The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-05


come these objections officers of the
French army have recently been expert
menting 10 ascertain the hight at which
balloons may be safely lOated as well as
which will not attract attention when seen
against the sky Large captive balloons
sent up by the French army to a hight Of
1000 meters could be hit by only 4 per
cent. of shots fired IS m. m. guns. At a
hight Of $500 meters they were hit only
twice out OF a hundred times by guns Of
l20 m. m. ealibre. Shrapnel proved to be
the most destructive prOjectile which may
be used against balloons. In order to es-
tablish a color rendering them least con.
spicuous tests were made with gas enve-
lOpes of various tints. Those painted light
blue were found 10 be the most difficult 10
see and the safest from assault
Kite photography. which has been expert
mented with by amateurs in this country,
has been adapted 10 military use by two
French inventors. One, NJ. Batut, has con-
structed diamond-shaped kite bearing
a light snapshot camera with a fine fuse.
This may be hoWn over a hostile camp or
fertilization. II may also be arranged 10
take several views disclosing the nearness
of an enemy on the march. A more novel
arrangement Of similar kind is the in
Vention OF NJ. Denesse. who attaches a
camera TO rocket. The rocket Is aimed
at point in the sky supposed TO be above
an area occupied by the enemy. AS soon
as the contrivance explodes the camera,
Which always points straight down au-
tomaticaily makes an exposure, and at
the same time detaches itself from the
rocket, floating down to the earth under
a light parachute. By means of a long
string, previously attached, the operator
rapidly winds the floating camera back
into his hands with large reel. By using
such automatic spies, armies 40 not sacr-
nee the lives Of men nor are they 50 apt
70 reveal Uneir Whereabouts as when en-
ploying balloons.
Each cavalry squadron in the Russian
army was lately equipped with a portable
neld telegraph apparatus for rapid trans
mission OF messages and signals along an
extensive line Of battle or field defense.
All stan and superior officers of artil-
Iery IN Russian fortresses have also been
given new form Of speaking trumpet
which magnifies the voice TO such an ex-
| tent that 1t can be heard above the roar
| Of the loudest cannon The French ana
/ also reported 10 be making many im-
| provements in systems of communication.
IN their military telegraph sections they
tately ADOPTED telegraph poles of Indian
/ bamboo, which may be easily carried about
| Wnen positions are changed
/ experiments lately made at Kiel have
/ proven that 1t is an easy matter for tele.
! phonic lines to be constructed between
/ battleships and headquarters on shore.
| A telephone wire was run from the YES.
/ sci TO a buoy in the harbor The buoy was
connected 10 the city system of telephones
/ by permanent wires. The experiment.
\ proved so successful that the system was
ADOPTED and in the future all ships in Kiel
| harbor will in this manner be able 10 COM
/ mun.cate with one another as well az
/ with the shore.
Army bicycles have been experimental
with Tor several years by several gov.
1 srhments. Ihey have met with disfaVor
| 1or the reason that on arriving at bad
! road, or when necessity demands that
snort cuts must be made over fields and
! through woods, the machines in actual
/ warfare would necessarily be abandoned,
( because too bulky to carry. During the
| last grand manoeuvers of the French
army a platoon OF twenty men appeared
/ tad TG-~r-4 60
/ BICYCLES. At given command each rider
! Qlsmounted, and in less than a minute
nad folded his machine in a small bundle
! and fastened il on his back These folding
! bicycles showed much economy in their
! frames, which, although strong as need
/ be, when locked together could be pulled
apart IN a second. Being thus disjointed
4 me TWO wheels were placed together and
the saddles, pedals and handle-bars ar
| ranged so that they did not protrude far
beyond the outer rims of the wheels.
This demonstration of the folding bicy-
/ Gle met with such favor among the French
/ generals that the machines were lately
admitted for official trial. The weight Of
! the machines was so light that at any
time they would fail to carry their sol
| dlers II would be as easy for the soldiers
| TO carry their steeds as their usual bur
dens OF the march. The advantages of the
| mintary bicycle will be many. They will
ehaoie infantrymen TO make forced
/ marches or retreats at a speed greater
than that Travelled by the cavalry.
| Another interesting war invention in the
! line OF wheeled craft is the Austrian mill
| tary kitchen wagon. One of~these with
| four wheels VIII feed 1000 men at a meal.
while smaller one with only two wheels
[ Der.
The official reports Of our attaches show
that IN the past year many of the smaller
I nations OF the world have rearmed their
l infantry with rifles of smaller caliber
than that OF any of the greater Euro
pean powers. Should these smaller cali
/ bers prove superior to the large ones,
they state, the greater nations will prob
ably rearm.
The latest departure In machine guns 3
the invention of an Austrian. This is an
automatic quick-frer worked by a ny
wheel, which is kept in revolution by the
recoil. Each recoil gives the wheel such
force that 1t runs the gun forward again
and nres II, causing another recon ans
so on until the belt of ammunition is eX-
hausted. Another destructive war engine
newly invented is a Brazilian surface
torpedo boat 1t is equipped with sub
marine gun running the line of the keel
and pointed directly ahead: From TINS
are hred under water projectiles when
upon meeting a ships hull will dispatch
II into oblivion before any of the unsus-
pecting crew have awakened to their
danger.
DR.. George Taylor Winston has BEEF,
, ali 49, VT~.arr 81