Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-06-19
MODERN MILITARY MARvELS.
BATTLES IN THE am AND WEAPONS
WIN THE PpWER or RkoIMEyrs.
A Forecast OF whs, Might Easily Happen In
the Present Unprotected Condition of
the Country-saiing High In Air
with War ships on wings

and commenting on past events,
and he dwelt at length upon the fact, rs he
asserted, that we had for long time done |
everything to provoke a war without making |
the least preparation TOR it.
We had, 10y our sympathy and actual aid |
to the oppressed people of Ireland, by our |
disputes with England over the Newfound- |
land fisheries and our strong opposition to |
her colonial policy secured the bitter enmity
of that nation.
BY our efforts to force other nations to re-
ceive our products regardless of our own
tariff, by our toleration OF anarchists who
made this country base for their murder
our operations, by our defiant bluster ON all
occasions We had made ourselves national
nuisance and invited war.
This courageous conduct would have been
praiseworthy enough IL we had stood ready
to maintain our position by force of arms;
but we did not The navy consisted of 4 few
old men of war, mounting large batteries of
useless guns and several forts interesting ss
historical curiosities. We had small and
efficient torpedo service to defend several
thousand miles of coast, but not single tort
to protect its operations
He then proceeded TO describe how the
British ironclads bombarded our seapor.s
from the distance of several miles and col
lected vast sums of money as tribute there
from how fleet of British vessels passed
into the great lakes through canals that are
now built on British territory, and wide
enough to admit the passage OF some of their
most efficient war ships
How by these means the war was fou ght
and ended, adversely to our country, before
we had a chance to strike q blow with our
enormous army, remarkable for the bravery
and intelligence of its individual members,
and tor their want of experience in that
| rapid and peculiar system of manPuvering
| which modern arms have rendered neces-
| ssry to military success
| OUR ACTUAL CONDITION TO-DAY.
| With the exception that we do not appear
| to be on the verge of war; this is an accurate
| picture of our condition to-day. In these
| rapid days war also is rapid, and the ma
ton which is most thoroughly pre-
| pared for it will stand the best chance of
| success 1t has been our good fortune to
escape it so far, and so it is a. well that we
have saved the expenditure of vast sums
for ironclads and coast defenses which would
| now be obsolete but, in our ignorance of
the future, such expenditure would have
been wise.
Public sentiment appears to be aroused
on this question, and in order that our
readers may appreciate the marvellous
changes which the art of war is to undergo
In the near future, we will give space to a
description of two of the most important
military Inventions
| war bAuOOns anu "uus
| Captain Rensrd, of the French army, sue
ceeded last November in sailing balloon
against the wind from Meude:: to Paris in Al
minutes, and then, turning the air ship,
sailed back again in eleven minutes and
landed at exactly the starting point The
balloon was shaped like a cigar, driven by
an electric motor operating propeller
placed at the bow so that the entire machine
was pulled through the air by the rapidly
| revolving screw. This was merely an ex
| perimental balloon and held only two per
| sons, but it so clearly proved the possibility
| of propelling and directing balloons that the
| French government at once ordered the con
| struction of larger one In this steam has
been adopted as the motive power and with
| great success.
General Russell Thayer has devised a bal
| loon which promises TO be great improve
| ment on the above. Its most essential points
| of difference are, first, that the metal alumi-
| mum is to be used tor the float or gas bag,
and also largely in the machinery. This
metal, combining lightness and strength,
can now be made cheapiv, and float made
| of plates l-32d of inch in thickness and
| braced trsnsversey by rods of aluminium
| would be very different thing from the old
| gas bags, beneath which our Pronauts have
| risked their necks for a generation.
There would be little or no leakage, and
| the aluminium balloon would sail away IN
| the sky as safely or more safely than any
ocean steamer for there will be no danger
1
| can run before 1t without fear of lee shore
| or collisions. Best of all, one may some day
cross the briny deep without suffering the
| torments Of the sea sick.
Below the buoyant part OF the ship, and
| firmly braced to it, hangs the deck upon
| which the machinery is placed, and lower
| deck at the centre holds the boiler or other
| source of power. This machine is to be pro-
Peiled by means of powerful blower,
| drawing the air in forward and discharging
| it through a large nozzle to the rear after the
| manner now in use with torpedo boats, with
the difference of using air instead of water.
| BY the use of ball aud socket joint on the
| nozzle, the vessel may be steered with ease
| from wheel.
There are many other details in the con-
| struction of this wonderful vessel that reflect
| great credit upon the ingenuity OF the inven-
tor, but enough has been said to show that
| this is not Darius Green device, but an in
| vention that is to have a powerful and per-
| manent effect, not only upon the warfare OF
the immediate future, but also upon the COM
| merce ofthe world.
There need be no limit to the length of the
| cylindrical float and, as the vessels can have
| unlimited room for msnnuvring, they will
| probably be built of enormous size, and sail
| ing everywhere, without the need OF harbors,
without regard to mountains, valleys or
| rivers, they will be vast improvement on
| the expensive railroads and the barbor- bound
| ocean traffic Of to-day.
| A silk sack connected with an air compress
| sOr IL placed IN the interior OF the balloon,
| and when the Hronaut wishes to descend he
draws hydrogen from the balloon proper and
forces air into the interior sack to ascend
he reverses the operation. He can therefore
regulate his height to nicely, but will not
need to travel at a greater height than neces-
sary to clear church steeples, mountains and
| other tries-
Let us thank our stars and stripes, that we
have not built an expensive navy, for now
we can build fleet OF war balloons that can
| sail mi nyar fh. nI.Iu
stroy them; or can take position high over a
hostile fort or army and dictate terms of sur.
lender with dynamite bombs aud other
| medicine.
General Thayer has devised another bal,
| loon with the difference that the motive
power Is to be electricity furnished to q
| dynamo on the deck by means of wires con
nected with generators on the earth, at the
tended for use over much travelled routes
or in forwarding supplies to an army at the
| front
He claims to have demonstrated by actual
experiment that both of these systems OF
balloonng are practicable and aptly quotes
the prophetic lines of Tennyson, who
| of magic sails,
Pilots OF the purple twilight dropping down
| with costly bales;
Heard the heavens hlled with shouting and
| there rained shastly dew
| From the nations airy navies graphing in the
| central blue;
Far along the world wide whisper of the south
| wind rushing warm,
| with the standards of the people's nlunpinD
| through the thunder storm
| TIL the war drum thrObbed no longer, and tn,