Arizona republican., 1892-04-13
ELECTRICITY IN WAR
ELECTRlCl ANS WILL PLAY AN lM-
 PORTANT PART IN BATTLE.

Electrical Appliances on Shipboard May
 Get Out of order So Frequently as to
 Render Necessary the Presence of Q
 Corps of Electricians.
 So far as the stationary torpedoes are concerned, methods are quite well settled and the practice has been reduced to a science, one, however, which requires a good deal of electrical skill for it's proper application. The automobile torpedo involves problems that are worthy sub feet for the exercise of the highest elec- trical skill So far as the Whitehead and similar missiles of destruction arc concerned, there is not much to be done, electrically speaking, for a torpedo of that class is purely missile discharged from a gun, but supplied with means for continuing its course to an efficient dis tance under water.
 Inasmuch as high initial velocity does not agree with powerful explosives, the falling off in velocity would be too marked if any long range were attempt ed. With dirigible torpedoes, however, the case is very different. Theu one must depend on electricity for steering if not for motive power, and there is room for considerable improvement both in speed and certainty of operation, two prime essentials But the function of the eelectrician is by no means ended with torpedo service. for in the equipment of any modern man-of- war the electrical apparatus plays a very important part.
 The modern gun, twenty to forty feet in length, with corresponding weight, cannot be handled by man power as quickly as the exigencies of service sometimes require, and the choice lies between electricity on the one hand and hydraulic machinery or donkey engines on the other. The latter have been very freely in use; the former has made its influence felt often enough to show that it is fully up to it's work. The electric motor is undoubtedly better suited to such sort of work than any. other kind of mechanism.
 THE SEARCH LIGHT,
 Since the introduction of secondary batteries every bit of working mechan- ism is exposed to formidable fire and must be protected at all hazards. Here the motor, from it's very small size, of- fers a particularly difficult target, and besides can be enSconced behind the gun shield or even behind the gun itself, so that nothing short of blow sufficient to disable the latter would cripple the motor, and in addition the means of communicating power to the said motor are very unobtrusive and exceedingly easy to duplicate.
 It is a perfectly simple matter to sup ply it through half dozen different cir cults in parallel with each other, all of which would have to be shot of before the motor went even temporarily ont of use. Even then an electric wire can be handled with such ease and rapidity that temporary communication would be re-established very readily although under fire, while if steam or water pipe were shot away there would be no replacing it during action.
 The search light, too, comes in for it's share of attention, both as a weapon of defense and oifcnse, and more attention should be given it than has yet beet. done. The destruction of a search light during a torpedo attack would be very serious calamity, and when one remem- bers that torpedo boats are usually sup piled with rapid fire guns, such possi- bility is by no means remote.
 DANGER FRoM RAPID FIRING GUNS.
 From 37-millimeter revolving can non-a size frequently used for the pur- pose-nearly shot second can be fired, and at half or three-fourths of a mile the accuracy of this weapon is so great as to render hits quite probable, and a single projectile or fragment of shell would stand good chance of putting search light out of use. All this points to reduplication of the ap- paratus on a considerably more extended scale than has usually been the habit, and besides all this there is a question of communication between different parts of the ship. and especially with the coming tower, and here, as every where, the convenience of electricity, the readiness with which circuits can be multiplied and re-established make it's use almost imperative,
 In case of war the electrician will find plenty to do, both in the way of routine work and Improvements, and may play part of great importance. Electrical World.