Mr. Krupp, it is said, is very proud of his two power hammers, which he has
named Max and Fritz. But, on the whole, these two apparatus are only fifty
ton ones, and have a fall of but ten feet. Now, Creusot and St. Chamond
each has a hundred ton steam hammer with a fall of 16 feet, accompanied
with four furnaces and four cranes.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--3,300 POUND PROJECTILE OF A KRUPP GUN IN COURSE
OF MANUFACTURE.]

But why proceed to the manufacture of monstrous guns, like those that Mr.
Krupp has just produced, or meditates producing in the future; guns of such
a caliber can be used only in special cases--in battery on the coast or on
board of a ship. It is not with _materiel_ of this kind that war is waged;
it is with field pieces. Our ultra-Vosges neighbors well know this.

One of the reasons that the war that very recently threatened us did not
break out, was because the Germans could not fail to see that their field
_materiel_ was not as powerful as ours; that the shell of our 3½ inch gun
weighs 17½ pounds, while that of their heavy 3½ inch gun does not weigh 15.
Now, this difference has its value.

Hunters well know what importance it is necessary to attach to the number
of the ball that they use.

This granted, it is well to observe that the net cost of the "40 cm. kanone
L/40" must not be less than $300,000 or $400,000. Now, on the interest of
such a sum we could have from ten to fifteen complete batteries, that is to
say, comprising, in addition to the sixty or eighty guns, all the necessary
accessories, such as carriages, limbers, caissons, harness, etc.