Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-31

accurate Ideally the chances Of nm efrec.
tive hit Ia By no means reduced In the
same proportion.
..scertainment OF the range
IL certainly the most serious question. In
cases where the enemy lis advancing ana
changing his distance rapidly. Il will be
difficult 20 regulate the fire successfully;
but even here there In a slight co'npen-
satlng element IN the fact that the length
uf the enemy's shlp--sny 900 .et-Wouid
be In the line Of fire. and that the shot
would be effective II IL hit anywhere ps-
tween his taffrail and, say. thirty yards
ahead of him-that IL. TIE effective target
would be about 100 to E'ssibly i'o yards
long.
The most advantageous position for
pneumatic gun vessel Is held to be either
ahead or asteru OF the enemy. and while
il NAV be rarely possible for n single
vessel TO choose its position the author
thinks that with vessels OF this class
hunting In couples. which he considers
the best tactics. they should find niue
difficulty by separating in getting their
victim in the most favorable position for
delivering n fatal blow from one or the
other.
THE FUSE CAN BE PERFECTED.
OF the Rapien fuse, which was de-
signed TO detOnate on impact with soilu
body and also TO start =, time tram oy
the impact with water. so as 10 tahe
full advantage OF the invaluable feature
Of horizontal under water hiFht, Lieu
tenant Commander Schroeder says: us
failure showed. Of course. that the de-
sign WAS faulty: il was caused by one u'
possibly two out of three det'cts-hrS''
the shearing pins OF the safety sieeNe
s.,.R In
not being sufficient to shear them AZ
tho time Of discharge: second. the fulml-
nate was too far from the dry cotton
primer: third. the illuminate was weak
being of commercial make; while IL ap-
pears certain that the second defect uiu
exist. there is little doubt that the hrst-
named was the cause &C the trouble III
most. II not all the casfs.'
The necessary changes In the fuse cam
Lieutenant Commander Schroeder thinks
be easily made. and he hopes that before
long we shalt have an opportunity OF
admiring the efficiency OF perfected
design.
In support Of his championship OF the
efficiency of the pneumatic weapon hurl-
ing colossal explosive missiles, the author
while he frankly declares that the modern
high-power rife will probably continue TO
be the foremost implement Of war, insists
that the fact must be recognized that
with the latter IA the sole weapon not
nearly so much damage IS done with 1t
at sea as one would be apt to infer from
proving ground irings. In fact. perrna-
nent injury Is rather the exception. RE
instances the comparatively slight dam
age done to the Huascar in her gallant
conflict with two Chilian ironoIads. and
the disappointment felt at the Inadequate
results Of the bomhardment of Sfax by
the French fleet in July 1881. and the
Alexandria forts by the British fleet I'm
1ss2
Apropos of the latter FACTION he quotes
the following opinion offLieutenant Nree-
land. L. s y in .. e l., General In
formation Set. s. No. VIII: Had Admit
raj Seymours fleet inci-ided a Vesuv.us.
that vessel could have placed herself be-
hind any one of the huge ironellds Of
the attacking squadron. and from that
position could have easily landed within
the shora forts. ut an angle Of fall OF
about . degrees. proiectiles filed with
the enormous charge Of 500 pounds OF
dynamite, the effect OF which can be
ina gined. Conversely, had the shore
works possessed one or more dynamite
throwers. the attacking feet would pro-
badly not have calmly delivered its fire
from 16oO-yard range"
COMMENTS OF NAVAL CRITICS.
In the customary discussion Of Lieu
tenant Commander Schroedcr's essay
ACCOMPLISHMENTS Frank Courts. 4.
). y, while he declines to admit that
the weapon should be called a gun"
says. 1T seems TO me that II would be 4
very poor policy for the Navy Depart
mont thus early 20 abandon. without fur
Their experiments, this system"
Lieutenant g. G. Halus. l.. :. y. says:
1.-THE perfection OF the system is only
a question OF time"
Lieutenant VI. NJ. Domhaugh. L. s. y,
says: THE few remaining difficulties are
of mechanical nature. and are capable
of being made practically perfect"
Lieutenant Albert \. Alderman, l.. s
n, eXpressesa similar opinion. but holds
that the principle OF the pncumatic-gm
as mounted in the Ncsuylus f. not Of as
great general value as desired.
Professor l.. X. Alger, L. ). ~ Is not
an admlrer Of the pneumatic weapon. Of
the Nesuvus he says: THE statement
that had she been designed for less speed
she would Be a much more efficient and
formidable vessel may. in my opinion, be
applied with still greater truth 10 almost
all our recent naval constructions in
which the more valuable qualities are
sacrificed to an insane effort 10 achieve
a high speed
Lieutenant William T. Fullam declares
the Nesuvius 10 b. zone of the sldiest
results of the recent craze for speed that
has taken possession Of US in recent
years"
Lieutenant Richard w unwrght. who Is
a strong advocate of tdttlc ships, says
1T would not be wise q divert much at
t,ntion from out princii4l reliance in case
OF naval war; but wynn We commence
to build fleets Of t0rpe14 boats We would
be blind indeed to neglect the pncunatis
sun"
In a brief reply to his critics, Llepten-
aEt-Commander Schroeder expresses his
r easuIe at the general attitude Of en-
dcrscment of his views, and makes the
Interesting statement tina, in T.; cent
test OF perfected fuse. witnessed by
i'm at Sandy Hook. s1ells charged some
with wet gun-cOtton and some with ex-
plcsve gclatlne were projected from ;he
pneumatic gun. and that in every in
stance detcndtion was complete and or
the first order