The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-08
Dynamite Machines and Ceal TsrIe-
dos.

OOCSs
The Official acknowledgment, made
on Monday by Sir W. V. Harcourt in
the House OF Commons, that ten infer
nal machines. charged with nitro
glycerine, had been discovered N Liv-
erpool, must send a shudder through
Great Britain. Had ten fed pieces.
with their ammunition, or ten Calling
guns, or ten boxes Of repeating small
arms, been found, there might have
been no emotion Of alarm NJ such
proofs OF "A insurrectionary movement
secretly preparing for hostiiIt:es. Such
weapons are recognized as legitimate.
and their use supposes war to have
peel begun after far warning. But
the terrible implements concealed in
the cement barre,s at Liverpool are
those that are resortcd TO when no war
has been declared. and that work their
destruction upon unsuspecting persons.
Indeed. the news of this trafli in in
fernal machines might as properly
cause anxiety on this side o! the ocean
as on the other. Six of these destruct-
i've barrels were found in one ocean
steamer and four in another. Regard
I fi "lsllDul IL W Nv ma
tional questions involved. and simply
with respect 70 the terrible risk which
ocean steamers run from chance CON
cussion while carrying such freight, the
subject is one to excite horror.
1t is to be feared, also, that these dis
closures have only begun. Ten explo-
sive machines have been discovered in
one port, at one time; but only those
who are in the secret a say how many
have passed into England. undetected.
nor how soon they NAV be put to their
work. 1t is highly probable, also, that
more than One kind of explosive ma
chine has been prepared. The device
used in trying to blow up GuiIdhall, a
few months ago, was different from the
n used in trying TO blow up st.
Georges Hall. The barrels just discov-
cred. filled with nitro-glycerine car
tridges, form a third device.
Now, also. it becomes clearly posi-
BILE that the British war ship Doterel
was destroyed by a coal torpedo. When
this suggestion was made, some weeks
ago. it vas received with a smile, as il
fear of the Fenians had become a ma
MIA. But the American correspondent
of the London Times declares it to be
almost the accepted conclusion now
that the Doterel was so destroyed. and
that two other British yes .els took coal
torpedoes into their cumbersome Of
them being now at sea. while the other
was about TO 90 into commission when
detained by a warning message.
There is no question that the coal
torpedo is a terribly dangerous device
for slaughter. Its shell is of cast iron,
so shaped IS to initiate exactly a big
lump of steamer coal, and then coated
with a prepared substance in such a way
as to make the device beyond detec-
ton. Inside it is filled with powder
and plugged, and its work is performed
when it is thrown into the furnace.
There is no question that, WHISTLER or
not this device was used on the DOterel.
the destruction of this vessel happened
precisely as it would have happened if
blown up with n coal torpedo; and.
further. that all ordinary explanations
of the disaster are surrounded with OBJ
jections. 1t is also known that coal
torpedoes were invented during the
war of the rebelliOn; but whether the
mysterious destruction of some of our
Government vessels was due to them,
cannot be asserted.
The fact must be faced that terrible
means of destruction have been fur
nished by the ingenuity of modern
mechanism; and that the comparative
cheapness of nitro -glycerine machines
and coal ~tOrpedOeS, coupled with the
facilities for %cOncealing their presence
until their work is done. makes them
the resort of the desperate. IN. y.
San.