Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-27
TIE WAR TURTLE.
A Terrible War Engine Invented by "a
Yankee Genius,

Boston is the home Of the ref0rmer, the
anti-war man, the hereto, the Puritan.
the anchOrite, the free-lover and the in
ventor, and while the others are busy
with their theories, their arguments and
their agitation. the inventor, bending in
cessantly over his plans and drawings, is
putting the finishing touches to plan for
the building of terrible man.
killer, a land monster to be used
in time of war. Up to this date nothing
has been written or printed about it. but
the inventor, a Well-knOWn builder OF
locomotives and the originator of many
valuable and famous machines, has so far
developed his plans that he is willing TO
speak of them in a general way, while he
holds back tor the present the secret de-
tails of manufacture. Tofully appreciate
the invention one must imagine a huge
stee! monster, turtle-sbaped, impregna lie
TO the most forcible missiles of the artil-
lery, creeping over the face of the earth
and raining from the machine-guns with
in it showers of bullets and dynamite
bombs which work terrible havoc am no
the enemy. The shell of this "war-tur-
tle," as the inventor has christ
ened it, is to be made of tool steel. thick,
heavy and massive, which no missiles can
penetrate. 1t will move on broad wheels
shOd with thick rubber bands which can
take Il strong hold on the ground, estab-
fishing so great traction that the turtle
can climb steep hills. driven bV an enOr-
nous engine concealed within its body.
''Of course" says tile inventor. 'sthe
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, viii be enormous, but |
have carefully studied and calculated and
find that | can pppnph pOVvor f,.ov,
the engine to move with sufficient rapiditv
and clear away whatever obstacles the
enemy might erect to stop the turf. els
progress" The sharp, knfe-like edges
OF the monster will be able to cut down
small trees and shrubberv, and the ter
rible force of the engine will be sufficient
to plunge it through sub stantial barri-
cades. Two pilots, protected from sharp
shooters and stray balls by heavy plates.
will have positions in the steel head Of
the creeping battery and guide 1t by a
peculiar mechanical apparatus; and the
guns, pointing in all directions, will be
able to discharge 5000 balls a minute. In
the tail OF the turtle, so to speak, is to be
placed a machine capable of hurting
twenty dynamite bombs minute, throw
ing them so far that the turtle will be out
of range when they explode.
The inventor, who is no Darius Green
WIN hlS II lHE Uub Is kHOM0 us
a clear, level-headed man, says that of
course the turtle, with its guns and dyna-
mite, will seem impracticable to the aver
age engineer and mechanic, but he insists
that he can build it and work it success
fully whenever the government shall have
need Of such terrible weapon and death
dealer. Until that time, probably, the
essential details of manufacture will be
kept secret from all save a few intimate
scientific friends who are interested in
the development of the scheme. The
inventor, whose name cannot be gwen at
present, was led to conceive of his fighting
turtle after noticing that, while the most
important changes in naval warfare had
been made during recent years, the nOta-
BILE improvements in land fighting were
few and far between.