, 1879-03-21
tn thn house., mil The Heavy .larknesa Of that
dreadful nuht wolh llayc prevented our troops
ftOm defending tllelusclves as they did.1
I'O1il'EI)0EH.

tho meeting Of the New York Academy Of
Sciences Inst Tuesday evening was tle ill.,
promptu speech Of Commander Homer G. Dlako,
of tie Unttcl Statcs Navy. Dr.. II. A. Mott,
Jr., had rcnd an elaborate l,arer upon torpedocs
nrul The means Of protection against them. In
c9,ulIng n new .!oyice ut Ills own constructions.
At Its conclusion, tho actng President Of the
st,etcty paaetl upu1I Commander blake. who
happened 10 be present. In response the COM
maslslcr saEd TINT he considered torpcdocs the
most Ietn0rat!zing weapon uf warfare When IL
WIS determined To SEND trNncIads UP the James
River as part OF tic combined nttack upon
lsichmpnd, he was In cofr,l,and Of The E,1taw,
aud nssIu1ci to t|p duty of towi.g the Inoni:or
Ono1aaea. Tic speaker said:
'ssu 1ar IA we werc concerned the War was
atuut tn he terminated, Tor n0te Ut us thought
VIZ would ret III the river. knowing tila, crowts
nf torpc,locs had been PLACED oyer every shall
low, at.d sote VI tie fnc1 declined to g0. WIS
sixth IN The lnc ut first, but tunn thnurht !!
s1ule WAS death nrid daiiErr, the su!her It was
met nsul over with the butter: thcrefnrc fnstcad
aicnd, n,n! before long ! s'oM! ects'Al In the
linr. We got nearly 70 1'rury's Point without a
aign Of torpctlu, md bcuau tb think they wcFr
hnmhlg aid to lnug, ut our fears. "fscli tud-
denly we saw tllc leading vesscl the Commodore
Jones, 1ftel bodily Ullt III the water n1nl blown
tnto tlsc i1gscst fragments. Out ol eixty men ~
board Ut lier the only traru We Gould ever tnd
WIS ptrec uf a man atno,Ig thc bushes about
B!U yards away... This event completely tlcsncr-
attzed US I'LL. We saw there was fouar virtue in
tntuetlocs. md anchored IN ll.r :slot, alnE wns
ordered in charge VI purity 10 clear The ci1ni'c
"'rhat night received from Gen. Butler q
characteristic tc letter. II read:
80 setll you 4 nla,l wlIo was found putting
dow? torl%t'"es, II sou can use lin. do FL; ii
"Wilrn tl,r prisoner, n fuc-lookIng, tntcll.-
gent man came, asked HIN II the report con-
~ res,' said he; what you going to do
d We'll, rca1 tia. letter. sail I. ...
Do you call that Christian warfarcl' he
asked. after reading 1t.
but those orders will be oLtyca unless you
show ua tit easfcst way to elcAs this cnal.tcl.'
"lfe rct,ntiscd stlcnts Atni left him sittlng
on guu-easrtaEc f1r 2 little while to think
Fydo calne aboard, mud. noticing the prls-
uncs, asked me about him. Let mc
get t SO, something eth; i, out S Of !p' m 5 So he he
out up thc river with tho Rebel prisoner lnsfed
10 hts cl.twater. HI only went n.u,lt 3u0 yards
when the man called ont: stop, Captain, stup.
for Cots snsc! There's torpedo Just over
fore nnotl.er was polluted out By the terrified
man. al.u 81 We cleared tic channel.
"This expedition over. was given cotnmnnl
Of the stntion alnl torpedo ressels at Dutch tap
where. sometimes NC used to pick Vi, jloattug
torpcdocs Bcnt against our ilcc,, at itae rate Of
1ol dar. These torpedocs were suspended III
pn!rs. Of three or four together, t MS many
pieces Ut wouI, which tloatcu upun the surfnce,
und werc connected bv d trjgGer.line. Whenever
tllc tr!gCcr.ltile caught upon one OF our vessels
{tlIe only obstacle to be cncountrrcd) Il stra!n
ea'llo upon It by the action Of tl.c current Which
| cxplndcJ the two Or three turpedous III close
Pnufnrt with fII hull. 'FH i Tim fbGt,rr uni
We guarded against II By putting out a boo,n
nnd netting III such a wuY tint the torpclo-
!loass wcre shccred otI, ali passed har1nlessly
by. ln the spring tie water was covered will
nil sorts Of debris, but We soon lcurnel to dis
tiiEulst' turpcdu-ilont by Its peculiar bobbing
'nlotion, n,.d By throwing cod.lnc over 1t couu
either cxplp1c It ut safe distance Or ctse drag
! 1t ashore. Tho small ouata TINS fsllcl oui
| hundreds OF ttlesc during thu seasun.
"'r!e most dangerous OF ut The turpcttocs
were stationary ones planted acruss tlc Swallows
at frcauent Intervals They consisted of spar,
bcHEing TIC torpedo upon lis su.l'mlt,, which
apar was fastened by n universal iuInt to a
liked bluck at tl,r bottom of the river. Swing
lug with tug current anu the tide, this torpedo
%us %I~ays y. spt s',tfocs et un,of" dept1
| s!rht. The torpedo was htuddcd with SEN
sitirecaps, ansi no mnttcr wtIerr It was t1ucllcl
by SHY Il would explode. Illcse could not ba
and great ingenuity t.ut We escaped a,,a finally
| got them out vi the channel. llle tutpcEi0
Which blew np the Commodore Jones was II
common water.tank containing 200 pultnsls of
powder, which she WIS 30 unfortunate us to
| STRIKE"
| Commander Dakc thought. however, that the
dcstrltcttseucss Of torpeGocs was 0yerestitnated,
and tint slc ilayles Ut the world would survive
this invention, just tly llaye survived tbs tn.
PRODUCTION ol explosive sliets, which, ycnss ago.
WIS supposed to xo,lnd tn t'ratli-knrlt Of pyery
| war vessel. III repiy to sHInc questions ns1ied
6s onc OF tug meIu'ess, co!l'mll.'ier Blake said
charge Ut sl,r operations for clearing tho clluu-
ncl Of Jar,ts River frutu oostructIons.
Tic copfeIcrates had driven piles nrross
tie river md sunk enormous blocks
head which nothing could rass. at irst it
sepnleh Impossible to moyr ttiB; hut by suc:gs-
svu firing Of turpcdoes ulo,l9siue ot 1t 1t WIS
completely shattered II, u weeks time, SO that
Ut comtlun powtlur wns found tnost effective,
lil,l !,r Ind secn such charge, exploded tntour
or five fatton,k of wnter, bring rnrk ot two
| tgns' weight tu tEe stlrface. Al one spot a,l
IronGla Aatl been sunk tI water 81 slaltnw that
her upper wOrlis were ulnlust uut VI water. 1le-
peatcll efforts to blow luIc tn her side fAiiel.
| her ifon p'ntnE was tn' tough. Ftnalfra scr,ea
| ot torpedors wpro exploded IN tho bottom OF
tne river icsIde her. until hole thirty feet decn
llall iIuc.i exraya:cI. TElen inu Ut tur;ctloea
WIS ill,I,E along her oppos.te side. n'n1 lie lorcv
Di thelr simultaneous expulsion rolled her oyor
| lnto this grave aua buried her there, out 0f nll
| danger. d,
Commander B1nke was thanked l,y the rrest.
dent, WHO Grslly serouutel tie great services
wict, l,c as1 rendered as M officer Vi the nayy
tlUfIug the latu Wur, mil extolle.l the "moJcsty
Ut a brave 1nars It with WHICH u referred u Ills
grrut ,!eeds as n,rre experiences. In thu course
Ot which certa.n scientific iaets had hccl
brought nut. THE n.slfenre expressed their np-
prcclatson by long an'l hearty apptaasc.,, Com
nladeE GlAke wuk III command ol shc lsnlt
when su was 'kliockrt from under him u in
Just twenty-five minutes by iEls Alahut.la: bus
during That mortal Qllartcr vi Ill hour the
llnttcras so dlHabicd tsr Alabama hut shu was
Obliged tu X, to FrHnru fur Repairs, n,,.l our
norllrrn commerce wus freed Fruu, her ruvsgeS
for nlnny weeks, rl!cconn,a.nler did nut uu,,-
tion this, however, for It t,ud nothlg to do with
torpetioes.
The spcrial device for whcs. DR.. Mutt In his
paper clatsHcd originality rs n rrsWess Ut clear
!hg ct,ant.os Of tnrpcdocs was founded nut, tho
fnet that Tho explosion al onc torpciu cxploacs
vi others Within short utssauco uf IL by tllp
vibrations communicated tu It, us lu explained,
!ils platt, therefore, was TO trail aheul ot ves
sci ut1n thu current Or ttle q scries Ut loats
about thirty feet apart, uinl kept In relative
k,4.