The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-06-10
Thibodaux Sentinel.
FLIGHT OF A TORPEDO.

elk Times as Fast as a Railroad IRAN Tor
Over Ten Seconds.
The fight of the projectiles, as it ap-
peared to an observer stationed near
the target, is thus described by an eye
witness, Lieut.. A. A. Alderman, of the
u. S.. S. Philadelphia: 1--WE are anchored
a few miles from the line of fire, a 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 observers are
also doused as they severally
their readiness. All is ready. Sud
denly we perceive a white cloud
about the bow Of the Vesuvius,
and then from this burst forth
a round, black object, which, as
it rises out OF the mist, shapes itself
into a long, thin cylinder. Higher and
higher it mounts, until, nearing the
zenith of its flight, the cylinder be-
comes a ball apparently moving SO
slowly that one almost fears it's mo-
mentum will be expended and it will
at any moment plunge headlong down
ward. 1t has now reached the highest
point of its fight and at almost the
same instant the ear is saluted by a
rafting. crashing sound, as if all the
boiler factories in the country had con-
centrated the pandemonium of weeks
into the supreme effort of a second. 1t
is the sound of the discharge. which
travels nearly twice as fast as the pro-
jectile and which in the clear spring
air of Port Royal is heard quite as dis
tinctly a mile away in the line of fire
as 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 slow
to carry far at that apparently slow
flight. Still, it does not fall percepti-
bly,, and Don the fact dawns Upon us
that this black object is coming upon
us at a tremendous rate. 1t grows
larger. and ON the downward branch of
the trajectory again elongates into a
cylinder, the rear end of which seems
to wobble or ~revolve in a small circle
around the line of fight. Now a hiss
ing sound is heard. The proiectile
seems to hasten-it is descending rap
idly-straight toward 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 it's OWL.
We don't care who sighted the
gun or for what range the valve
was set. We only hope hat we
shall have luck; that the black
thing has not acquired intelli-
gence and decided to hurt US, with a
malicious purpose. But now a glance
along the cylinders side is reassuring:
it will pass on one side; it seems to
turn away more and more, until. with
a musketlike 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, and turning, por-
poise-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
fight has been just ten and three
quarters 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 automobile torpedo:
fourteen times as fast as the fastest
torpedo boat; twelve times as fast as
the fastest running horse. Moreover,
~ 40 r~snc m ~ ls-l - -.
power equivalent in rending effect to
two of the largest Whitehead torpe-
does. "-Chicago Herald.