Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-10-10
SMOkELESS POWDER.

1t OuadrupleS the Sl8uGntef1nR ELECTS Oh
Firearms In Battle.
There is something terrible in the
way science is aiding the military
powers of Europe in developing new
engines for destroying life. The Aus
trian, French and German armies are
being supplied with magazine repeat
ing rifles that will fire fifty cartridges
minute Germany is last in the field
with a contract for 100000 of these
.'Mannlicher'' rifles, to be ready by
the 1st of May, 1890. The range oil
this rifle was proved in startling
manner the other day. when an Aus
trian soldier was killed by one at target
practice at reputed range of over
two miles and half. Austria has had
her contract filled for this arm. but
the German rifles will use cartridges
of the famous smokeless powder. Herr
Falkenstein, the inventor of this DOW
der, is himself an Austrian, and his
invention was offered 20 the Vienna
War Office and declined s5efore its pur-
chase at Berlin. Her. Falkenstein
was three years ago t"acticing as 8
chemist in an Austrian Gown, and also
Hearing of the smokeless gunpowder
invented by the French General Lebel.
he took journey to France on pur-
pose to discover how this powder was
made. OF course he failed to get any
of the powder, for the French are
jealousy guarding the secret of it, but
he was SO fortunate as to pick up a
few exploded cartridges on the rifle
practice ground at Satory and from
these he learned that the powder was
without saltpeter. Six months later
experiments, found out Lebel's
| secret and fastened to Vienna with
a packet of smokeless powder
| cartridges. The Austrian War
Office repe1l ed him in the manner of
the last century. They said they
could not believe in a battlefield with
out smoke. Falkenstein thereupon
| went to Berlin, where Marshal Won
Moltke gave him a very different re-
| ception. Within a month his powder
was tested. approved, adopted, and
the invention was bought of him for u
| liberal price. According to Count
| Waldersee, the active successor of Won
Moltke on the German staff. the use
of smokeless powder will quadruple
the slaughtering effects of firearms
| in battle. 1t makes one shudder to
think of what the next great war will
be, either on sea or land. At Fiumc
in the trial of this smokeless powder
by the field artillery of the Twelfth
Saxon Corps recently in its maneuvers
before the King of Saxony was per-
haps the most conclusive yet attempt
ed. After several hours of cannonad-
ing, the air over the battle-ground was
perfectly clear. Not even a puff Of
smoke showed itself The new pow
der requires bronze cannon, and it IS
stated that all the steel guns will have
to go. On the sea, and especially fer
harbor defense or attack, there have
been extraordinary improvements in
war engines. as on land. and notably
in torpedoes. A new fish torpedo, OF
which there was trial few weeks
ago in Austria, a great improvement
having been made by an Austrian off,
Ger. goes at the rate of 35 miles per
hour. The length of the torpedo is
now 81 yards. and it carries charge
of 225 pounds of dynamite or gun-cos-
ton in lieu of 60 pounds of gunpowder.
A charge of so pounds of dynamite is
enough to send the largest ironclad
afoat to the bottom of the sea- For a
time it was thoughs that vessels could
be protected against torpedoes by
steel-wire nets; but the heads of the
| NIT I'M
which. propelled as they are, will cut
through any wire yet invented.
| burgh Post.