Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1893-04-22
A FLYING TORPEDO.
THE DYNAMITE CRUISERS WON
DERFUL PROJECTILE.

"
Shot From a Gun, IL Sweeps Up and
Down the Air Like a Great Bird
/. A Terrible Engine.
Some test experiments in the throwing
of projectiles from the dynamite cruiser
Vesuvius were recently made off Port
Royal, South Carolina, with very inter
esting results. The projectiles used were
eight feet long, ten inches in diameter,
and when loaded weighed SIS pounds
The body of the dummy projectile was a
spirally welded cylinder into which the
base and head were screwed, and these
were also connected by an iron bar in the
axis of the cylinder The base was of
cast iron, and carried brass band on
which were number of wings curved so
as to rotate the proiectile as it passed
through the air. The sabot, or gas
check" which occupied the centre of the
ten-inch shell in the fifteen-inch gun, was
also attached to the base. but in such
manner as TO fall off, as arule, as soon as
the projectile left the gun The head
was also of cast iron, and carried as
ewing pieces number of blocks Of
wood carefully fitted about it, and cen
tring the forward end of the projectie
in the axis of the bore. Tn, blocks
flew off, helter-skelter, as soon as the
proiectile left the gun. Iu the live pro-
iectle the cylinder is a drawn steel tube,
and the head and base pieces are of brass,
! Il I,xro lNor !,
case Of the dummy. The head contains
the fuse and primer of dry guncotton,
and also has a number of plungers fixed.
about it so as to explode the primer by
impact.
The fight of the projectiles, as it APP
peared to an observer stationed near the
target, is thus described by an eye
witness, Lieutenant A. A. Alderman, Of
the U. s. S. Philadelphia:
ave are anchored few yards from
the line of fire, a mile away from the
low-lying dynamite cruiser. A signal
has been hoisted at her yard arm, warn
ing the observers to stand by. They
have acknowledged it by displaying
their wig-wag flags. The cruisers sig
nal is then hauled down, after which
those of the observers are also doused as
they severally announce their readiness
All is ready. Suddenly we perceive a
white cloud about the bow Of the
Vesuvius, and then from this bursts
forth a round black object, which, as it
rises out of the mist, shapes into long
thin cylinder Higher and higher it
mounts, until, nearing the zenith of its
fight, the cylinder becomes a ball APP
parently moving so slowly that one al
most fears that its momentum will be
expended, and that it will at any
moment plunge headlong downward.
at has now reached the highest point
of its fight, and at almost the same in
slant the ear is saluted by a rafting
crashing sound, as if all the boiler factor
les In the country had concentrated the
pandemonium of weeks into the supreme
effort of second. 1t is the sound of
the discharge, which travels nearly twice
as fast as the proiectie, and which in the
clear spring air of Port Royal is heard
quite as distinctly mile away in the line
of fire as on the vessel itself.
"The flying torpedo has now for
seconds seemed almost stationary, poised
like some great bird high in the air 1t
seems sure to fall short; it is too low to
carry far at that apparently slow fight.
Still, it does not fall perceptibly, and
soon the fact dawns upon us that this
black object is coming onward at a ire
mendous rate. 1t grows larger, and on
the downward branch of the trajectory
again elongates into cylinder. the rear
end Of which seems to wobble or revOlve
in small circle around the line of flight.
Now Kissing sound is heard. The pro-
iectile seems to hasten it is descending
rapidly-straight towards you. There is
no doubt now as to its carrying far
enough. In fact. it seems impossible
to avoid that. We realize that here is a
terrible engine, free from all restraint,
beyond control 1t has a destiny Of its
own. We don't care who sighted the
gun, or for what range the valve was set,
We only hope that we shall have luck /;
that the black thing has not acquired in.
teligence and decided to hurt us, will
malicious purpose But now glance
along the cylinders side is reassuring; il
will pass on one side; it seems to turn
away more and more. until. with {
musketike report. it enters the water
throwing up a lofty column of spray. A
second later and the black oval head
pierces the water thirty yards further on
the torpedo leaps high into the air, anc
turning, porpoiselike. with a graceful
precision dives head first into the wate
again. There, after last mighty struggle
its onward rush is checked. and it sinks
to the bottom. The length of time o.
fight has been just ten aud three-quartel
seconds. II has come six times rs fas
as the fastest railroad train: fourteen
times as fast and five times as far as the
fastest automobile torpedo; fourteen
times as fast as the fastest torpedo boat
twelve times as fast MS the fastest run
ming horse. Moreover, it carries nj
amount Of high explosive power equva
lent in rebdng effect to two Of the larg
est Whitehead torpedoes. - Harper
Weekly.
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