Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-09-30
WAR WITHOUT ELOODsHED.
The Valuable Discovery OF German
Chemist

WAR WITHOUT ELOODsHED.
Tho Valuable Discovery Of a German
New York Times.
Men are universally agreed that war is
terrible thing, and that if it cannot be en-
tirely abolished, its horrors ought to be
misigated. Admirable as this sentiment
is, it has as yet borne no fruit. Nations
will 90 to war, and they will fight with
the latest and most murderous weapons.
Even Mr.. Gladstone. who regards all wars
undertaken by any one but himself as out
RACES, involving the offenders in blood
guiItiness, not only goes to war with
Egypt, but bombards Alexandra with
shells of enormous size that one of them
is capable OF killing and wounding hun
dred men. Wars arc as frequent and
battles are as murderous to-day as they
ever were, and science is constantly plac-
ing new and improved weapons in the
hands of combatants.
In this state of things the discovery
made by a German chemist of entirely
putting an end to the horrors of war
onght to fill every humane heart with JOY.
This benedcent chemist has invented q ball
filed with an anDsthetic vapor. When
this ball is fired from rifle or cannon
and strikes man, it breaks without in
fiicting tho slightest injury upon him, and
the anasthetic vapor being set free in
stantly renders him insensible. La this
condition the man will remain for twelve
hours, during which time he can be taken
prisoner to an unlimited extent. Ga ro-
covering his consciousness he will tind
himself in the power of tho enemy, but he
s.ntt t,Av iUnd flyQ SIIOhtnSt
bodily injury.
Were tho armies of Germany and
France to be supplied with no ammuni-
ton excep. tho beneficent chemists
aresthetic balls, and were they to be de-
prived of their swords and bayonets, the
next war between these two great powers
would not cost drop of blood. A Ger
man army might meet q French army,
and the hostile forces might fire upon one
another until the greater part of the COM
batants lay insersible on the ground, but
nobody would be seriously hurt. of
course cavalry charges and hand to hand
fighting would have to be declared unfair,
or else insensible men might be trOdden
upon BY horses or crushed under the feet
of their comrades We're this to be done
a hundred thousand Germans might fight
and conquer q hundred thousand French
men without giving or receiving single
scratch. The "horrors of war would,
in such circumstances, become i mere
figur, Of speech, and the only danger to
which the soldier would be exposed
would DO that of undergoing a shor;
term Of imprisonment in case OF his de
&eat.
Bright as this prospect Of war without
bloodshed must seem to all true lovers of
their race, it must be conceded that in
practice the German chemists noble pur-
pose may partly fail Of fultilmeDt. How
can We be sure that nations will fight
fairly? All tho civilized nations of the
globe may unto to form an International
Fighting association; they may draw up
elaborate rules for the regulation of bat
ties III which 10 missiles exc@i?: sGncsthc.-
ic b Ills shall ;>c declared iawiut. aud sol
ti:ers shall be strictly iorDitiuen 20 cap
ture an enemy who is not inscnsible.
They may select umpirss who shall Re
present at every battle, and from whose
decisions as to what constitutes a ''foul
there shall be no appeal. Still, after tax
ing all these precautions, what certainty
can we have that unprincipled soldiers will
not use lead bullets that kill and wound
instead Of the regulation arHsthetic bul
let's? Suppose, for example. that Germany
aud France should agree to fight uudec
the rules of the International Fighting as
ISOLATION; that the German troops should
bcgin battle with anRsthetic balls and
should suddenly find themselves Inowe,'
down by a STERN of lead bullets fired 1y
the pc, e,iidious FIenchmen-what redress
would the Germans have? OF course, they
would claim a "foul," and the umpire
would decide that they had won the battle,
but OF v hat practical use would such 2
decision be to them, If tho Frenchmen rc--
fused TO pay any attention to it and in
sisted upon marching on Berlin and cap
turing it? 1t may DO said that if auy
nation should thus unlawfully use lead
bullets the enemy would also have the
right to use them, but in this case the hor-
rOrs of war would instantly reappear ant:
all tho benefits OF the invention Of aD:es-
thetic bullets would disappear.
Then again the introduction Of an:cs
thetic bullets would make it possible icI
dishonest soldiers to soil their battles.
As the anasthetic bullet leaves no mark
upon the man whom it strikes, it would
be impossible for any one to tell whether
. soldier who shculd fall on tho field and
remain motionless had really been made
insensiblc by an auHsthet;c bullet Or was
merely shamming. 1t would often be pos
sible for /: regiment or a brigade to insure
the defeat of the rest of the army by fall
ing down ut the first volley Of the oIemy
and pretending to be insensible, and rc
matter how fairly an army fight be beaten
charges would always be mado that the
battle had been "sold," and that the
noble art of war wss passing under the
control of betting mer and spscul..t crs.
Whether it is worth while to get rid O,
the horrors Of war at the cost Of reducing
war to the level of American athletic
sports is serious question. At prescn,
nations who 60 to war arc usually anXiou:
to win honorable victories, and soldiers
unless they happen to be south American
soldiers, never think Of selling battle to
the enemy. 1t is painful to think that
men should try to MAIN and murder one
another in battle, but whatever we may
think or say of soldiers we are not ye
compelled to class them with professional
oarsmen and baseball players, and VI
should think twice before adopting any
scheme which would involve any such re
suit.
BOARDING HOUSE SWINDLERs.
A Notable Case of Robbery In Which a Land
lady Lcst g., eco.
New York Letter.