Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-08
ESPECIAL rrLEeKAx TO THE DISPATCH, T,

ESPECIAL TELEGRAR TO THE DlsPATCH-l
wAsHINGroN, July IL have just wit
messed at the Navy Yard the trial of life
saving rocket which is the most ingenious
thing in that line ever invented, and the
test of which has proved a perfect success.
One cannot help but imagine, looking at its
possibilities, the grand work it will per-
form in the saving OF life.
Visions of wrecked and stranded vessels
rise in the fancy, and long lines of surviving
but badly scared passengers or sailors, pass
from ship to shore over the imaginary rope
that has been hauled from one point to
the other by means of the cord that lies con-
cealed In this wonderful rocket. Of course
there are life-saving guns. Everybody
knows that. But they are cumbersome to
transport, less ready and certain in use, and
ii they be kept loaded the powder is apt to
be wet or stale ana so of no immediate
avail
These guns throw a projectile to which is
attached line. On land 1t can be thrown
with accuracy, but on a rocking vessel it
would probably be of little use even if car
ried The rockets are comparatively mex
pensive, they can be stored at all possible
points where they may be needed, they can
be carried on every vessel without incon-
venience and thrown from its decks as sc-
curately as from the land, and they can be
hermetically sealed if necessary to protect
the charge from dampness.
THE NEW DEVICE.
This rocket has a steel head I6 or 1S
inches long and three in diameter. AT its
base is a series of holes in which the quick
match may be applied to ignite the charge.
From the base OF the head extends a cylin-
der about six feet long, and this contains an
axual hole in which a cord /, 100 or ], 200
yards long is faxed" To use the rocket, it
is only necessary to set it on end at an angle
of about As degrees, apply the match and
let it go.
The range is about ZOO yards. As the
rocket sails over this space, carrying hope
and probably life to the shipwrecked
yoyager, the cord, an end of which has
been fastened to a cable, pays out easily
without retarding the flight of the rocket
The cord reaches the vessel or the land, the
cable is hauled after and the process of life
saving begins.
Invention in the field of naval armament
and warfare is astonishing. Hardly a week
passes that something new and in the line of
progress does not make its appearance at
the rooms of the ordnance bureau of the
Navy Department, which form quite little
museum OF themselves. There are quick
loading magazine and repeating rifles in
Vulnerable, curious and rapid revolvers
without end, one of the latest of which is a
double-action, simultaneous loading and ex-
traction pistol that is the most murderous
thing yet invented in the way of small |
arms. AS the cylinder is thrown out for the
purpose of loading the shells are automatic
ally extracted, and the whole six chambers
can be loaded at once.
OTHER INVENTIONS.
The marine or soldier carries several
packages of the cartridges, which are made
up in packs of six each, and one of these |
packs can be showed into the cylinder in the |
same time 1t would require to insert single |
she'll More important, however, is a new |
invention for the training of gun carriages |
by an electric motor. In training by means |
of steam, or hydraulic pressure, or COM
pressed air, there is always danger that |
some one of the connecting pipes will be |
shot of, and in such event the gun would be |
useless. Trained by an electric motor the |
wires would be less likely to be injured, |
and if cut off they could be Immediately re- |
connected.
Still more momentous to those who ex-
pect to engage in naval battle is an arrange |
ment for firing guns by electricity. The |
great present obstacle in the way of ac-
curacY in planting a projectile where it |
sci during the time that elapses between the |
sighting of the gun and the explosion of |
the charge. Short as this is it is sufficient |
to destroy the aim of probably four out of |
five shots, even when the vessel is rolling a |
little, and If the sea be rough it is next to |
impossible TO aim with any precision what |
ever.
By the electrical arrangement either the |
captain of the guns or the captain of the |
IL.
and ready to be fired. The completion of |
the operation of loading moves an automatic |
signal, and at a glance it may be determined |
what guns are ready to be fired. If the |
captain OF the guns fires them he holds in |
his hand a miniature battery encased in |
some non-conducting substance, the whole |
but a little larger than the handle of a |
pistol.
A GREAT IMPROVEMENT.
The moment he gets his aim, when the
sight is on the exact spot it is desired to
reach, be pulls trigger, spark flies along
q wire with the speed of thought, and the
string could be pulled by the systems now
in vogue. 1t is in fact simultaneous aim
ing and firing, as one would do with an or
dlnary rifle to the eye. No matter how
much the vessel may be rolling or how
rapidly the object may be shifting, the gun
ner who aims correctly may touch the spot
at which he aims as surely as a good marks
man with a rife. One gun on a whole
broadside may be fired at will
If the captain of the vessel does the firing
he may sit at little table and see every
gun. The automatic signal tells him when
gun is ready and what gun it is, and to
fire he merely presses an electric button,
upon which is marked the number of the
gun, which has been loaded and sighted. 1t
Is as easy as playing on typewriter.