quadrant are squared off on the upper side of the piece in rear of the trunnions. The quadrant is applied to the breech of the gim, the face of the muzzle, to an element of the bore, or to an element of the exterior surface where it is parallel to the axis of the bore, as may be most convenient. It is composed of two main parts, the body carry- ing the graduated are, and the movable arm carrying the index and the level. The movable arm also carries a graduation in minutes from to CO degrees; and the level, which is capable of a longitudinal movement along the arm, car- ries a second index for reading this scale. De- grees are read upon the graduated arm upon the body, minutes liy the sliding level and scale on the movable arm. The iirinciple by which the GUNNER 8 QUADRANT. scale of this arm is constructed to read to min- utes is as follows: The arm represents a portion of the arc of a circle, which in this case has a radius of 113.45 inches. The level is a chord of this circle, and its index is at its middle point. See Gunnery. GUNNERY. The science and art of handling guns. The science of handling gims consists of exterior and interior ballistics (q.v.) and the discussion of problems arising in connection there- with. The art of handling guns includes drill and target practice and the practical problems and other matters connected with them. To render a gun effective, four jioints are to be considered: (1) Safety, (2) accuracy, (3) destruc- tive effect, (4) speed of fire. Safety is necessary, as the knowledge, or even the suspicion, of its un- safeness, will demoralize the men who h.andle it, in addition to which is to be considered the injury it may do if it gives way. The greatest dangers to be apprehended from modern guns are the premature explosion of the charge : a hang-fire (q.v.) and the opening of the breech before ex- plosion of the charge; the jamming of a pro- jectile in the bore and the blowing off of the muzzle; the use of bad or improper powder^, or of proper powder in too great quantities ; weak- ness in the mount. Xo other causes should ren- der a well-made modern gim dangerous to its crew. Premature explosion of the charge cannot absolutely be prevented, but it is now rendered very unlikely by automatic attachments to the breech mcchanisjn which make it impossible to fire the primer — whether electric or percussicm — before the breech is fully closed and locked. The remaining source of danger is the high tempera- ture of a gun when heated by rapid firing ; the condition of affairs in which a gun becomes so hot that it will set fire to the charge is not im-