Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-08-31
IN A COMING TOWER.
What Ono Mans Hand Controls on Board
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Such power was never till the world
began concentrated under the direction
of man, and all that power, the judgment
to direct it, the knowledge to utilize it.
is placed in the hands of one man, and
one only.
What is this power2
Talk of Jove with his thunderbolts, of
Nasnyth with his hammer! the fables of
mythology and the facts of latter day
sciencel where has there ever been any
thing to compare to it7 Here in the con-
ming tower stands the captain of the ship,
and beneath his feet lie hidden powers
which the mind can scarcely grasp, but
which one and all are made subservient
to his will, and his will alone. Picture
him as he stands at his post before the
battle begins; all is quiet enough, there
is scarcely a sound save the tapping of
the water against the smooth white sides
of the ironclad, and no outward sign of
force save the ripple of the parted waters
falling off on either side of the ram as it
sheers through the water. But mark
that thin white thread escaping from the
steam pipe astern, a fleecy vapor rising
into the air and nothing more.
But what does it meanp 1t means that
far down below some thirty glowing fur
naces are roaring under the blast of
steam; that in the great cylindrical
boilers the water is bubbling, surging,
struggling, as the fierce burning gases
pass through the hues; and that the pris-
oned steam, tearing and thrusting at the
tough sides of the boilers, is already rails
ing the valves and blowing off at a
pressure of 100 pounds. 1t means that
the captain in his cunning tower has but
to press the button by his side, and in a
moment the four great engines will be
driving the twin screws through the wa
ter with the force of 10, 900 horse power,
II that the great ship with the dead
weight of IL, 900 tons will be rushing on
ward at q speed of over twenty miles an
hour.
In her turret and in her broadside bat.
teries there is a deep hush of expectation;
but there, too, waiting to respond to the
''hash of the will that can" lie forces of
destruction, which appal the magma
ton.
Far down below our feet, in the cham
bers of the great guns, lie the dark masses
of the powder charges. a touch, a spark,
and in a sheet of flame, and with the
crash of thunder the steel shot will rush
from their muzzles, speeding on their
way 1000 feet in a second, and dealing
their blow with the impact of GO, 900 foot
tons-5,000 pounds weight of metal dis
charged by II touch of the captains
hand. Nor is this all; another touch and
another signal will liberato the little clips
which detain the four Whitehead torpe-
does in their tubes. a puff of powder, a
click as the machinery is started, and the
two screws are set off whirling, and with
a straight, silent plunge the long steer
torpedoes will dive into the water, and at
their appointed depth will speed on their
way thirty miles an hour on their awful
errand Of destruction. Move that switch.
and through the dark wall of the night a
long straight beam will shoot forth with
the radiance of 10000 candles, turning
the night into day.
a word spoken through that tube will
let loose the hailstorm of steel and lead
from the quick firing and machine guns
on the upper deck and in the tops. A
discharge of shot and shell. not to be
counted by tens or scores, but by hun
dreds and thousands, a storm before
which no living thing can stand, and
under which all but the strongest de-
fenses will wither and melt away like ii
snow bank under an April shower.
And last and most terrible OF all, there
is one other fsrce ready to the captains
hand-a force the sum Of all others, and
which, if rightly utilized, is as ~irresist-
ible as the swelling of the ocean tide or
the hand Of death. By your side and
under your hand are the spokes of the
steam steering wheel; far forward under
the swirling wav which rises round the
ships cut water lies the ram, the most
terrible. the most fatal of all the engines
of maritime warfare. 1t is the task of
the hand which turns that little wheel to
guide and to direct the fearful impact of
the ram.
Think what the power confined to one
mans hand must be; 10, 200 tons of dead
weight driven forward by the frantic
energy of IL, 900 horse power, plunging
and surging along through the yielding
waves at aspeed of ten feet every second,
and with a momentum so huge that the
mathematical expression which purports
to represent it to the mind conveys no
idea to an intelligence incapable of appre.
ciating a conception so vast. To receive
a blow from the ram is death, the ire
trievable catastrophe Of a ships career.
To deliver such a blow is certain victory.
1t is with the captain, and the captain
alone, as he stands here in the coming
tower, that the responsibility of inficting
or encountering this awful fate lies.
Now you will understand what l mean
when / say that never since the world
began have such forces been placed in the
hands of q single man, whose eye alone
must see the opportunity, whose judg-
ment alone nus enable him to utilize it,
and whose hand alone must give effect to
all that his courage, his wisdom and his
duty prompt.-Murray's Magazine
Our Sweetness of Disposition.