Daily Kennebec journal., 1883-10-15
MisfeIlarre0us.
Earth forpedoes
An INVENTION WHICH IS ABOUT TO REvo
LUTIONIZE THE ART OF WAR

Some particulars concerning the earth
torpedoes which were lately tested at
Thun have been published by the Geneva
papers. The result of the experiments
was considered so satisfactory that the
Swiss military authorities have advised
the Federal Council to purchase the right
of making the torpedoes and the secret of
their construction from the inventor, Lieut..
Feodor Won Zubowitz of the Austrian
army. The Zubowitz torpedo, accord
ing to several high military authorities.
is destined to effect partial revolution in
the art Of war. especially of defensive
war It renders possible the laying in a
very short time and by common workmen
of series OF powerful mines, any one OF
which can be made, as circumstances may
require, either harmless or arranged in
such a manner as to be exploded by a
shock, train of gunpowder or an electric
wire. In Is minutes 60 men can furnish
with these torpedoes line 900 yards
long. The system. moreover offers great
advantages for strengthening the outworks
Of permanent or temporary fortificaiions.
barring defiles. protecting an exposed
flank. reinforcing barricade, covering a
weak detachment or defending line of
retreat The perfection Of this engine of
destruction occupied Lieutenant ZubOwitz
seven years, and it is now said to have
all the properties which such an invention
ought to possess-certainty of effect.
cheapness, simplicity of construction and
ease of manipulation. After a series OF
searching experiments it was warmly rec
ommended by the engineer section OF the
Austrian Military Commission and was
used with success dnring the late iusur-
rection in the south of Dalmatia. On one
occasion 10 men completely barred, in IL
minutes, the pass of Han with II tOrpe-
does
In appearance the torpedo is a sort of
square shrapnel. The charge is explosive
Trautzel gelatine. and by means of SIM
pie interior mechanism, can be burst either
above ground, under layer of earth. or
under water The torpedoes are made IN
series corresponding with their charges.
which range from four pounds to one hum
dred pounds, and are classed respectively
according to the use for which they are
destined, as, tOrpedoes Of observation. of
contact, and of percussion. The two last
named sorts are meant to be exploded by
the enemy-involuntari ofcourse. The
contact torpedo may be put in any place
where its existence is not likely to be sus-
pected-in an abandoned carriage, placed
across road, behind door or a gate which
has to be opened, the mere removal of the
obstacle being sufficient to cause the explO-
sion. The percussion torpedo is hidden a
few inches beneath the soil or in drain,
and explodes readily under the weight of
a number of men or the pressue of a vehi-
Gle or the tramp of a horse. The four
pound torpedoes are for instant use and.
being easy of transport, may be taken al
most wherever troops can march. Twen-
tv-five of them can be packed on one bat
mule,
A single torpedo OF this calibre will
break up any ordinary road to its full
width, and three or four torpedoes along
"a road are sufficient to render it impassa
BILE. They pulverize everything within a
diameter of seven and break everything
within diameter of thirteen metres from
the centre Of explosion. They may be
buried under four or five centimetres OF
earth without detriment to their destruc-
tive effect, 1t is only the larger engines
that can be buried deeper than this with
out impairing their efficiency. Up to a
distance of three kilometres explosion can
be produced mechanically without the aid
of electricity, either by design on the part
of the operator or involuntarily by some
act of the enemy. AS touching the time
to place these torpedoes under lay of
earth of fives centimetres thick. it has been
found by actual experiment that in fifteen
minutes sixty men can sow in this way
l20 engines in three or four lines over one
square kilometere of ground. thereby rem
der it absolutely impossible. A regiment
that would attempt to march over 1t would
be simply pulverized.