Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-01-23
HELL BY
EDISON

. EDl0ON
with war upon Us We would % Be long
n fnding the Destroyer" s
So spoke Thomas A. Edison in his labora-
tory At Llewellyd Park yesterday.
He Was replying to the question: "Do
you believe that American inventors, in the
event of war with England, would be able
to supply some new enS:ae Of de~rtruction
that would overcome the tremendous advan.
tage which the English seem 10 posses in
their army and uavy3"
The smooth faced, blue eyed man, with
the smudge Of shc laboratory thick upon
him, who answered 20 promptly. Is the one,
above all others, perhaps, who would be
called Of BY his country in the hour Of
deed. And he Is confident that implements
Of war unknown to the fighters Of today,
possessing the most terrible destroying
power, can be supplied in a incredibly
short space Of time.
ut wonld require but the impetus of a
war to bring forth such inventive genius as
would astound the world. As it stands to
day, Z battle on land need not be fought. A
handful Of men could sweep away an army.
The destructive power is found in elcctri-
city.
ssWater can be made more effective than
bullets. For instance If an engagement
should take place or a fort be assaulted near
= running stream, all that would be needed
would be a dynamo and a hose. One man
for the dynamo, one for the hose and one
for general assistant-three men all told
They could charge that water with 5000
volts and it would sweep everything living
before it like chat. 1t would simply be a
question of how far the water could be
forced. The three men could hold a posi-.
ton against an army.
Then, again, a city could be surrounded
by cables that would deal death to all who
should attempt to cross them. They could
be 50 successfully concealed that none would
know until the work had been begun.
sAnother idea that suggests itself as we
chat is the firing of electric chains into the
whatever length was desired and attach one
end to the wirts of a dynamo. The other
end could be placed in the cannon with as
light Or heavy q load as desired and fired
into the ranks Of an approaching enemy.
You could send death to every living thing
within reach, and keep the air filled with
chains like great snakes. There are hun
dreds' of other possibilities that would sug
gest themselves when once we realized that
We were face to face with war"
81 do not believe that war will follow
this dispute. We will not fly at each others
Threats until every other means Of honorable
settlement is gone Then let England look
to herself. She has at present a great ad-
vantage Of Us by sea-" continued the wizard,
.sbut / am confident that we can supply
agents that will sweep their cruisers from
the sea. Dynamite and other high explo-
sives furnish that. 1t is simply q question Of
how to place it.
81 believe that the submarine boats now
on trial by various nations can be so inn
proved that they will be irresistible when
bent on destruction. With properly com
pressed air ! think il would be possible for
such . boat to remain under water for days
ct Z time. At present you say they are too
slow to be effective. That could be over.
come.
Il believe that q speed Of 20 knots can
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