The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-08-27

Are no discoveries possible which should
radically alter al tue conditions of lighting, and
either render war impossible give certain Victory
to those who dare face such destructive machlnes? Ii
Is most Improbable Tho human race has been
studying the art OF war for four thousand years. aud
has discovered exceedingly little, except the fact that
an explosive In confined space VIII drive missile
long way They have learned to throw stones sclen-
uhcaly. since Agincourt. man has improved on
the discovery OF gunpOwder but has Invented nothing
absolutely original For thirty years the most learned
chemists, the most Inventive inechanicaus, the most
scientific soldiers have devoted their minds to this
subject, with kind Of fury of eagerness prompted at
once by the love of fame, by patriotism and by tho
hope of rewards, which, to some OF them like sir
Whitworh. Sir W. Armstrong, and Herr Krupp
have been granted with lavish hand and they have
discovered nothing. They have made bigger guns,
and better shells and more explosive powder ana
nave devised clever ways of keeping the shells out
that Is an The way Of killing soldiers is to fire little
bullets through small barrel; the way of DESTROYING
works Is TO FIRE big bullets through Zig barrel.sni
that Is Az New explosives have been discovered but
no new way OF throwing them for the required
distance. II such ships touched, or nearly
touched as In Nelson's time, suppose n catapuit
might throw barrel of nitro gIycerne which, ex-
plOdng downward, would anulhllate the enemy
vessel: but the experiment has never been tried. A
ship which approached so close coull ram; and such
barrel, not being driven by an explosive, could lie
kept OFF by wire netting.
Tho only two directions In which even dreamers
can see probability OF much change are tho use of
electricity or the use Of balloons and OF either the
prospect Is very slight. We can do great deal with
tho lightning, but we cannot throw 1t, nor Is 1t easy
to conceve how 1t could be darted, except through
conductor. MIR, Urquharts dream OF the quiet
sayant who fought the Capitalists army without
weapons was original, but was only a dream. The
Capitalists had mastered the world, end the prole-
tlIlat rose In revolt resolved to die rather than he
pillnged longer. They had no weapons the Capiial
lists owning all; but as the Capitalists army ap-
proached, electricity, shot from unseen batteries
struck every particle Of metal used by the soldiers
aud the army persisted suddenly and silently as than
OF Sennacherib. Traits n mere dream II Is lust
conceivable that some MIR. Edison might manage so
TO establish wire connection with an iron clad that
tho whole structure should he full Of death giving
eectrlcty-be In fact, huge wire charged by
dynamo. But u 's pnly conceivable, as 10 the sim
liar dream-which has greatly Interested some able
mechanicans-of so arranging mirrors as to concen-
diamond at considerable distance The thing could
be done, we believe, so enectually that the very
ribs OF an iron ship would dissolve Into molten metal
hut not at any distance. In balloons there Is 1T
tle and very little more hope. II IN alwaysa posi-
blllty that Immense electric force may be concen-
tTated In such small space that machine supported
In the air by balloons could be guided ut WIZ and II
that were achieved, the conditions Of war would of
course, DO finally altered. No cities could be de-
Tended against . machnce shOwering dynamite
shells, armies might be destroyed IN sew minutes
and all fOrtresses must DO suberranean structures
In practice, battles would have to he fought In the
air and the survivors would be accepted as irTesist
BILE masters. Hut the more experienced man of
science Is the more e doubts the possibility OF max
aerial machine independent ~ the wind, or Of
using balloons In war, except he would use steeples
other high points of observation London SPEC.
tatOT.