The evening times., 1895-12-13

| Vi IFS tllEpS OF
| emergency.
The method of la ying su bma rne mines as
| praciiccd during the civil war md prior to
\ thdt time. while deadly in few instances
| whi"h have become history. in he ni;;Jorit Y
of cases failed OF purpose. ard vessels more
| ireIuenliy nan not PASSED submarine mines
without injury.
| The tOfI;cio directed by wires from the
| shore and from torpedo boats as Il mca us of
| oiicnse, while having succeeded in pra cti-
| cal use and in many official tests. did not
| altogether iulfiii its purpose. for under live
| conditions such "A torpeuo was not accurate
| except at short range.
| Such /: torpedo bad many disadvantages.
| and to axe its place an automobile torpedo
| was designed.
ATTENDED WITH SUCCESS.
| Experiments with it were attended with
| success, and the Whit chr;ld tori edo, as well
| as the Schwarizkopf. somewhat similar to
| II In general operation. have been in practt-
| cal use as recognized weapons To be used i'll
| war Tor n period Of about twenty years
England. France. Germany, and Rus ssia la We
| cXpcrmentrd with these torpcdoes du ri ne
! lhiS time. and have succeeded in establish
| ing II certain degree of efficiency in their
| USE.
From recent tests with the Howell tor
p,Go II appears that the Whitehead. which
* recognized as pcrhaIS the most sue
cessrul OF lis type. Will have IL formidable
rival in he American invention. The How
ell torpedo was invented about fifteen years
'r-o bN d y HbNtIl L. - ~.
now commodore and commandant of the
Washington Navy Yard. II was the result
OF many years of study and combiaCs tie
most desirable features of other weli-Kuo wn
torptsiocS, while being in its motive rower
ana scNcra other features q departure from
the Whitehead. SC!lwartzkopf and others.
Its driving and steering meet an!sms are
entirely new in the field of torDedoes. The
driving force is n heavy steel fly wheel.
which, preliminary to discharge. is spun uD
by motor 10 about 5000 revolutions min :
ute.
The axle of the fly wheel lies horizont al
In the sectional plate OF the torpedo. and
the high speed of the revolution OF this
wheel gives great gyroSCOpic stiffness To
this axle or resistance 10 being turned
out OF its plane.
FIRED IN ANY DIRECTION.
By this means the torpedo is given di-
receive force in Itself, and, fired in any
direction. tends to maintain its hOrizont al
position. Al the same time the torpedo
may hp readily Atrcred up or down TO any
desired depth.
The steering arran cement is one OF the
most interesting features. By means Of
Il hydrostatic piston the turpcdo is kept
AT he desired depih' This hy,irr,s tatic
piston ana Il pendulum. which modifics
the angle of ascent or descent, are con-
Tcctch with the tii!er or "A horrizonta rud-
der IN such manner that neither one is
affected III its WORK 10y the action Of the
other. whilst The Jilirr action is The re-
sultaDt OF the action of both.
and graduated like the ordinary steering
gear OF ships. but consists nf rapid Daipi-
tatons in the direction required, the pal
Ditatiuns VARYING in magnitude accord
ing To the mumentary steering requirements.
when the torpedo. therefore. is at its
proper depth and horizontal, there is no
movement of the rUdider.
The force for throwing this ru6dar is
taken from the revolving propeller shNts.
al which there are two. one situated on
each sia,. Constant speed j. given tu, the
to- u. y N pcenpuf that alters Ifp
pitch of the screws as the torpedo runs
At the start. when the fly wheel is ut its
maximum speed of revolutions, the screws
have Il very line pitch: hut. as during It's
course through the friction OF the wafer
the fly wheel runs down. the pitch "i the
screws is corrrspundnEiy increased, 5"
that Il steady speed ior the wh"le range
is maintained. II was vJrN i .!iicuh mat
ter to regulate tbs farce.
RAPH,ITY OF THE WHEEL.
Little conception can he hai of the ra-
pidity with which a wheel passes through
the air If il has n diameter something over
a foot and is making 10000 revolutions
minute The ordinary electric fan makes
about ,uuu ar Loo revolutions 4 minute.
and speed ten times rs great Is almost
bevond conception.
Unless this force was regulated by the
pitch OF the screws the t"rpcdu wou.d have
a speed of sumCthing Ike IL knots an hour
Tor the first 2nU wards. when IL w"u IL run
down: hut by this ingenious mCcnGnlsin
tance of almost 1.Oon Yards. although a
range OF over 700 wards is rarely friu
500 yards being the distance which seems
to have been fixed upon IN trrp, do Drat tiict'.
The fourteen inca Howell torpedo has
been rXpcrimcntch with IL the navy Tor
several years, and the general results
have been SAL Sfa ctory- II mas been
however compared with the Whitehead
eighteen inch torpedo to Its d:'riincnt
Accordingly. there has been nHlt an
eighteen inc.I Howell torpedo with which
.ynsriupntS have been made ut the trial
ground at Tiverton, r. |.
According to the figures which are
given ont n comparison of perf0riia noes
OF the eighteen inch Howell torpedo with
those of the Whitehead made Il showing or
the superiority of the American invcnilCs
in speed as well as ACCURACY.
While the eighteen inch whitehead TOR
pe;lo made "A record of thirty knots an hour:
over a range of 400 Yards. the Howtii
eighteen inch torpedo az Tlver'oh mas de-
, veoped a speed OF thirtS-tWo kho'S over
the same course
SUPERIOR IN ACCURACY.
In 1898, out of seventy one fires of the
Whi;chead from the torpedo boat Cush-
ing there were twenty mishaps. While
out of eighty eight runs of the Howell
on the Stiietto there were ohiy elSht
iniShapS.
Thus according to q government report.
in accuracy and reliability the Howell rs
the superior. while the deficiency OF the
fourterI;- inch torpedo i'll speed. ii can be
safely said, will be more than cCilipefsated
for il, the performances of the eighteen inch
i'm the official trials at Tiver'on. These
trials will take place shortly when tne
facts will he reported officially to the
Secretary of the Navy.
The list of mishaps which have attended
the trials of torpedocs would lead one 10
believe that n torpedo OF any sort rs
most unreliable weapon OF oIleiise- but
su,.h possibilities have recently been cevei-
oIcd in the tests for accuracy win the
Howell that torpedo making ana fir!hg
can he ma de almost precise ART.
According to Lieut.. Franklin Drake or
the navy inspector or ordnance, Whlle
the percentage of practical attempts 10
bInyv nm vessels in war which have proved
uiliIres is large. the auto-noDiie tofpeuo
NAV be brought to such plane or e11i-
cheney IN the future as TO set at rest any
In its value a $ an adjunct in naval warfare:
The other nations. England, rance. aiio
Germany which have Introduced tnc auto-
mobilc lorpedoes into their naval service
have apparently fallen into groove III re-
e;,rd to them for after the first snccessiul.
or partially successful. trials theS haVe
tnekn no further action in regard 10 t!ieiii.
They have been considered as Il usefui al.
iunCt in case of war. when in reality shouiu
war come the officers or those countries
would not be proficient in their use. lt Is
believed by the older officers OF the United
States navy that experiments WIN ;iho ~.
strut.tions in regard to the mechanism OF
The automobile should not cease. ii It's
efficiency is to be brought up TO and nam,
taned on the plane where IL may De useo
almost as accurately as ordnance
----
Morning Blaze at st. Paml.
St. Paul Mimi. Dec. 13.-Fireat Z o Ciock
His morning broke out IN tne .ap t.ooi aS-
workshops OF Guiterman Bros: ciothlhg eS-
., bi;shn,nnt nj Fifth and Sibley streets.