The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-04
-e-73s-s-----
ELECTRICITY IN BATTLE.
Its Power 10 Defect Bullets and Cam
non Balls.
From the New York Sun.


From the New York Sun.
Some experiments recently made in Swift
zerland open up an entirely novel field of
military operations, and may lead to de-
velopments in the way of defensive tao
! tics of an utterly revolutionary character.
| The experiments show the possibility that
| electricity may be utilized to defect bull
lets from their intended course, thus rem
derng the aim of the most expert marks
man altogether Intellectual.
The discovery of this important power
of electricity over a flying missile was
made quite by accident. The committee
Of the Federal Shooting Association of
Switzerland, while target shooting at
Winterthur, noticed that targets at Che
left side of the range received a majority
of the bullets to the left of the bullseye.
while the reverse was the case on the
other side Of the range. Some quick-wlt-
ted member of the committee suggested
that this apparent DETECTION of the mis-
siles might be due to the electric tele-
phone wires which CHANGED to be strung
on each side Of the range. The matter
was brought to the attention of the fed
erai experimental committee, who found
that all proIectiles that had been detected
The theory of electrical action being
thus supported, experiments were under
taken TO put the question to a final test.
AT the range near Thun, where no cleo
trio wires were in the way -four expert
mental wires, each eighteen millimetres
IN diameter, were strung parallel to the
line OF lire, and 125 feet away from it.
Paper screens were then fixed at intervals
OF thlrty feet along the range, to indicate
the exact course of the bullets An cleo
trio current Of 5000 volts being sent
through the wires, its influence was I'M
Inlstakably shown by the course of the
bullets fired from the military rifles AT
rs yards the DETECTION of the bullets from
the straight course was no less than sew
ehty-hVe feet, the trajectory, as marked
by the paper screens showing a very re-
markabie curve toward the wires"
When trial was made with a Japanese
ri1e, the invention of Col. Yamagata
which throws a very slender bullet the
results were even more startling as the
minute bullet went straight for the
wires, broke two insulatOrs, and followed
along the course of the electric wires
hnally wearing out its energy with the
friction"
The effect thus being more pronounced
with small missiles, it was presumed that
cannon ball would be unaffected But
trial proved this assumption a mistake
for on a 3,000-yard range, the wires being
strung only for a distance of 200 wards in
'front.' of the target and at the same lat
eral distance as before, the cannon ball
was detected no less than IA degrees
With shrapnel tan explosive shell filled
with musket balls) the effects were even
more curious, as the projectile carving
the fuse made of non-magnetic metal was
completely detached while the BODY was
attracted by the current, "the bullets.
after the shell burst, showing such ex-
traOrQlnaTW haf oil
OF fire was totally done away with"
me general result of the entire series of
experiments was to show that as might
be expected, the DETECTING power of the
current was proportiopately less when
large missiles were used and varied also
with the velocity of the missiles The
conclusion was reached that it would be
feasible to protect an entire section of
troops from hostile rifle fire at a distance
of 300 yards by means of an electric cur
rent generated by a dynamo or accumu-
lator at one side; and that at 800 to l. 400
yards even artillery would be thus rem,
dered harmless.
II seems doubtful, however, whether
such an application of the current as that
here suggested could ever be of use in
actual warfare, unless under very unus-
ual circumstances, since lines strung at
one side of a section would be too far re-
moved from the bullets on the other side
/ to sufficiently influence their flight What
apparently might be done, however would
be to have the wires strung along the
earth between the opposing forces In or
der to ground the bullets. The wires be-
ing strung near the line to be protected
would affect the partially spent balls of
the enemy more than those of the pro-
tected soldiers, who could In addition
make allowance for the current in aiming
Should the enemy see that their shots are
falling low, and make allowance for the
detection, the current of electricity could
of course, be varied or altogether shut off
for the moment, thus releasing the proiec-
tiles and allowing them to fly harmlessly
overhead, the change in current being
from time to time announced to the pro-
tected line by signals, that their own fire
might be governed accordingly. by re-
peated variations of the current il Is evil
dent that the aim of the most expert
marksmen would be made matter of
guesswork. 1t would indeed be a strange
sight should II come TO pass. that an
army might stand out In an open field and
be protected from the enemys fire by an
Invisible breastwork of electro magnetic
force, yet this seems to be within the
possibilities. Mark Twain imagined his
Connecticut yankee In king Arthur's
Court" protecting himself from his arm
ored foes by surrounding his stronghold
with an electric fence; but now truth
promises TO outrun the fancy of the ro-
mancer
Perhaps the most interesting suggestion
Of the Swiss experiments, however, Is the
new element they introduce into the old
controversy of projectiles versus armor
plate. Just at the moment the projectiles
were In the lead, for the Johnson 100
pound BAH, protected by a cap of soft
steel had penetrated ten inches OF nickel
Steel Notwithstanding its Harveyized
surface OF diamond like hardness. But
now the Swiss experiments make It clear
that the difficulty in future may be not so
much to penetrate armor as to hit az all
WEAKNESS OF MEN