In
this heavily populated world where much of the human population lives
cheek by jowl in cities, it is not uncommon to find a neighbor
irritating. Indeed, if we got along well with everyone on our street, or
in our building, it would be nothing short of miraculous. Should
someone be playing their music too loud three doors down, one would
typically knock on their door to deliver a polite request.
However,
in the more rural parts of the USA, neighbors might have a bit more
leeway to resort to extraordinary means to register their displeasure.
Sixty miles south of Buffalo in New York, close to the border with
Pennsylvania, is the country town of Kiantone.
One Kiantone
resident, Brian Malta, was so outraged by the conduct of one of his
neighbors that he took out his replica Civil War cannon and fired it
across his fence for eight days. The cannon was loaded with powder and
wadding, so it was technically no more dangerous than a bird-scaring
device. However, the discharge could be heard for miles around, so
eventually Malta was arrested and charged.
American Civil War-era replica of Howitzer. Photo: Charles Edward – CC BY-SA 3.0While
it is not illegal to own a cannon in New York State, deputies seized
the weapon since it was being used maliciously. Malta was charged with
harassment and was allowed home after posting $2,500 bail. He will face
North Harmony Town Court on three counts of second-degree menacing and
three counts of second-degree harassment.
No details of the cause
of the dispute have been released by the authorities. However, should
you decide that a Civil War-era cannon is the way forward regarding a
problem neighbor, you would be well to consider which type and size
would be most effective. Civil war cannon at the Gettysburg Memorial Park.At
the Battle of Gettysburg, there were some 653 cannons present: nearly
400 on the Union side and 281 on the Confederate side. The Union guns
were said to be superior due to the better quality produced in the
manufacturing centers of the North.
The Confederate generals were
keen to create a bridgehead at Gettysburg and continue their invasion of
the North. That may have given the southern states the international
recognition they craved to legitimize their status as a sovereign
entity. General Lee and his Confederate officers in their first meeting since Appomattox, August 1869.The
battle at Gettysburg cost the lives of thousands of men and was the
bloodiest encounter of the American Civil War with an estimated 50,000
total casualties, including six or seven thousand killed. The
effectiveness of cannon fire was pivotal to the success of the Union
defense and marked the beginning of the end for the Confederate
campaign. Gettysburg
Anniversary National Civil War Battle Reenactment, the single largest
and one of the most pivotal military engagements ever fought on American
soil. Photo: S Pakhrin from DC, USA / CC-BY-SA 2.0A
brand-new replica Parrot cannon barrel will cost you $499.00, but you
will have to find the gun carriage yourself. The Parrot could deliver a
ten-pound charge and was accurate up to 2,000 yards. However, the
brittle nature of the iron barrel meant that the Parrot was vulnerable
to shattering, which proved lethal to the eight-man gunnery team needed
to operate it.
Even
so, the Parrot was popular due to its overall range and comparatively
light weight, which made it an easier artillery piece to handle under
fire than others. Accuracy was still reasonable even at 3,000 yards, so
if your annoying neighbor is only three doors down the hall, this cannon
should do the trick.
No comments:
Post a Comment