The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-20

immoyable hostile ship over a mine
or in a certain position peculiarly ex-
posed to fire from shore. that result
could be readily accomplished. a mag
net exerts q pressure Of $50 pounds for
every square inch Of surface of its
poles. An enormous magnet could be
made very quickly by winding two big
guns with wire and joining their larger
ends. in a horseshoe shape. by boiling
on plates. a sufficient number of these
magnets TO grip a steel ship and hold
her remorselessly motionless at most
dangerous point could either be tfoated
out to her, like torpedoes. or could be
anchored at the place desired. water
PROCEED, of course, and connected by
wires with a shore battery. The pres
sure of button in the battery would
be all that would be neceSsary TO
arouse the force of the magnets.
whether they We're floated out or We're
could all the ships crew and officers
and machinery release her
ABSOLUTELY AUTOMATIC MINE.
"a rovel mine. which should have no
need of any human operator, and could
be depended upon to explode immedi-
ately upon contact with a floating ship
of an exploring launch, or a torpedo
boat. might he made to hold an -enor-
at the desired point. A steel netting
made of wire rope, the strands of
which should be insulated wherever
they crossed each other, would sur
round the mine, ore set of strands be-
ing connected with one pole of a shore
battery and the other SIT with the other
pole That construction is precisely
similar to that lof the burglar alarm
doormat. a ship bowling against the
net would herself close the circuit
which would instantaneously blow her
out of the water.
such a net placed around 4 warship
lying a anchor in an exposed situation
would b. much more efficient than the
torpedo nets now in use, inasmueh as
the crossed strands could be connected
with the ships electric battery and
would. on contact being completed by
torpedo nosing up against them, ring
an alarm bell on shipbOard.
PHOTOGRAPHING HER DOOM.
THE most effective way to use a
mine for coast or harbor defense that
can conceive of involves the use of a
fixed camera C which should BE- set
into the wall OF an observation sta
ton or dark room on shore, its lens
covering the entire panorama, of the
bay. but especially the surfaces under
which the MINIS would be placed. Tbs r.
might De Il score OF IneSe mines. tdcn
connected with a key in the opera
tors keyboard. and numbered. The
operator would have his own dynamo
right by him in the station and pro-
tected cable would connect him with
the mines. the ends of the wires rest
ing in the powder OF the heart of the
mine cases. The points at which the
wires entered the mine cases could be
course be insulated with bushings.
In his absolutely dark room, W. save
for the light that would be admitted
by the lens c and be rejected down on
his table by a mirror, c. properly adj
justed to the lens, the officer would sit
with mis- chart outspread before him.
Every moving object on the surface of
the water would be caught instantly by
the lens and reflected by the mirror
down onto the chart. On this chart the
exact location of each mine in the bay
would be marked by a number. We will
suppose a battleship slowly steaming
toward the spot where the mine NJ is
set. She is moving cautiously through
hostile waters. As soon as she gets
anywhere near the mine her photograph
is thrown down on the chart AS she
moves toward the hidden peril, so her
photograph moves fatefuily over the