St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-06-05
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THE FLYING TORPEDO.
The Projectile of the Vesuvius in
Its Flight Through the Air.

Its Flight Through the Air.
| Harper's Weekly.
The flight of the proiectiles. as 1t APP
peared to an observer stationed near the
target, is thus described by an eye wit
ness, Lieut.. A. A. Alderman. of the
| United States steamer Philadelphia
"We are anchored few yards from the
line of fire. mile away from the low
lying dynamite cruiser. A signal has
| been hoisted at her yard-arm, warning
| the observers to stand by. They have
acknowledged it by displaying their
| Wig-wag flags.
The cruisers signal is then hauled
down, after which those of the observ-
ers are also doused as they severaliy an
nounce their readiness. All is ready.
Suddenly we perceive a white cloud
about the bow of the Vesuvius, and then
from this bursts forth round black OBJ
ject, which, as it rises out of the mist,
shapes itself into long thin cylinder.
Higher and higher it mounts, until,
nearing the zenith of its flight, the cyl
Under becomes ball apparently moving
so slowly that one almost fears its mo-
mentum will be expended, and il will
at any moment plunge headlong down.
ward.
1T has now reached the highest point
of its flight, and at almost the same in
slant the ear is saluted by rafting,
crashing sound, as if all the boiler fac
tories in the country had concentrated
the pandemonlum of weeks into the
supreme effort OF second. 1t is the
sound of the discharge, which travels
nearly twice as fast as the projectile,
and which in the clean spring air of
Port Royal is heard quite as distinctly
mile away in the line of fire az ON the
vessel itself.
The flying torpedo has now for Sec
Onds 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 flight.
Still, it does not fall perceptibly, and
soon the fact daWns upon us that this
black object is coming upon us at tre-
mend0us rate. 1t grows larger, and Cd
the downward branch of the trajectory
again el0ngates into a cylinder, the
rear end of which seems to wobble or
revolve in a small circle around the line
of flight. Now Kissing sound is heard.
The projectile seems to hasten-it is
descending rapidly = straight toward
you. There is no doubt now as to its
carrying far enough. In fact, it seems
impossible to avoid that.
1--WE realize that here is terrible en-
CINE, free from all restraint. beyond
control. 1t has 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 intelli
gence and decided to hurt us, with ma
liciouS purpose. But now glance along
the cylinders side els reassuring; it will
pass on one side; it seems to turn away
more and more until, with musket-like
report, it enters the water, throwing uD
allofty column of spray.
2 "a second later and the black, oval
head pierces the water thirty yards fur
Their on; the torpedo leaps high into the
air, and turning, porpoiSe-like, with
graceful precision dives head first into
the water again. There. after a last
mighty struggle, its onward rush is
checked and it sinks to the bottom. The
length OF time of flight has been just
ten and three-quarter seconds. 1t has
come six times as fast as the fastest
railroad train; fourteen times as fast and
five times as far as the fastest automo-
bile torpedo: fourteen times as fast as
the fastest torpedo boat; twelve times
as fast as the fastest running horse.
Moreover, it carries an amount of high
explosives power equivalent in rending
effect to two Of the largest Whitehead
tOrpedOeS,O