Savannah morning news., 1885-09-11
THE GUN or THE FUTURE.
Awful Possibilities in Warfare Involved
in the Use Of the Dynamite Shell.


From ne London Times
The fearful ravages wrought by the ex-
plOsions Of dynamite leave no one unable
70 conjecture what might be the conse-
quences Of a bombardmeut in which mis-
siles charged with dynamite should be
employed. The diff :ulty has also been
easy to anticipate. The shock OF explo-
sion Of the gun charge would under the
old system in all probability fire the she'll
charge, dynamite being easily exploded
by m chanical shock, and the gun and
shell might naturally be expected to de.
str0y the gunuers rather than the enemy.
The Americans, who seem rather fond of
trying the supposed I'm possible, ,frsl began
70 experiment on dynamite missiles.
and an officer Of the American navy
c0ntrlved what may be called a colossal
air-gun, IN which the shell charged with
dynamite might be started on It's flight
with an easy but accelerating motion,
I avoiding the shock so certainly productive
Of premature explosion, and obtaining by
a high-air pressure through a long bore
the velocity requisite. The idea mad been
fOreshad0wed by the Lyman accelefating
gun, which. starting the shot with small
charge, followed it up by successive
explosions OF acceleratlng charges placed
along the bore, and giving it the high
est initial velocity ever attained hy
any gun. The Lipman gun failed,
as might have been anticipated,
/ through the weak spots introduced
into the system by the me-
/ chanical arrangement for securing the
accelersting charges from exploding pre-
maturely or not exploding at all. and the
great relief given TO the gun by the mod-
4 ucation OF the explosive qualities OF the
powder has probably put an end 10 the
I experiments In accelerating charges. The
success Of the experimental air un in
throwing 70 effective distances shells
filled with dynamite or even nitro
/ gycerlne was such that gun Of inch
calIbre, and calculated TO throw a shell
three miles, was planned. It was per-
fectly correct in theory, and was made
| apparently on the only safe method, but
while the scientific officer who conceived
II was following out the develop
ment OF his system by mathemati-
cal calculations, one OF the more
characteristic practical inventors mad
| attacked the problem from the other side
Instead OF making his propeli ug force
more elastic, be gave the elasticity to his
missile, and by wad or cushion Of ca
outchouc Of the requisite quality 50 took
| up the first impulse given by the eXplO-
sion that shell filed with dynamite was
fired with complete safety and an effect
which can be imagined more easily than
| calculated A shell fired from an Ord-
nary battery gun, and carrying / 1 pounds
I Of dynamite, striking "A ledge Of gneiss
which formed the target, blew out a
cavity % feet in diameter and q feet Deep
No fuse is required, as the shell eXplpdes
/ by concussiOp as II hits It's mark and 10
was easy 10 perceive that a single shell OF
this description striking the side OF the
most solid iron-clad IN existence near the
/ water line would be likely 10 send her to
/ the bottom.
/ Thus far no accident is reported In the
/ experiments, which are % be- II they are
/ not by this time. repeated with guns OF
much heavier caliOre. But the calibre OF
The gun rs OF secondary Importance. Its
/ range and the capacity of the she'll for
carrying dynamite are the chief elements
10 calculate on, and II shell carving 100
pounds OF the explosive can be fired from
1 one OF the heavy guns now In use. the first
/ MI decides any conflict a. between single
ships, and one Of our steel, unarmored
cruisers Will yield no quicker than the
lnheXible 10 the shock OF such an explo-
sion.
The prospect Of such change in the
I condition Of warfare Is appalling. and the
only consolation which civilization can
draw from IL is that II In always the de-
! tense that profits most. 10 is true that
comparatively small gunboats carving
one large gun might approach by night,
or even by day, near enough 10 a seapOrt
10 throw several dynamite shells into an
Inhabited city, and With q devastating
effect which recent events can suggest,
and the boats Themselves being small and
swift may be vsry difficult 70 hit. while the
/ city can hardy be missed: but the land
defenses have not only the faculty of em-
\ ploying he ivier artillery and OF
! longer range, but Of working with