The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-06-28

such terrible defeat at the hands Of the
Prussians, will long be remembered rs q
combat between the old Misunderstanding
rifle and the breech- loader. in which the
latter was victorious. The France Ger.
man struggle of 1870, again. though
marked by the employment Of no special
arm, if we except the mitrailleuse, was
assisted by important applications of
science-to-wit, the reproduction. by
means of photo TYPOGRAPHY, of the French
Ol dnance maps and plans, which were dis
tributed iQ thousands throughout the Ger
man army ,and the establishment in France
of "a pOste derienns, to communicate with
the besieged garrison of Paris. From
Sept. 20 to Jan. %, when Paris was prac.
tically cut off from the rest of the Repub-
lie, no less than sixty four balloons left
the city with passengers, mails and
pigeons, and of these only three were
lost, while five were captured. The return
post, by 'hOming pigeons was hardly so
regular; but, nevertheless, half the num-
Der of dispatches given in by correspond
ents at Tours and elsewhere, or, in other
words, 100, 900 messages, were, by the un-
tagging energy of the postal auth critics,
carried into the beleaguered Capital. The
present Russo Turkish war cannot welllbe
less interesting than those that have 30 re-
Gently preceded it, and we may especially
point out two directions in which fresh
examples of scientific warfare will proba-
bly, manifest themselves-in connection,
namely, with the cavalry pioneer and the
Whitehead torpedo. Both of these will
probably be seen in warfare for the first
time. and, before many days are past, we
may hear of their doings in action. The
cavalry pioneer must not be COMPOUNDED
with the Prussian Uhlan, who played SO
conspicuous part in the last war.
The ubiquitous Uhlan, terrible US he was,
did not work the injury which some of the
COssacks will have it in their power to in.
f1ict if accoutred as pioneers. These are
selected from the smartest and most dar-
ing troopers, lightly armed and well
mounted. In belt round their waists
they carry few pounds of gum cotton or
dynamite, and with this highly destructive
explosive they may work incalculable
harm. A small charge of gun;cotton
placed simply upon rail and fired with
a fuse suffices to blew several feet of the
iron to distance of many yards, thus
rendering the railway unserviceable on
place charge ut the base of y telegraph
POsOS AAV Az anu w AZ AAS coSAuAV again
within sixty seconds. Wires may thus be
cut and communication stopped in the
heart of an enemy's country by fearless
riders, who have but to draw rein for an
instant to effect the mischief, while lines
of railway in the neighborhood are entire
ly at their mercy. Even light bridges
and well-built stockades may be thrown
down by the violent detonation of COM
pressed gun cotton, and forest roads con-
siderably Obstructed by trees thrown
across, which are never 80 rapidly felled
as when a small charge of this explosive
is fired at their roots. The influence of
the Whitehead torpedo, of which we have
heard SO much of late, will likewise be
felt for the first time during the present
war. An implement SO ingenious in its
character that, as Lord Charles Beresford
the other day happily remarked, it can do
almost anything but talk, is in the possess
sion of both belligerents, and will, doubt
less, be heard of before long ON the DAN
ube and in the Black Sea. These torpe-
does are manufactured at. Fiume, on the
Mediterranean, and, like Krupp guns, are
to be purchased by anyone who chooses to
pay for them"