Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-28
The War Turtle.

A Terrible War Engine Invented by .
Yankee Genius.
Boston Letter to Chicago Tribune.l
Boston ia the home of the reformer, the
anti-war man, the hereto, the Puritan, the
anchorite, the free-lover and the inventor,
and while the others ar busy with their the
cries, their argument and their agitation, the
inventor, bending necessarily over his plans
and drawings.i is putting the finishing touches
to plan for the building of a terrible man
killer, a land monster to be used in time of
war. Up to this date nothing has been writ
ten or printed about it, but the inventor,
well-known builder of locomotives and the
originator of many valuable and famous ma
chimes, has SO far developed his plans that he
is willing to speak of them in general way
while he holds back for the present the de-
tails of manufacture. To fully appreciate
the invention one must imagine a huge steel
monster, turtle-shaped, impregnable to the
Most forcible missiles of the artillery, creep
ing over the face of the earth and raining
from the machine guns within it showers of
bullets and dynamite bombs which work ter
ribls havoc among the enemy. The shell of
this ''war TURTLE" as the inventor has chris
tened it, il to be made of tool steel, thick,
heavy and massive, which no missile can pen
citrate. It will move on broad wheels shod
with thick rubber bands, which can take a
strong hold on the ground, establishing so
great attraction that the turtles can climb
steep hills, driven by an enormous engine
concealed within its body. ''Of course, says
the inventor, ''the weight of the turtle, which
must carry ammunition, petroleum in tanks
beneath the steel skin and men to man the
guns and steer the fighting land craft. will be
enormous, but have carefully studied and
calculated and find that I can get enough
power from the engine to move with sufficient
rapidity and clear away whatever obstacle
the enemy might erect to stop the turtles
progress" The sharp, knife-like edges of
the monster will be able to cut down small
trees and shrubbery, and the terrible force
of the engine will be sufficient to plunge it
through substantial barricades. Two pilots,
protected from shArpshooters and stray balls
by heavy plates, will have positions in the
steel head of the creeping battery and guide
it by peculiar mechanical apparatus; and
the guns pointing in all directions, will be
able to discharge 5000 balls minute. In
the tail of the turtle, SO to speak, is to be
placed q machine capable of hurting twenty
dynamite bombs minute, throwing them SO
far that the turtle will be out of range when
they explode.
The inventor, who is no Darius Green with
his flying machine, but is known as q clear,
level headed man, says that of course the tur-
tie with its guns and dynamite will seem i'm
practicable to the average engineer and me-
ehanic, but he insists that he can build it and
work it successfully whenever the govern
ment shall have any need of such terrible
weapon and death-dealer. Until that time,
probably, the essential details of manufacture
win be kept secret from all save a few init
mate scientific friends who are interested in
the development of the scheme The invent
or whose name cannot be given at present,
was led to conceive of his fighting turtle after
noticing that, while the most important cham
Res in Aayal warfare had bsen made during
recent years. the notable improvements in
land fighting were few and far between.