Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-14

on the plate, cannot be raised in tempera-
ture more than few degrees by any known
process, and which will, consequently, cut
through any obstacle. I have lately dis
covered how this metal, which is called AN
nealed steel, is prepared"
''The Admiralty would give you CSC, 600
for the discovery said Bidulph.
'0The Admiralty would do nothing of the
kind" responded Denton with aeerbity.
''They would mess me about for years, as
the War Office did poor Schneider, if they
did not ignore me altogethef. No, no, Mr..
Bidulph, the British Government is q very
fine institution, no doubt, but it has never
been famed for its ibera1ity 10 inventors.
The original discoverer Of this annealed
steel was a shoemaker, who gets So, 600 q
year from the United States Government
for holding his tongue about it. Had he
been an Englishman he would probably
have had to patent the invention to protect
himself 1t would thus have been made
known to everybody, and would, in all
likelihood, De adopted by the nation few
years after the patent expired. But this
has nothing to do with explosives, and
have here the model of shot that viii sink
any ship in the navy in five seconds. and
which is simpler, l think, in its action and
construction than the American shot"
He took from off shelf conieaI steel
cylinder, about 4 feet in length and foot in
diameter at the base. The bottom screwed
on and of; it was hollow inside, and at the
apex there was a button which pressed inward
by means Of q spring.
'sNow observe" he continued. Round
the apex you see there is an india rubber
cushion, which prevents any rebound when
this shot is discharged against the side Of q
vessel When the cylinder strikes the side
IL - T. I'll
bounding; but the button is driven in, q
bottle Of acid is smashed Inside the shot;
dynamite, with which it is stored, is ignited;
in about three seconds the dynamite ex-
plodes; the shot by this time is beneath
the level Of the keel. What is the con-
sequence? Why, that an enormous
volume Of water is driven from under the
ship, which falls into the gnlf thus
created and is lost. Perhaps you will
think that all this is visionary. It ia per-
fectly practicable, however, and was sue-
gested to me BY the way in which Lieutenant
Maurv sank the Wachusetts in the Savan-
nah river at the close of the American war.
He fastened together with rope two cylin-
ders containing guD-cottOn, and let them
float down the river. The rope caught the
hawser Of the Waehusetts, which was lying
at anchor. The cylinders, thus impeded in
their course, approached each other, the
current Of the river pressed forward their
spiral springs and exploded the charges sim
with the result that the ship
with $40 men disappeared. When she was
raised SONS years afterward by the United
States Government, it was found tnat not a
scratch of paint had been taken of her bot
tom or sides. The explosion, by displacing
many thousand tons Of water, simply caused
a vacuum into which the ship fell, and in
which she was buried. My process is the
same in principle, but much more simple
and certain in its operation.
'sAnd now, Mr.. Bidulph," " he continued,
when they had spent some minutes in ana
lying and discussing this cannon ball Of
the future, as Denton declared it to be,
"you have come to see me on business, I
know, and shall not waste your time any