Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-10-30
A Tremendoua Machine.
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Here in ,hi. .po, /, concentrated the
Who'll. power Of the ,remendou. machine
which We call an ironelsd ship. Such
power We. never. since the World began.
concentrated under the direction Of msn,
and ell that poser. the judsmsn, to d.
rec, Il. the tno~ledge TO utilize u. IL
placed in the hands 81 one man, aud one
only.
What |. the power! Talk Of Jove
~i,h hi. ,hundsrbol,.. Of N.myth With
the hammer. the fable. Of mythology.
and ,h, fact. Of the l.,,er.dAy science
where h.. there been anything TO com.
pare With i,' Here ia the coming tow
sr stand. the captain Of the ship. and be.
meath hi. fee, the hidden Po-es which
the mind can scarcely grasp. bu, which
one and ell are made sub.sryisnt 10 bis
Gill and hi. will alone. Picture him s
be stand. =, hi. po-, before battle be-
gin. all i. quis, enough. there 10 scarce.
ly sound save the laPping OF the water
ss.in., the smooth. white sides Of the
ironel.d. and no outward sign. of force
save the ripple. Of the parted water fall
ing of on either side Of the ram |. u
sheer. through the water. But marx
that white thread escaping from the
steam pipe s.tsrn. fseey vspor rising in-
10 the sir and nothing mote.
Hut what doe. IL mean' i, means
tbs, far down below some thirty glowing
furnace. are roaring under the bias, Of
steam ,hs, in the grea, cylindrical boil
els the water is bubbling. .ursing. sirug-
Cling. as the fierce burning gases pass
through the flaes. and that the prisoned
steam. tearing and ,trus,ing q, the tough
sides Of the boilers. /. already raising the
valves and blowing c II a, pressure OF 100
pounds. II means that the captain in
bis coming ,o-er has bu, to press the
button by bis side. aud in = momsn, The
four gre., engines will be driving the
twin screws through the water with the
force Of ~ 900 horse power, and that
the sr,a, ,hip. with dead weigh, OF
IL 900 tons, will be rushing Onward At
. speed Of over 30 miles an hour.
Ia her ,uuet and in Ler bro.d'ide
b.,,sris. there Is deep hush Of sxpee,a-
ton. but there, too. waiting TO re.Pond
to the "a..h Of the will ,ha, can" lie
forces Of destruction which spPsl mag
instion.
Far down below our feet, in the cham
ber Of the gres, guns, lie the dark masses
Of the powder charges. A touch. =
spark. and In a sh,e, Of fame. and with
the crash Of thunder. the steel sho, will
rush from their muzzles. speeding on
their way 1000 fee, in . second and
dealing their blow with the impse, OF
co 900 foot ,ons-5.00 pounds weight
Of metal discharged by one touch OF the
hand. Nor !. this all another touch
and another signal will libera,e the lit
lie clip. which detsin the four White
head torpedoe. In their tubes. A puf
Of powder. q click as the machinery s
started, and the two screws are se, OF
whirling. aud. with = straight. silent
plunge. the long steel torpedoss ~ill dive
into the water. and q, the appointed
depth will speed on their way so or 40
mile. an hour on their awful susnd OF
destruction. Move that switch aud
through the dark wall Of the night long
.ri.sht beam will shoo, forth With the
radiance Of 40. 900 candles, turning the
nigh, into day.
A word spoken through that tube will
let loose the hsilstorm 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, . storm before
which no living thing can stand, and un-
der which ell but the strongest deiences
will wi,hsr and mel, away like snow
bank under an April shower.
And las, and most terrible Of oil, there
IL one o,he, force ready to the captains
hand-a force the sum Of al Others, and