Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-09-23
oHAssrpo1s AND OTHER pors.

The superiority Of the French Chasse-
not rifle oyer the famous needle gun Of
the Prussians, although claimed from
the very first, during the present war
has not yet been satisfactorily proven
by any names of means. The Chase
pot, however, certainly has demon
strated itself to be by far the most
effective weapon in the single barrel
way yet brought to bear in the subject
by the French, although It even Is
fearfully surpassed as a weapon Of
human slaughter by their terrible
mitrailleuse. ttE ILGZ
And now comes tho London Nesos,
saying that the late DR.. Dionysius
Lardner was in possession of the secret
of compromising the contents Of a
weapon Of war, technically, If not
elegantly, designated by Il very inodor-
ous name, Of such tremendous potency
that the noxious vapors 1t was capable
of emitting would have spread death
and devastation throughout an area of
a couple Of leagues. 1t was suggested
that, armed with this terrible instru-
ment of destruction, the Doctor might
have quietly seated himself in the
center of Trafalgar Square, and, under
the threat of Immediately bringing 1t
into requisition, have established him.
self ~autocrat of Great Britain. Luck
lily, DIR. Lardner was not ambitious,
was gathered to his fathers IN peace
and his secret was buried with him. y
1t Is we'll known by all who have
ever been in China, or sailed In seas
contiguous to that Celestial section OF
the globe, that the Chinese have made
use of this latter style of odoriferous
weapon for ages. Plainly and prac-
tically, though perhaps not elegantly,
they are called "stink pots, and that's
Just what they are. They are the size
of a boys head-some larger and some
smaller, according to requirement
and consist Of a she'll Of crockery,
filled with an internal liquid COM
pound, which, the moment it Is lei
loose by breaking the shell, releases a
powerful smelling gas, beside which
the quintessence of a million .polecat'
were sweet rs a rose. Send one o
these pots into IN enemy's camp and
all must leave, standing not upon the
order of their leaving, but leave forth
with, for no man can breathe that fouI
stencil and not stife to death In disgust
on the spot. They are most effective
when thrown OH board All enemy'i
vessel or junk at sea-. If successfully
thrown. so rs to smash OH deck, al
hands have got to jump overheard
there Is no other way for 1t. Grea'
rewards have from time to time beer
paid to the Celestial chemist wh'
should succeed in getting up some new
and more powerful smell than all thu
rest; therefore they have got the thing
reduced down to its present diabolica
status-Dr. Lardner's compound coult
hardly have been worse, or more
eficacious.
Now. we have an idea that these
pots dropped from a balloon might bt
brought very effectively to bear In time
of 4 For instance, drop a few into
Metz or Strasburg, and see how quici
the garrison would have to evacuat'
the premises, without even firing :
gun. Even Paris might be forced to
capitulation in that way Mt shor
notice. Such terrestrial bombardment
ut any rate, would be far nor merci
full and less destructive to life ant
: property than the style now in vogue
Some Of our scientific exchanges evei
advocate the idea that "Greek fire
could be dropped in the same way
, yet why use that terrible agent o
destruction when the Chinese article
Just as e(fcctual?