Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-04-25
FIFTY CLNTs IN ADVANCE.
VOLUME 20, NO. %.
From The Bo.,oa Tan.etip,.
The Wind Of Cannon Balls.
/" The i,nsss have besa,

| With tssniy anos,sl murders IN their erV~ns,
Aad po.h .. iom their stools"
So With the supers.iiions Of sailors sod
soldiers. They have NOR. lives than cats.
The brain. have been knocked out Of THE
one many ii e.. but here !, CONES again
Colonel Ru..-ll falls dead IN the cannon.
sds at Roanoke: no wound i' found up'n
hi. bdy. -rgo. say. the soldiers. he <"'
killed by the r,nd oi the balls Non seYu'-
ter. says the surgeon.
The wind Of q cannon hall never hurts
any body. ior many reasons. the hr's Of which
l.. that there !. no such thing.
The sir displaced BY the hall eloses 10.
.tsn,ly bebind 1t. but hs. no lateral eject.
Th. is proved IN ,ariou. ~ays. bu, 10
placed beyond cavil or question, by the CON
mon occurrence. IN every ssssre cannona'is.
For instance. the dispatch received from
Fer, Don,l.on ays "A 'ho, struck the
p,lo, hou.s Of tb. 81. Louis. psssins through
IL. bs,,r,sn IA, p,iOi'' kg,. without 'njar'ne
MIN. WY uli NOV '"o ""S W
ct least tark hi. shin.7
Tie fact 10, that military surgery ahoands
IN case. which prove that cannon balls pass
IN grar,ns contact with oil parts OF q mans
body, and never DO the slIsbvst hahn. eK'
cept to parts actually struck. They have
smashed clean through hats and hemle".
eraIins the hair: they have cut oa 'ar' elo~s
/ 10 the ,kuli arms Gloss 20 the side. one
thigh clo.e 10 the other: and yet tho adn'
cent part. are leit as sound -. ever.
An instance !. gwen VI a heavy shot ''r's'
in.a rank of marching men IN the Hank.
taking oa the ush, lrg OF the hr'', OF tho
third. and Of the 9th man. and yet the hh
leg. Of the wounded men wer. uninJdred.
and the other men knew no,hins about 1t.
According to tie wind theory. their legs
should have been badly injured.
But how to accrun' Tor the Death OF men
m action. whuse kin. are unbrVksn. .aVs
by the wind theory
Easily, a. thu. The vital internal or.
gan. floa,. as !, ~err, in yielding u.d'nm
Pres, your hand into the PIT . man's
stomach slowly, and you may d'plses The
organ without any pain or injury bas
tlnnt q swift blow ther. With your tst. and
you dousls the man up with pain: P-rhaps
kill him outright; but there will not be the
slightest outward mark. Hence in boring,
blow Below the belt 10 indeed foul
Pres. bard upon . man. lett 'ide. and the
elasticity Of the ribs. aided by the elastic
cartilegc. a, each end, allow'a great de-
preston 10 10 maie-cons"quen,ly the heart
aud lungs to b. pushed aside; aud ys'e"ry'
thing come. hack 10 i,s pace without pain
or injury but swift blow over the sams
par, with club, OF tall fron house up
on q hard substance. may fracture the fihs.
drive the sharp broken points through tho
membrane. Or even rar.iyrs the heart, and
kill the man outright, without lear'nss
blemi-h on tie skin.
sra,diny once in lhs blw of . vc-.el. as
she hors dosn upon hostile battery ny
e,. caught the fr.i a,.h ni cAnn"n. sni
quicker th,n nns could Wink twice. tie '"l'
can. crashing through tho hnlSis'' ani
.pnt. dawn comrsde. t-irr- my go
caught the report, which he. alas ~' 80
far gone 90 hear A twelve pound shoi
struck him full upon the p-l''.. but beng
partly spent IN 'plln;"rIns the ~ood. It's
fore. VA. further broken by the bpiy. sId
/, fell to the deck with him. No bloot we
drawn. bot the internal parts we're - 'ma'h.
ed ,ha, he was hardly got down To the cock.
pi, a'I'".
SOLDIER, and sailors have other sup~r'ti.
ton. abou, spent balls. Tho old soldier
love. 90 retail them 90 the recruit. opou
whom he looks down as sphomorc- DO upon
freshmen. or NJ our regular officers do upon
the volunteers. and with as liitls ressoo.
few Of them ever having s-rn much hard
fighting. for the Mexican war vas b.tA
sort Of dre-. campaign, against poor. ~st
enemy, in the whole OF which there Us lass
blood shed than in a Nipoleonlc .kirn.h.
The o'd soldier. say, will tell you OF tho
srcenhorn. ~ho, seeing spent ball just
moving on the ground. tried to stop !, ~i'h
hi. foot, bot hai /, cut clean oa instap'er.
The fact 10. q cannon hall. partly -r"ni.
rioaeh.n and roll. With just the same forcs
as though il had h.rn r'lled hys nan's
hand. and no more. The iorc- depend. up
on It. weigh, and velocity. Of course.
Mortal wounds. however, without any
blood..hed OF breach oi the SKIN, are not
generally mad" by spen, ball.. but hy those
having grrat velocity and according ~ nv
theory. they should he more frequent BY
smoo III bore than BY rfed cannon.
The halls rotate swiftly on their All"
they ay. sod in directions according to the
forces acting upon them m they leave tbs
gun. Nov take 81 pound shot and ho'a
IL before mans thigh on the ouhids. or
before his ribs, IN such wise that " you push
it forward. aud he stands firm. the ball will
pa.s. BY reason Of bis fs.h yi-lding. one
inch; tha, is. by being pressed inward one
inch. TIE ball will thus have moved
through spac. before occupied by ae'h or
hone, becauss it passed slowly. or the parts
Welded, and no harm 10 done Bot ifthst saps
man L. standing firmly. and that same 81.
pound shot. rushing swift ~ lightning.
strikes him in the same direction. Il may
roll over the skin without breatins u. bas
may. nevertheless. dash Il inward With such
sudden shock as to psrsly,e ell vital action.
and even crush the bone.
Joye's thunderbolt could not strike man
dead more suddenly. ar leave lee. scars.