Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1898-04-16
SHOT AND IA 4 Z n
THE RESULTS or A DREAM AND Ah
ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY.

Plumber Watts SLIP on Church Rcef
That Led TO Fortune How Regiment
of Basquo Soldiers at Bayonnc Turned
Defeat Into Victory.
All drnaf do rot go by contraries. If
they did, Plunhcr Watts Of Bristol, Eng
land, in all probability would have re-
manned q humble plumber to tho end Of
his days But Watts dreamed dream and
it brought him fame and fortune. One
afternoon, SO the story runs, Watts was
engaged in repairing the roof Of Bristol
church. In soino manner he lost his foot
hold and wns slowly slipping down tho
smooth states 81 en- he got new purchase
and thus saved his bones, If not his lie.
This mishap worried Watts, and he spent
the remainder of the day specializing on
what might have happened had he gone
over the edge of the roof and dropped to
the hard turf below. Still yexed with
these unpleasant fancies, ho fell asleep and
then in dreams he several times repeated
his experience of the afternoon, but with
several additional features. One of these
was that while he was sliding down the
roof his ladle of melted lead slipped out Of
his hand and disappeared over the edge.
When, still dreaming, he went in search
Of his lead, expecting to find it in one
piece, he was surprised to nctice the
ground was covered with hundreds of tiny
globules, the metal evidently having been
so divided In falling. When Watts wax
ened, this incident of his dream would not
leave him. He did not for moment sup
pose lead would act in such an unusual
manner, but the dream seemed so plausible
that be was persuaded to enact it in real
ity So with his ladle he went to the roof
of the same church and let the melted lead
slide from the ridge Then he fastened
to the ground, and his establishment knew
no bounds when he found everything as it
had appeared in his dream. The ground
was covered with tiny globules of bright
metal. Watts was sharp enough to realize
what he had discovered and was not slow
to profit by 1t. He had found a simple
way to make fine shot, and he realized a
fortune of SIC, 900 out of his dream.
Thus it happened that the first shot tow
or was a church Drop shot is made in the
same way today that Watts employed aft
or his first experiment The melted lead is
taken to the top Of high tower built for
tho purpose. 1t is then poured through
sieve and in falling through the air it be-
comes broken into small globules. At the
bottom OF the tower is pool of cold water
into which the shot falls From there it is
taken and placed in revolving drums,
where by ono shot rubbing against others,
it becomes round and smooth. Several de-
vices have been used to do away with the
tower. One Of these is a large upright tube
through which, from the bottom is forced
draught of cold air. This allows of
much shorter fall than where the old style
tower is used. Another method is to pour
the lead through sieve and allow it to
fall through glycerin. The density of this
liquid gives the same resistance and does
the Same in rounding and separating the
shot as does a much greater column of air.
Speaking of shot suggests war, and this
in turn recalls that the bayonet was dis
covered accidentally. A regiment of Basque
soldiers was fighting near Bayonne,
France, about the middle of the seventeenth
century. The soldiers were sore pressed by
the enemy, and to add to the perils of their
position their ammunition ran out and
they made but sorry defense with the
clumsy firearms Of the period They were
about to cast aside their guns and depend
on their short stout knives, when one of
them noticed that the handle of the knife
uAlQ thO DOIG VI bll0 uJ NCI6 uDOuO VI d
size. He found he could drive the knife,
handle first, into the muzzle of his gun. A
yell of delight followed his lucky discovery,
and in a few minutes his example had
been followed by his comrades. Then,
with a ringing cheer, these sturdy men of
Basque loveled their knife tipped guns at
the enemy and made the first bayonet
charge recorded in history. They won a
signal victory, and it was not long be-
fore the war officials had the entire army
of France equipped with bayonets-so
called in honor of that first charge at
Bayonne. These regular bayonets were
first used by French infantry at the battle
of Spire in 1903 The military authorities
of Great Britain quickly saw the advan-
tage Of the new weapon, and it was intro
duced into the English army in 1912.
The earlier bayonets were screwed in
side the gun barrel, and consequently the
guns could not be used in firing till the
hayonet was removed. Bayonets are now
so applied that tho blade stands well to
orc side of the barrel, and they are SO at
tached that tho guns may he used for fir
Ing as well as charging. The first blades
were simply stout, straight knives, but
these have been greatly improved, so that
today we have the common or triangular
blade, tho saber blade-which may also be
used as a short sword-the trowel blade
useful in throwing up earth works as we'll
as in defense or charge-and a variety of
other shapes. The bayonet is very i'm
portant weapon in modern warfare Many
a victory that has been epoch making has
been won with the bayonet when soldiers
got too close to one another to use powder
and ball effectively. The soldier not only
makes his 1lercest charge with it, but he
uses it skillfully as means of defense and
relies upon it chiefly when facing charge
of cavalry. The bayonet drill is almost as
interesting sight as sword practice, and
many soldiers become very proficient with
this rather unwieIdy appearing weapon
when it is in position for active service.
In warfare bayonet charge Is generally
more destructive of life than volley of
bullets. Bullets often miss their mark @
bayonet seldom does.-Chicago Post