The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-06-11

0MA by Uncle Sam
for the protec-
ton of his own
towns and the destruction of the ships
of the enemy. The new engine of wal
is a submarine shell intended to be
fired in an entirely new way. The in
ventor of this shell, DR.. r. B. John
stone, says that by means of it the
smallest tug bOat may be cheaply con-
verified into a vessel Of destruction be-
fore which no foes fleet could stand.
The doctor is a scientific man and has
brought out this invention as a result
OF experiments in explosives. His in
tention is to make the government a
present of his drawings and invention,
leaving it entirely with congress
whether or not his services be recog-
nlzed by any compensation. He will
not sell to any foreign government,
but will offer it for nothing to Cuba
in her war with Spain. The tombstone
shell is different from all others mas
much as it explodes not simply by
conclusion, but is fitted with a car
fridge containing a chemical which
goes off on touching water. This
point makes it of infinite and unique
value. All other torpedoes are con-
structed so that by means of a cap at
the end, the explosion takes place
when the point strikes a hard sub
stance, but should the shell fall short
OF its mark, even by half a foot, it will
sink useless into the water and hum
dreds of dollars be wasted. With the
tombstone torpedo this difficulty is
obviated and the shell explodes not
only on striking a ship, but will be
fired just as eficaciously by simply
falling into the water. Should it
glance off from the armor Of a ship,
or be dropped within a few feet of the
boat, it will explode the moment the
water touches the chemical of the Pc
culiar cartridge and the hundreds of
pounds of dynamite it carries will blow
to atoms any ship af1oat in the world
to-day. All modern men-of-war, while
heavily armOred above the water line.
have only a few sheets of the plate be-
INV 1SAS LIZ RulllGIdDIe DO1nI
is that below the edge of the water.
A shell exploding there has not only
but a few inches Of armor to penetrate.
but, being unable to displace the huge
bulk OF the water, it eXpends it's
strength in uplifting the ship, at which
point it finds the least resistance. But
the trouble in firing below the line is
the detection of the shell. With the
Whitehead %torpedoes now in use a
shell is run out by means of machin-
cry, gets under the ship and is ex-
ploded by an electric wire from the
home boat or a percussion cap on it's
head. But nets now protect vessels
from this form of attack. Besides this
torpedo is of great cost. When one is
lost it means a large sum of money
wasted, lying in the bottom of the sea,
But it is impossible for the tombstone
torpedo to become useless, for if it
falls anywhere within several hundred
yards of a boat the effects of the .explo-
sion will reach the vessel. In an ac-
curate aim be taken and the shell hit
just a few inches from the ship the
cartridge can be so timed that it will
explode at any depth desired, whether
it be one inch or fifteen feet below the
water line. While the cost of the pres
ent style Of torpedo is very great the
tombstone can be made at a small ex-
pense and they can be fashioned of
glass, iron or cast stell, and cast into
any shape desired. They are intended
to be fired from a pneumatic gun, and
a tiny tug, fitted up with a cargo of
these shells could exterminate the
fleets of the world. The peculiar chem
ical which possesses the property of
exploding on touching water is placed
it is ready to be fired, but at other
times is kept in another part of the
vessel, SO there is no danger to the
seaman who is handling the shell. The
shell is also intended to be used to
drop from a balloon elevated above the
ships of the enemy. There is no need
of a gun, for the simple fact of letting
fall into the water at the side of the
foes vessel will set it off with the
same violent explosion caused in other
torpedoes by striking the armor of the
ship with great force. In case of the
landing of marine from a foreign ves-
sci a few forts along the mouth of the
harbor would amply protect a country
froro invasion and cr,o11 shall, :, 49,.