Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1895-09-28
THE RANGE FINDER.
SEW INVENTION OF MUCH IMPORT
ANCE TO THE NAVY.
BY Means of IL the Distance OF an
Enemy's ship May he Easily and
Accurately Determined Either at
Sea or From the shore.

One of the most valuable and inter
esting military devices produced by
Americans in the last ten years Is the
Fiske range-finding apparatus, invent
ed by an officer of the United States
navy in 1887, while he was on duty on
the Atlanta In South American waters.
Since then the apparatus has been pat
ented here and abroad, and has been
modified and improved until 1t has
reached a state of efficiency warrant
ing general use by the navy. In brief,
the apparatus is used to find the dis
lance from a moving or stationary OBJ
ject, such as a man-of-war, or any
other object within the field or tele'
scopes mounted on the apparatus az
the points of observation. The science
of war is advanced by its use in that
an armed vessels crew; having found
the exact range of an enemy's snip,
may with accuracy aim heavy guns nc
it without preliminary trial or nrlng'
Tests of the apparatus have demon
strated, however, that although II was
designed chiefly for use in action, Il
has far wider and more important
value in peace, as the captain or naYi'
gator of a vessel having the apparatus
may employ it constantly in naylgat.
ing along coast and in going in and
ont of port, both at night and by day,
by finding the exact distance from the
ship of lighthouses and landmarks
On its first appearance the range
finder was seen to be valuable adai'
tion to marine apparatus. 1t has been
subjected to rigid tests on United
States warships for five years and the
results of the tests have been so salts
factory that last year orders were
given by the United States naval nu'
thoritles that ships of war should b.
equipped with the apparatus. The aa'
paratus is now in use on the Chicago,
Bal, more, San Francisco, New York,
Minneapolis, Columbia and Cincinnati,
The Maine Texas, Indiana Massachu'
sets and all the new vessels OF ths
navy are also to have the range-hndes
mounted for use.
Description of the Apparatus.
The apparatus may be described rs
consisting of three parts-two range
trders and an Indicator electrically
connected with them. The range Apds
er proper consists simply of an arc ef
conducting material which In reality
is merely a length Of wire supported
on the circumference of a circular
platform resting on tripod. Centrally
piYoted on the platform is an ordinary
telescope, as shcwu in the illustra Pa.
The telescope is provided with an es.4
or wiper" which sweeps oyoE THE
wire or arc, always making contact
with it. The extremities OF the are
Of one range finder. placed near the
bow of the ship. are connected By
wires which are properly insulated
and disposed between decks, 80 that
they will be protected from injury,
with the other range finder near the
stern Connected to these wires II the
indicating instrument, on the face Of
which there is 4 dial marked to indl-
cate yards of range on piyOted noodle
or pointer. With the pivots Of the tel
escapes is connected a galyanic bat
terry of any convenient form.
One Of the range finders is placed on
a platform built on the military mast
in the forward part of the ship, and
the other range finder is similarly
placed on a military mast near the
stern. The Indicator is usually In the
coming tower. or In some other pre-
tected place, though the range finders
can hardly be said to be protected
The method Of operation is Rs fol-
lows: A man at the forward range
finder keeps the telescope bearing On
the target and signals the man ri tha
indicator that he is doing so. The
man at the range finder la the STERN
does the same. The man at the lual
Gator then observes the range indiea-
ted by the pointer on the dial Of his
instrument and Immediately corners
the information to the gunners. The
principle involved is simple one II
triangulation, combined with TINT of
electrical resistance Although the
principle is simple, however, tic hp-
paratus is complex and is delicatciy
constructed. When the lines of sieht