The Portland daily press., 1898-04-02

spain and the UnlteQ SthUeS lnVenblOn III
this line would he n1arvelously stimulated
Has it ever occurred to you to think OF
the fact that during our own civil war
greater number of fighting machines
were invented than in all the history of
the world up to that time? The Franco
Prussian conflict gave great stimulus to
military invention. We, of course, are a
nation of inventors. A war with Spain
would bring into existence many con-
trivances for destruction far surprising
what has hitherto been devised. The
Spaniards, themselves not at all an in
ventive people, would think that they had
come up against a nation of devils.
MUCH EXPECTED OF ELECTRICITY
sit is logically proper to assume any
absurdity for the sake Of argument Let
us assume, then, that we were driven
from the seas actually by the Spanlards,
and that our defeat,was absolute andEover
whelming. The windup of the whole
affair would nevertheless be the total
wiping out of Spain, for we would build
vessels adjusted to requirements. There
is no telling what we might do with cleo
tricity, which doU btless is destined to
play part in future warfare as an ao-
tive agent of destruction. Telegraphy
without wires is as yet in it's infancy, but
something very substantial in this line
has been accomplished already. If we
can convey, as we do, to distance ana
without wire enough energy to commun1-
cate Intelligence, we shall be able before
long to convey enough energy to work In
jury. AS our control of electrical energy
becomes more complete, we can extend It's
reach further and further. 1t does not
seem wholly improbable that the time
will come when we shall be able to ex-
plode the magazine OF ship without 60
ing upon it. aao hv
the United States in the direction OF utlI-
izing high explosives for purposes OF
naval warfare, if torpedoes be excepted,
is represented by the so-called dynamite
cruiser Vesuvius, This vessel
has on her forward deck three nfteen-
inch guns which throw proiec tiles loaded
with dynamite distance OF Il mile. Inc
ship is only an experiment, and her prac .
tical utility is reg arded by naval authorl.
ties as worry doubtful. The problem OF
throwing high explosives with safety TO
those who use them has not yet been
solved satisfactorily. No explosive is good
for fig lting purposes that can be toucheo
off b. shock or otherwise than by actual
contact with fire. The stuff called Eek
plosiye geIatine, for example, is the most
powerful of all known explosives, being
fifteen times as strong as gunpowder. 1t
is made BY dissolying gun cotton in nltro
aIycerin, the prepar alton having the con-
sistency of honey. But it Is very unsafe
for use in battle, because bullet strlk-
ing it will set it off by conclusion.
POSSIBILITY OF POISONOUS
GASES.
SIT is extremely likely that in the next
great war shells that liberate poisonous
gases on explosion will be employed. 1t
has been suggested that bombs loaded
with hydrocyanic acid gas under pressure
could be thus utilized, releasing such
fumes on bursting as would destroy all
life in the neighborhood. The Frencn
smelinite' has for its base coal tar pro-
duct termed picric acid; its consistency
is about that of molasses, and it is poured
into shells and permitted to harden, Ihis
stuff is entirely safe to handle. though
three times as powerful as gunPowoer.
The fumes set free by the bursting OF a
bomb loaded with it are most deadly. A
single one fired eXperimentally at YES
sci on the deck of which had been placed
mum Der of sheep and goats, killed by
suffocation all of the animals that We're
not destroyed by the flying fragments. IL
a she'll loaded with hydrocyan1c acid gas
and the deadliest of all poisons-should
be fired into a ship and explode inside OF
the vessel. pretty nearly everybody on
board would surely perish.
sin the recently published novel, War
of the Worlds, which describes an attack
by Martians upon the earth, the assall-
ants from the sister planet are represented
as destroying immense mum bers OF people
by letting loose a cloud of black vapor
that sinks to the ground and smothers to
death every living thing. The author
may have had in his mind bisulphide of
carbon, an extremely explosive substance,
which readily resolves itself into most
deadly gas when exposed to the atmos-
phere. This gas is heavier than air, and
so sinks. The newly invented smoke
grenades' are filled with chemical sub
stances which, on explosion, produce
clouds of dense, black smoke; they are
| intended to be carried in advance by Skin
mishers and thrown so as to conceal the
troops following. A novel German con-
trivance is bomb which, on exploding,
scatters highly inf1ammable substances
far and wide. A single one bursting
over a town would set whole district on
| fire at once. This kind of Internal ma
chine is destined also for burning ships
at sea.
BALLOONS MAY TAKE PART.
Prospecting the prospects of using
balloons and flying machines in war a
great deal has been said, but it is all
highly speculative. Balloons may lie
employed to drop explosives, but they are
not very manageable, being to great
extent at the mercy of air currents.
Nevertheless, it is said that both Ger
many and France now have balloons that
can be steered and propelled against a
pretty strong breeze. 1t goes without say
| ing that. if really practical flying ma.
chine should ever be devised, it would
wholly revolutionize warfare. No fort
could be built that would be strong
enough to withstand high explosives
dropped from above, and ships would be
eoua lily exposed to Destruction. Under
such conditions warfare would neces.
sarily be transferred from the land and
sea to the air, and the quarrels of nations
would be decided by battles between fleets
of airships.
Chemistry and physics, as | have said
will BIZ the basis of the warfare OF the
future. Under the former OF these two
heads comes photography. which will be
largely employed. The latest invention