The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-10-30
Explosiye Mines in Warfare.

AS LII 30 mauy OLucT uaIlcI5, euc
Chinese preceded Europeans in the use
!! OF explosive mines in war. The celebra-
ted Kung Ming is aaid to have employed
them about 1000 years before the
Christian era. And as even then-ln
China, at least-there was nothing new
under the sun, he declared to have
owed the idea to his perusal of writings
of an age anterior to his own. In the
West, the practice of undermining be-.
siegei works was not unknown to the
Romans, whose method was to dig
beneath the threatened bulwark, and
prop up the superintendent earth and
building with wood supports. When
the excavation was completed, the sup.
ports-previously smeared with some
highly combustible mpound--were
set on fire, and on being destroyed, the
earth fell in, and with it the rampant at
tached, thereby making breach which
could be assaulted. These mines,
known to French writer's on the art OF
war as mines q RUNE, were followed, on
the invention Of gunpowder, by explo.
sive mines, in which quantity of pow
der was inserted in an excavation and
ignitcd from q distance by means OF q
train or match. The use of mines in
sieges soon became so common that not
only did besiegers have recourse to them
in their attacks on strong places, but
the defenders also made use OF them as
aids to defense against the assaultlng
columns of the enemy. A kind OF SUBJ
terranean warfare came into existence,
and as the besiegers mined, 80 the garri-
son countermined to get beneath them,
and blow both work and workmen into
the air. A somewhat elaborate system
of tactics was devised to guide the COM
batants in these curious engagements.
Galleries in which to listen for the work
men OF the enemy were constructed,
and approaches toward th I'M we're
cautiously made until hear enough to
burst in the dividing partition Of earth,
then rush upon them al defeat them,
and put Oh end to their wors. In the
revived chivalry Of tue sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, the candl-
dates for knighthood conferred during
sieges we're accustomed to keep their
nocturnal vigil in the mines constructed
by their own side. From subterranean
to submarine warfare the step Was not
very rapid. Various methods of deS-
troying IN enemy's ships, by sending
against them explosive or combustible
cargoes were devised, and were employ
ed by tue Dutch in their wars of liber-
alton against the Spaniards, and by
plans of the kind we have become tolnr-
ably familiar, from the frequency with
which they were made use of by tue
Chinese in our wars with them. With
their peculiar humor, which tends so
much to turn into ridicule what man
kind in general consent to consider as
most serious, they have been known to
make the explosion OF fire. ship, cram
med with gunpowder, ghastly practical
Joke. In the war OF the Arrow torcha,
one Of her majesty's ships, lying in 9
river of China, was fouled by vessel
which had been sent floating down the
stream with view to being exploded
against her and destroying her. When
the explosion took place there was no lose
of life, and little damage was done to
the structure of the ship but above the
gunpowder to be exploded had been
piled immense quantities of the excep-
tionally disgusting manure with which
the Chinese are in the habit of dressing
their vegetable gardens, and the result
of the blow.up was to cover the ship,
rigging and crew who were on deck with
the nauseous compound Westminster
Reviev.