The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-01

~ uhs war of physics and chemis-
V" We are on the edge OF "a great
~. ',,o,ion in the art Of fighting and
j s,,. long the methods of warfare
M ,pproycd to-day will be regarded
& w. xbolly out of date. Twenty years
now. reckoning at the very FAR
8,., there will be no floating for
,,. Of the kind which we call battle
h;o. they will be considered as rep
.a,,ipg an obsolete type of naval
,.h;,ecture comparatively small, yet
a,;,ely more formidable and de-
.uuctlve
nv tl,a, time also, electricity will
,yc made its appearance as an active
s ,.nt Of destruction aud military en-
A inc. Of all sorts will have assumed
I'm. a. yet undreamed Of"
8 The words above quoted were used
Government official who is one Of
4 ,se foremost scientific men in this
N,yy in conversation with me. In
|no.iur the condition that his name
3 .6ould not be mentioned, he proceeded
s,o develop the idea by series of sug-
.l,s.,iops so striking as to excite the
Utmost interest. He said:
8 To illustrate the tendency of the
aserelopment of warfare at present l
HI, refer to the wiping out of the bat
|leship Maine: According to my 90.
Ael. It took just about three men to
accomplish the destruction Of that gi-
g1cautic fighting machine. They had
5srse quantity Of nitro-glycerine or
.ome such high explosive, packed in
3b.gs imrervious to water. In each
Hl.g was placed just enough cork to
Hive the contents the specific gravity
3si water, approximately. Dragging
IaAhe bags, one or more of the men swan
= Cont to within short distance Of the
!a,hp, then diyed and swan under the
;sIzater to escape observation and came
up under the safe shelter Of the side
cf the vessel. To attach the bags to
the bottom of the ship was easy, and
Ia chemical time fuse that would burn
binder water could be ignited readily
Zfnough, permitting Tie assassins 70
s sETim away at their lie isure.
q ''ln some such way as this, think,
@;5.he Maine was destroyed. I only cite
1ihc case to illustrate the ease with
(which a mighty warship of this kind
sau be destroyed by TWO or three de-
atermincd men at a minimum Of cost.
Y a fcw dollars worth Of high explosive
8 will wipe out - 900, 900 worth Of ma
3ehiuory and several hundred lives.
3lf half Il dozen hostile vessels of war
ayentured into the harbor of New York
'athey would be annihilated very quick
ly. not by our own war ships, but by
8small groups Of courageous men with
5so called internal machines of one
kind or another. When this sort Of
thing can happen, and is always likely
Ito occur, it means that the fighting
S'hir Of the type described is out Of
Adate. The modern battleship is con-
5t!ructed, so to speak, on a gunpowder
basi;; in the building of them no
more account is taken of high explo-
3'ises than if there were no such
things. But it is perfectly certain
that the wars Of the immediate future
8areto be prosecuted with high explo-
Stves.
y u must remember that as yet no
sasdequatc scst"6f the efficiency of bat
atle ships hes been made in practice;
ishey arc built on theory. What does
1tneir strength amount to-thc thick
'ess of their armor aud the weight of
a 'ne projectiles they can throw-if they
lsa0 be $" readily destroyed? They
aFepresent a putting Of matter in the
wrong place. In a museum Of natural
S}assory So will see the skeletons Of
many c'tinct animals which have
3lsed at IA ious epochs of the earth 8
3alstofy. You can tell at glance the
Ter" ancient skeletons from those
a'n'ch belonged to creatures of more
A'ecent times, because the latter are SO
much lighter and more graceful, rep.
3lesenting improved types. In one Of
5'Aes warships yon see massing Of
1naterlal. regardless Of expense and
3n''t"nt regard to practical conditions.
therefore this species Of vessel is
j, A'0o'nrd t" carly extinction, like the
ssuusc aud nnwieldy mammals of tho
Pliocene.
In, great war ship and the grea,
~ 3sun are shc naval ideals of to-day
0o'i' Of them are based or what? Or
!a0pO#tlcr. Modern forts. both or
81 Nau and on sea, are built on gun
s. 3Esp0Saer hss;s, and without any consid