Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-09-28

companying flying column of this nature
with but yerv little difficulty. The wire
drums are started off at gallop, the cable
being unwound MS the carts proceed, and
sergeant on horseback with ''sounder to
his ear, in connection with one end of the
wire. receives the generals commands as
soon almost as they are spoken. The move
ment countermanded or retreat ordered.
the cable is again wound up as readily as it
was laid down, and the telegraphers make
| good their return with the rest OF troops.
! Where ordinary movements are executed,
use is. of course, made of the telegraph wagon,
I "A comfortable little office on wheels, furnished
with all things necessary for the receipt and
despatch of messages /; but this convenience
is naturally out of place where rapid ch Inge
of front, or some speedy flank movment, has
to be executed.
Coming next to the explosion of charges by
means of the electric spark, We enter upon
| a phase of war science which bids fair to
grow to infinite proportions. Both Franklin
and Priestly suggested the employment OF
| electricity in this connection more than 100
wears ago. but it is very recently indeed that
We have been in position to make proper
use of this valuable agent as a means OF firing
| charges at a distance. In fact, at the pres
ent moment We have by no means exhausted
research in this direction, and We find scien-
titic soldiers and sailors still at variance with
one another rs the best plan OF using the
election current for firing purposes One OF
the first applications made of the subtle
| fluid was on the removal of the wreck OF
the Royal George at Spithead nearly fifty
years ago, when the explosion of the charges
| was brought about by what Is termed wlre
fuse, or i'll other words short piece of plati
mum thread stretched between two copper
wires. The platinum bridge, having less
| L., her
presents u considerable amount of resistance
TO any current of electricity that passes, and,
| in doing this, becomes SO heated as to be
capable Of igniting any PARTICLES OF gun
| powder in contact with it. A wire fuse of
this description has simply to be placed in
| the middle of charge, and If then a cur
rent of electricity is passed from battery
| along the wire i'll connection with the fuse
instantaneous ignition is the result. This
simple method of firing charges under water
was a vast improvement over the old one In
use by our engineers, which consisted in
leading up a metal pipe from the charge to
| the surface of the water the outlet OF the
| pipe was placed as far as possible from the
| charge beneath the water, and then ladle
| full of red-hot shot was emptied down 1t,
and so reached the gunpowder below. which
thereupon exploded if the iron fragments
| had not become too cool in transit.
!
adapted to the military and naval services.
A voltaic battery is necessary to evolve the
| low tension electricity required to yield sufi
| cient resistance and heat, and such battery
| made up of metal plates, and involving the
use of acids, is an awkward apparatus to
GARY in the field. Already in 1853, this fact
seems to have occurred to a Spanish officer,
| Colonel Verdu, who determined to see what
could be done in the way of exploding gun
l Il al HarAg lNr
| high tension electricity. Aided by Ruhm
korif coil he succeeded in firing half dozen
charges simultaneously, and although the
discharge WAS sometimes matter of consid-
| erahle uncertainty, to Nerdu certainly belongs
| the credit of having been the first soldier TO
apply electricity in this way to the firing of
| one or mere mines. Wheatstone and Abel
followed in Verdu's footsteps, and while the
| former directed his attention to the construc-
| ton of II frictional apparatus 'of u portable
| nature, which should be suitable for military
use, the latter busted himself in the prepara-
| ton OF fuse enclosing compound more
delicately explosive than gunpowder a fuse,
by the way, which still retains an important
| place among our warlike stores.
| Ii WAS in the China war of 1850 that We
first find an electric firing apparatus forming
| part of AN army equipment In this case
| the outfit was of a somewhat clumsy nature.
| A conveyance, in shape and size much re-
| sembling n baker 5 barrow, contained n mon
ster horse shoe magnet, and 1t was the sud
den disruption OF its armature from this
imagine, which generated the spark to fire the
fuse few years afterwards, this ponder
Gus conveyance gave place TO Il neat little
mahogany box about foot cube, which con-
| tanned half dozen small but powerful mag
| nets, in the field Of which the armatures
| were made To- revolye with exceeding celerity,
| and IT Is 10y means of such an apparatus that
| t.. day we are enabled to fire score of
| charges at u time the wires branching off
from the instrument to a distance OF hun
| dred yards or more. But, nevertheless, We
have vet to devise, it seems, an efficient ex-
ploding apparatus capable of igniting both
low and high tension electric fuses.
As everybody knows, it is by reason of
electricity being employed to fire explosive
charges that torpedo warfare has of late at
tanned so important position. In the white
head OF fish torpedo, the electric fluid, 1t IL
true, plays no part, but this is the only nOta-
ble excel ption. In the floating torpedo the
moored torpedo, and the spar torpedo, cleo
triclty is the life and soul at one moment
the machine is but II floating buoy or sunken
impedIment, the next 1t Is transformed into a
terrible volcano. A feeble current OF electric
ity flashing along the wire has on the instant
l
Passing from torpedo warfare and the re-
cent attempts that have been made to turn
electricity To account in the construction of
elf-steering launches, we come to II scarcely
less important matter. that of firing guns by
the electric spark. Not only are guns at
proof and those under experiment so igni-
ted, but ON board the modern iTonclnd 1t Is
the custom nowadays to lire bro6'sides in
this wise also. by leading wires from every
gun to one point, which is specially adapted
for observation the double advantage is Sc
cured of bringing about the firing ut the
most opportune moment, and of securing u
simultaneous discharge. Some expert
ments made in Germany have proved
beyond doubt that IN armor plate struck IN
simultaneously IA this way by several shot
may 10, effectively broken up. whereas the
ordinary broadside fire, brought about by
gunuers at word of command, Is incapable
Of doing So The wires may be led into an
observing tower, OF halfway up the main
mast If need he, and here the firing officer
can calmly consort his measures undisturbed
, by the smoke and noise and hustle going on
/ below him. He il provided with proper
sights. and the guns being laid i'll accord
ance with his orders, he can watch the Op-
+ portunity for firing as well as If no had hs
, eye to the weapons themselves.
f Finally We have the use of the electric
s light IN warfare. 1t is the most recent ap-
f plicatiou of all of tins wonderful agent, and
3 we should hesitate to say how extensive may
- hereafter bc the employment of electricity IN
b. this connection. In the Fmnco- German
4 war, the first use of this powerful source of
/ illumination was made by the French engl-
, neers, and from the forts around Paris the
i electric rays were made To sweep IN all dI-
r rcctio1is, to watch for hostile troops engaged
a IN the operation Of mining. Bodies OF sol
= | diers upwards of II mile distant could he
plainly seen 10y the vivid light of the electric
To- lamp and working PARTIES were frequently
, compelled to abandon their object IN the
presence of this powerful detector. As Il
, mcau1 of discovering the approach OF torpe-
, do launches at night. the electric light wll
a obviously be of value, and already trlnl ol
+ IT has been made IN several of Her Majesty
ships. The Alexandra. the flagship of the
Mediterranean fleet. is provided with an elec-
- the lamp, worked by ono of WIldes power
q fnl machines. so that the efficiency of the ap
e. parntus may be- practically tested EHper
u meuts however, have already shown what
A.. the. electrical nays are capable of doing. and
1 a low torpedo launch can not approach with
4 IN 600 wards without detection, while, il
painted Of II neutral gray, so as the better tC
escape observation by day. the vessel, 1t mp
O. pears is all the more perceputle under eiee
IA the illumination. Steamers, we are told, arr
e. peculiarly liable To be- detected by an electri,
e. lamp, SINCE the mys are reflected 10y th'
= steam and smoke AS effectively ~ If the lat
ter were a solid screen How valuable, too