The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-04
/ NEW FORCE IN WAR.
gor a Monster Magnet Can Affect a
Hostile Fleet.

-, Eiuc's Wonderful Invention - 1t
ur;u Derange the Compasses of Yes
..1s SIX Miles From the Shore Steel
rails Picked Up Like Needles-Four
cannon Balls Suspended From the
Nsgnats Illustrates It's Immense
power-Interssting Experiments.
From the Washington Post.
>-,r- YORK Oct. ga dispatch to the
~f-,ss to-day from Willet's Point tells of
nfe twelve-inch gun standing on the
,.,,narts there. It is an innocent-iooking
m, and d big coil of telegraph cable
.,,r5 around the muzzie end of the piece
Il .,,sgssts that it has become fractured
Il and that the government is experimenting
NTH an economical method of repairing
tr5l-s1 down ordnance.
The gun. however, is the most powerful
sa,tro-ragnet in the world, excepting
t5os4 of natures own construction at the
irns.fnsry points of the earth known as
i the magnet poles.
The big magnet is the invention of Col
" r. King, commander of the engineer
-,rDs of the army stationed here, and
some very interesting experiments have
,eon made with it. When Col King con-
,eived the idea of building an immense
asctro-magnet. he had no thought of its
possibilities. There entered into the con-
,truction Of the first magnet two hugs
guns. some pieces of iron, and a good
many miles of heavy insulated telegraph
wire. The guns stood on carriages on top
Of the fort The pieces of iron We're fas-
tened across the breeches of the cannon,
and were held in place by chains, forming
horseshoe. The telegraph wire was
wound around the muzzle ends of the
guns, making two immense spools. The
current Of electricity was supplied by a
dynamo and the first time the magnet
was charged it developed marvellous
power
The work undertaken simply as an ex-
pertinent soon became a matter of great
Importance. The magnet had not been
long in existence when it was discovered
that it would derange a. vessels compass
al a distance Of six miles from the fort
This discovery suggested that if in time of
war an enemy's slips attempted to pass
the fort under cover OF darkness or during
the prevalence of q heavy fog when the
pilots would have to depend solely upon
the ships compass. the commanders Of the
war ships would probably find their yes
sells ashore near Willcts Point, where
they could be blown up with torpedoes or
destroyed by the guns of the fort
Many experiments have been made from
time to time in testing the power of the
big magnet One Of the most interesting
eyer attempted was made under the per
sonal supervision of Col. King. A num-
Der Of pieces Of railroad iron we're placed
near the muzzles of the guns, and The cur
rent Of electricity turned on. Immediately
Che rails hew to the magnet, and were held
as fast as if they had been welded to its
immense core Col. King then had one
end of large chain fastened around the
pieces Of iron to ascertain the amount of
power necessary to pull them away from
the magnet The other end of the chain
was attached to a capstan, that was held
firmly in place by long stakes driven into
the ground
When everything was in readiness for
the test the capstan bars were manned by
eight atalwart engineers, and they en-
NcayOTed to pull the railroad iron away
from the magnetized guns. After strain
ing for some time, the stakes holding the
c&pslan in place gave way and it toppled
over The railroad iron had not even
moved on the face of the magnet The
dynamometer which had been attached to
indicate the amount of strain the magnet
would stand showed that it had registered
1000 pounds. 1t was found impossible to
disturb the pieces Of railroad iron until the
electricity had been shut off.
Some time ago Col. King caused to be
made the one-gun magnet. Thirteen
miles of half-inch insulated telegraph
cable was used in making the coil on the
gun, Tests with this magnet showed that
II possessed almost as much power as
ehe urst one where two guns were used
Tor the core a number of exhibitions of
me working of this electro-magnet were
Gwen before members of the American
society for the Advancement of Science.
OHe OF the exhibitions attracted a great
zeal OF attention, as it best illustrated the
power the magnet possessed.
Inc test consisted of four cannon balls
"'lng suspended from the muzzle OF the
gun. The balls weighed, on an average,
''' pounds each. The first one was placed
under the muzzle of the gun, and not
outstanding the smallness of the point
OF contact, made so by the shape of the
suspended object the ball was held very
WflIy. A second cannon ball was placed
unaer the first one; then a third was put
uhNef the second. and when the fourth
oaIl vas held up by the magnetic attrac-
uoi' eXclamatons of surprise came from
lle spectators. The smallness Of the CEN
V"l point Of bearing of each cannon ball,
ana the rigid manner in which the four
IRON spheres were held up, was considered
10 be the best exhibition of the magnets
power
During the recent series of experiments
an IRON tray. heaped up with old horse
Sn'es' big iron spikes, nuts bolts, and
''her articles made Of iron was given to
soldier, and he was directed to hold the
D"F IN front of him and walk toward the
WaRnet. When the soldier arrived at
Io'nt about fifteen feet from the gun the
.ou'Ghts OF the tray departed with a rush
,1' lodged on and about the muzzle of the
gun. The soldier had all he could do
iron. -0''0 ms ''i' swap
ms test has suggested the possibilities
wv. electro magnets being used to de-
wy lo'ts end earthworks from land at
KS. y row of them Of sufficient power
,"',d draw the smaller arms out Of the
u.7 or the infantry, while the advancing
o.lAh was stll some distance from the
acc or attack, leaving the soldiers at
'"e mercy Of the garrison of the fort.
A REAL Old MYTH.