Washington telegraph., 1855-07-25
NO. 30.
The ways Of a Bombshell.

The Ways Of a BOmbsheIl;
A column of white smoke rushing up in4
to the air expands into concentric rings
then follows the heavy, dull report. like the
beat of some giant drum and thetl comes
the shrill scream of the shell as it describes
Its fatal curve and descends with prodigious
velocity, increasing rapidly every instant
till it eaplodes with the peculiar noise Of
Z "a blast Just as it reaches the ground. At
least. 1t ough. to do so; but to-day watch
ed the shells; me after another, and only
two out OF three b'rst properly though the
range and flight wer. beautifully accurate.
The Russian fusees a.e bad. but their ar.
tillery men are not to BE- excelled when
their practice is undisturbed It was in.
teresting, just as the man of pleasure in
Lucreiius liked to see the sea rag. when he
was not on board ship, to look at tho shell
dropping, and to gee our active little Allies
scampering away to their cover, and adjust
ing themselves to the closest possible con-
nection with mother-earth, till the hurting
masses had gone by them. Any man with
moderate confidence and experience may
despise round shot at long ranges if he only
sees the guns from which they come dis
charged Well, we won't say despise ex-
actly, but at all events "evade." But a
shell is diabolical invention, which no one
can regard as it approaches without certain
misgiving that a triangular piece of Jagged
iron may be whizzed through his internal
economy at the shortest possible notice af-
terward.
If it is sent from gun it fzzes and roars
through the air. and sends its fragments be-
fore it, the cone of dispersion, which is the
neat phrase used by the learned militant to
imply the direction of the bits of she'll Tor
its contents when it is filled with bullets.
etc.) being in the direction the shell has ta-
ken from the gun. and the fragments being
propelled with a portion of the velocity of
the shell at the moment of explosion. If
it be discharged from mortar it whistles
gently and delicately, giving squeak and
a roar, now and then, as it rises to its great.
est elevation, and then, rushing downward
with shriller whistle toward the point, its
fragments are projected all around radially,
and are propelled merely by the force of
the bursting charge. A man behind o
bomb. or at the side of it, is just as likely to
be hit as man before it when it bursts in
that way whereas the piece from she'll
from gun in nearly every instance fly for
ward, so that person behind it or outside
of the limits Of the cone of dispersion is
safe. Unless the bomb or she'll bursts in
front of body of men in the air very
considerable degree of safety may be attain
ed by the men by throwing themselves fat
on the ground. inasmuch as the pieces of
shell which bursts on the earth fly upward
from the point where they encounter maxi.
mum resistance.
Of course, if bomb burst over a man
on the ground, or if shell explodes in the
air in front of man, there is no great safe.
ty gained by his throwing himself down be-
yond the consequent reduction of the amount
of vertical exposure. 1t is rather an un-
pleasant reflection whenever one is discuss
ing the range of missile. and is perhaps
exclaiming "There is splendid shot,
that it may have carried misery and sorrow
into some happy household. The smoke
clears away the men get up, they gather
round one that moves not or who is racked
with mortal agony they bear him away,
mere black speck, and few shovels full of
mud mark for little time the resting g-place
of the poor soldier, whose wife, or mother.
or children, or sisters. are left destitute, Of
all solace. save memory and the sympathy
of their country One such little speck I
watched to-day, and saw quietly deposited
on the ground inside trench. Who will
let the inmates of that desolate cottage in
Picardy, or Gascony. or Anjou, know of
their bereavement However, there goes
another SHE'LL and it does nothing but knock
up cloud oe snow and dust.
Camp Cor. London Times