Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-01-09
INTERNAL MACHINES.
OR. FELIX OSWALD ON TIE SERVICE
or SCIENCE TO CRIME.
isss.ieas is,ss,isas sf Men of Diseased
ias.s- Wholesale slaughter M.ds Es.y.
Novel NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. sf Mi.sv-
plIesi skiIi-A Partial Consolation.
lspseIal cefy.pandsae..l

piteo shUt-A Tsrtsi CONSOLATION.
tspseiAl corr..pohdsnos.l
CINCINNATI. Jan. t.-The philosophsi
Bentham calls the history ~ th. world
chronicle Of mi-iirected efforts" aud
suggests that the records ~ the human
race should be devoted 10 important In.
ventions rather than siegcs and battles.
but inventors. too. have often enough
abused their talents for the affection II
their fellow men. and. without mention.
ing gasoline stoves and patent distiller.
ies. u might IL demonstrated that ship
wreck would have become impossible II
life saving contrivance- hal been per.
fected with the ingenuity that has been
wasted on implements of destruction.
In the progress of mechanical inventions
the destroyer has indeed frequently out.
stripped the constructor.
se,sstins Crime.
The net result % ancient civilization
IL generally pile Of ruins; the battering
ram has prevailed against the derrick Il
Archime,ie-. The improvement of de-
fensiye armor has been relinquished n .
hopeless task. but the range ~ death
dealing missiles has increased from .
hundred yards 90 three miles and . half.
at which latter distance the cigarette
shayei bullets of q Mannlicher rife viii
still pierce human body The golden
rule Of medical philosophy. the let alone
plan. seems 20 have been Anticipated by
IIippocrAtes, four hundred years before
the beginning of our chronological era.
but the science % murder by machinery
has achieved an undenisble progress since
the time when tho Parthian insurgents
placed spear traps' In the path Of the
Roman cavalry.
The Caliph Almoktader was severely
wounded by an arrow discharged from
. box or basket which an assassin
handel 90 him In tho name 81 friend.
AMI Cesar Borgia Il said % have ~
moved his enemies by means of pot.
soned needle inserted In . finger rng.
but the golden age % Internal machines
dawnei only with the invention % gun.
powder. The idea - letting an auto
matte contrivance destroy an enemy In
the absence Of is constructor strongly
recommended itself 10 the attention %
Discreet assassins. and about the eni of
the sixteenth century Italian chronicles
mention the disastrous effectiveness of
powder cask. placed near the doors u
dwelling houses and exploded 10y means
Of a dropping weight
4 Deadly Pst.rd.
Bombs were invented a hundred year,
later. and In 1872 a gunsmith ~ Frank.
fort-on.the. Main avenged the execution
of his son by fiinging petari against
bench of the old Raih Haus. where IT,
explosion caused the death Of three of
the assembled judge. and grieyously
wounded two Others. How the app.ra-
tus could be made 10 explode before the
invention of percussion csIs seems n
puzzle. unless the assassin us'sl lighted
fuse. but the mechanics % the old FRI
Town were really ahead u their agr, a.
n,tes,ei 10y the construction II their
jimballs and the story Of the condemned
highway robber who came within an
inch OF saving his life by Offering the