Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon | Page 9

Peterson, Tom and Ned
sat in the former's office, discussing the young inventor's latest scheme.
"How big is the biggest gun ever made, Tom?" asked his chum. "I
mean in feet, in inches, or in muzzle diameter, however they are
measured."
"Well," began Tom, "of course some nation may, in secret, be making a
bigger gun than any I have ever heard of. As far as I know, however,
the largest one ever made for the United States was a sixteen-inch rifled

cannon--that is, it was sixteen inches across at the muzzle, and I forget
just how long. It weighed many tons, however, and it now lies, or did a
few years ago, in a ditch at the Sandy Hook proving grounds. It was a
failure."
"And yet you are figuring on making a cannon with a muzzle thirty
inches across--almost a yard--and fifty feet long and to weigh--"
"No one can tell exactly how much it will weigh," interrupted Tom.
"And I'm not altogether certain about the muzzle measurement, nor of
the length. It's sort of in the air at present. Only I don't see why a larger
gun than any that has yet been made, can't be constructed."
"If anybody can invent one, you can, Tom Swift!" exclaimed Ned,
admiringly.
"You flatter me!" exclaimed his chum, with a mock bow.
"But what good will it be?" went on Ned. "Making big guns doesn't
help any in war, that I can see."
"Ned!" exclaimed Tom, "you don't look far enough ahead. Now here's
my scheme in a nutshell. You know what Uncle Sam is doing down in
his big ditch; don't you?"
"You mean digging the Panama Canal?"
Yes, the greatest engineering feat of centuries. It is going to make a big
change in the whole world, and the United States is going to become--if
she is not already--a world-power. Now that canal has to be
protected--I mean against the possibility of war. For, though it may
never come, and the chances are it never will, still it may.
"Uncle Sam has to be ready for it. There never was a more true saying
than 'in time of peace prepare for war.' Preparing for war is, in my
opinion, the best way not to have one.
"Once the Panama Canal is in operation, and the world-changes

incidental to it have been made, if it should pass into the hands of some
foreign country--as it very possibly might do--the United States would
not only be the laughing-stock of the world, but she would lose the high
place she holds.
"Now, then, to protect the canal, several things are necessary. Among
them are big guns--cannon that can shoot a long distance-- for if a
foreign nation should send some of their new dreadnaughts over
here--vessels with guns that can shoot many miles--where would the
canal be once a bombardment was opened? It would be ruined in a
day--the immense lock-gates would be destroyed. And, not only from
the guns aboard ships would there be danger, but from siege cannon
planted in Costa Rica, or some South American country below the
canal zone.
"Now, to protect the canal against such an attack we need guns that can
shoot farther, straighter and more powerfully than any at present in use,
and we've got to have the most powerful explosive. In other words,
we've got to beat the biggest guns that are now in existence. And I'm
going to do it, Ned!"
"You are?"
"Yes, I'm going to invent a cannon that will make the longest shots on
record. I'm going to make a world-beater gun; or, rather, I'm going to
invent it, and have it made, for I guess it would tax this place to the
limit.
"I've been thinking of this for some time, Ned. I've been puttering
around inventing new magnetos, potato-parers and the like, but this is
my latest hobby. The Panama Canal is a big thing--one of the biggest
things in the world. We need the biggest guns in the world to protect it.
"And, listen: Uncle Sam thinks the same way. I understand that the best
men in the service--at West Point, Annapolis and Sandy Hook, as well
as elsewhere--are working in the interest of the United States to perfect
a bigger cannon than any ever before made. In fact, one has just been
constructed, and is going to be tried at the Sandy Hook proving

grounds soon. I'm going to see the test if I can.
"And here's another thing. Foreign nations are trying to steal Uncle
Sam's secrets. If this country gets a big cannon, some other nation will
want a bigger one. It's a constant warfare. I'm going to devote my
talents--such as they are--to Uncle Sam. I'm going to make the biggest
cannon in the world--the one