The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1885-09-16
rwolNrw NAVAL DEVICES.
An EaEilh Apparatus for steering Tor.
psdes. snd French ProtsetIysshlsl4

Il
pedosa and French ProteetivSshleia
New York suh.I
The demonstrated fact that q huge
tronelad, costing millions Of dollars, can
BE- sunk BY one blow from q properly
placed torpedo has caused all the lead.
Ing nations 10 busy themselves With the
double problem how 70 make their own
torpedoes effective and how 70 parry
the attacks Of an enemys France aud
England have Just made two note.
worthy contributions 70 this problem,
one on the side Of attack and the other
on that Of defense
The new English device, the inyen.
ton Of q young Australian name1
Brennan, who has already the guarantee
Of fortune from II, has been
tested for several months at CARR.
son Point fort, sheernesG Without
going into minute details, II may 10
briefly described as employing a steam
engine for driving and steering the tor.
pedo toward rs object. To the drums
Of the engine are fastened the ends OF
coils Of wire wound on reels In tho tor.
pedo machine, AMI the unwinding Of
these coils, with their rewinding ITon
tie drums Of the engine, sets Two
grew propellers at work. which drive
tho torpedo through the sea with the
yelocilyo Of an express train. BY get
ting the greater pressure on one screw
or the other the torpedo Is sieered.
lights screened from the enemy shows
It's position at night TO those who direct
y, whllo the very small portion above
the surface Of the water greatly de-
creaseS the chance Of It's seasonaGle de.
lection.
Exactly what It's capabilities OF
progress are can as yet hardly be said;
but on each Of the many occasions Of
itstrlal, tho torpedo machine, which
looked something like the section Of a
boat, on emerging from the sheerneSs
fort, ran down a short railway to the
beach at q speed Of forty or Atty miles
an hour, and plunged into The sea. It
Is obvious that tue principle Of the new
device Is wholly unlike that OF the
Whitehead or the Harvey torpedo. In
deed, one Of It's striking peculiarities Is
that since the unwinding Of It's tight
coils proceeds most rapidly toward the
end, the speed Of the torpedo will ap.
rarently be greatest toward the end Of
It's course, or at the time most neves-
sary.
The satisfaction Of tho British au.
thortieS with this new apparatus is un.
disguised. The experience Of Us in
yentor in being welcomed instead Of
snublel Is exceptional, and as Conse.
quenCe The British government will
have the device as It's property, instead
Of seeing 1t taken in disgust to sore
other country. like the Whitehead tor
pedo, aud then served out from a
foreign factory to al who will ray
for It.
The French device Is directed to the
contrary purpose, that Of diminishing
the deStructirenesS Of torpedoes, by
finding a new protection against them.
Tho substance thus chosen is most ex.
traordlnary one, consisting Of a Compo-
sition made rom the fibre Of the husk
Of the cocoanut It was first used as a
shield for the masonry Of uays, and It's
extraordinary action under those cir.
cumStanCes caused II TO be applied TO
the protection Of vessels. In pulyer.
ed coCoanut tissue there lies an ex.
traordinary counterpose TO the damage
caused by hostile shot entering at
or below the water line.
In Sunlry experiments at Toulon a
targ, was composed Of a felt.like mass
Of this cellulose, as II Is called, fourteen
parts icing the ground husk, and one
part the fiber, which helps to hold tho
mass together, like hair in mortar. The
target, which was about two feet
thick, as representing the lining that
would Be given to q vessel, was pertor.
atcd at short range BY a nine.inch gun.
In each case no sooner had tho shot
passed through than the cellulose closed
up so firmly that strong man was IN.
able 10 insert his arm into the hole. A
tank Of water was poured upon tho
place where the shot had entered, and
only after several minutes q small
amount Of water began to trickle
through; and soon the soaking Of tho
cellulose, by augmenting its volume and
density, stopped the slight trickling al.
together. The CelluloSe having thus
been proved practically water.tight, the
experiment was concluded by showing
1t TO DO also incomhustible, burning
charoa placed in and around 1t being
unable to set Ii on fire.
Here, then, would seem to DO q par.
tial antidote for the terrible destructive.
ness wrought by torpedOes; for II may
be added that a powerful torpedo was
exploded against a case Of Cellulose IN
the Ioulon experiments, with the result
Of greatly diminishing its use nj effect,
although, Of course, the damage II
created was far greater than that Of or.
binary shot and shell. The hopeless.
ness Of making vessels invulnorable to
modern guns or to still more dreaded
torpedOes, Is likely hereafter to cause
additional investigations to be made in
the directions suggested by the expert.
msntS OF Toulon.