The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-23 00:00:00

TORPEDO WARFARE.

Admiral the Right Eon. Lord Dunsany has recently read a
paper at the Royal United Service Institution, London, on
the modes of warfare as regards fire-ships, explosive vessels,
torpedoes, and explosive mines. The chair was occupied by
Admiral Sir F. H. Nicolson, Bart., C. 8., and amongst the
audience were many members of both branches of the ser-
vice.

In his introductory remarks, the noble and gallant
lecturer observed that his idea, in making out his
paper, was not to set himself as an authority, or to ex-
press his own opinions with the. view. of their accepta-
tion, but rather to incite a discussion on the various
points on which he intended to dwell in the course of
his address. Lord Dunsany remarked that torpe-
does were considered at the present time by the
civilised nations as weapons of warfare as legal as any
other in existence. There were those, too, he said,
who considered that, on humanitarian grounds, the
torpedo ought to be retained, inasmuch as through its
instrumentality human sufferings were shortened, if
not alleviated. The lecturer, adverting to the Franco-
Prussian war, observed that a nice and knotty ques-
tion arose daring that war consequent on the capture
of some balloons and their occupants by the Germans.
While the French held that these latter should be
placed under a certain head, the Germans considered
they should be put in the category of spies, and in any
case they were sent before a court-martial. Alluding
to fire-ships, Lord Dunsany said the crews of such
craft were never granted any quarter such as is ex-
tended to belligerents. He characterised this
mode of warfare as a savage one, and in support
of his views quoted Lord Dandonald, a Scotch
nobleman, who in his official correspondence showed
that h
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horrible one. Thenoble lecturer, referring to the
progress made in artillery, expressed his opinion that
the limit had not yet been reached, although Italy
has in her possession a gun that can throw a ton weight
a distance of nine miles. On the question of torpedoes
he supposed that if this country were at war with
France no one would then deny the right of France to
torpedo off the coast of Cherbourg, or assert that by so
doing she was exceeding the bounds of legitimate war-
fare. The crews of torpedo boats, he contended en-
countered very little danger from the guns of large
vessels, for the chance of hitting them was infini-
tesimal. These torpedo boats were constructed to run
even as fdst as 25 or 27 knots an hour. Suppose a rate
of three miles more were attained, that would be a
mile every two minutes. A vessel going at such a
speed would be difficult to hit, and the smoke of a gun
discharged at her would be scarcely cleared away
when she would be within torpedo range of her
enemy. In conclusion, Lord Dunsany put it to his
hearers to judge whether, after sending to the bottom
of the sea a fine ironclad, and its 600 brave fellows, a
tiny torpedo boat with its crew, deserved not some
treatment besides that awarded by the rules of open,
manly, and straightforward fighting.
A discussion, opened by Major Caineron, who ex-
pressed himself in favour of the present system, fol-
lowed the reading of the paper, and at the close, the
lecturer was awarded a cordial vote of thanks,

John McCrae, son of Donald McCrae, Shielbridge,
Glenshiel, has been tilled by falling from the top of a high
mountain in the parish of Glenshiel. In company with
another lad he had proceeded to the grave of a merchant
who was murdered on the mountain many years ago. On
their homeward journey McCrae slipped oh a glacier and
rolled down the mountain side, his head coming in violent
contact with a sharp stone, which shattered his head to
pieces, fully sixty yards below where he slipped.