The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-06-26
Inventions for Defense.

Inventions for Defense.
The cellular construction of the hull Is
Of chief Importance. The subdividIug OF
the interior OF naval craft into many water-
tight compartments makes them vast
honey-combs OF Steel and in vessels of the
battleshlp type the result is like 90 OF
these cells. The purpose OF this Is to make
each compartment absolutely independent
of its neighbors, and In case OF accident
10 limit OF localize the consequences OF
injury. An extensive system of drains,
under the direct control Of pumps of great
capacity. either feeding into or eXhaustins
from these compartments provides reason
ably against the consequences OF either
fire or water.
To make the efficiency of each water
tight compartment complete, water-tlght
doors are fitted, which while permitting
inter communication seal the steel walls
against the admission Of either fire or
water from an adjoining apartment.
The water-tEht door has been a source
OF vexing experiment for years, and only
within the past year really has type
been evolved promising efficiency OF work
ing and safety TO the men in the compart-
ments This door Is known as the
"Cowles long-arm" system OF watcr-tigh,
reliable under all the trying circumstances
involved, especially where the doorway
has become clogsed by the presence OF
coal, something which would hamper any
other door now In use. Aside from that,
the door takes up no lateral space sliding
against instend Of swinging from the bulk
head, thus leaving more precious room for
other purposes OF Importance. Nearly
every large cruiser ana battleship In our
navy Ia nov fitted with these doors, aud
when the collision signal" is given or the
first preparation for battle Is made each
compartment can be closed az once, many
of them being under the direct control Of
one man from central station. The fac.
that all such doors were not closed when
the British ship Victoria was run down was
the principal reason for her sinking
CoRN-PlTH CELLULosE.
4 few years ago who would have thought
our waving field OF corn harbored an ole-
ment for the safety of our battloshlps, and
3 yet such was and Is SO. Today no Ameri-
can fighting craft is deemed complete
I, without It's belt or colferdam Of corn-pith
. cellulcse Tho pith of the stalk Is cut out
\ and ground into a coarse. mealy mass and
4 then under pressure nodded into blocks or
/ brlquettes. In this form 1t is packed into
x the cells made for II against the sides OF
the ship and about the region OF The water
X line The stun weighs only d fractional
I part Of similar bulk Of water
n Now when an cnerys shot goes tearing
through the outside plating and plerces the
/. celluluose, II wafer be admlted by the
n rolling OF the vessel the celmluoea =, onco
n swells automatically and plugs the holn in
A itself as well as in the plating. thus prs-
venting a dangerous admission of water in
/ the AckIish region OF the water line 4
curious virtue OF this stuff is that II does
Il nor exert damaging pressure as corn
n "onld DO under Ike circumstances. but
Ii ssestS content simply with plugging the
~ noie. VI course this material wnuia 10
scattered by explosive shell fire but ,,en
I 'heh' heing treproofed, il whl not burn.
X FIREPRooFEp WOOD.
\ by chemical process all wood except
| that for the decks used on shipboard /.
Il fireproofed and one OF the dangerous con
II sequences of shell fire Is thus reduced t,
Y minimum. Before the adoption OF thl,
II fire-proofing blocks OF wood so treate,
II were placed in one OF the boiler furnace.
II IN lhe navy department and after severa
~ hours OF exposure to heat aud flame tho,
'ss were taken out simply charred. but wifi,
no evidences OF either flame or actual com.
bustion.
III In the late Carbohydrates war the shin,
suffered severely from fircs caused hy m,
n expression OF the enemy's ahell, and at time
IA nearly all OF the gun crews would be calie,
say away to work against that foe In their YER,
sN midst. their guns In the meantime sllencad
~ None OF Spains ships have fireDroofe,
wood and every splinter ON board win be
& menace TO their safety and their efflcenc,
Il In battle.
HARvEYIZED ARMoR.
N Ono of the most important inventions O
n the age is that by which armor can b
hardened and made much more powerful
"A against the attack Of either shot or sh II
81 The process was invented by Mr.. Har
kvey. and consists In supercarbonatlng III
lace OF the armor plate TO a depth OF o.
inch or more. as choice may detormlns. A
X; every one knows. steel differs from iro
Noniy In its added element of carbon. am
the higher the percentage OF carbon III
AN certain limits-the greater the tenn,
and consequent hardness to which that ma
rs terial becomes susceptible, Nickel. In Pre-
#scribed portions, adds materially to II
Noughnoss OF steel. This. too. is a moder
Excitement in armor.
~ Now comes the question: How do thes
afathings help u.s." Compound armor--alter
Es@nate plates OF steel and wrought iron --wer
kH used by the English 10 u recent date. Tn
loblect wan that the elasticity of the iro
si6hould back up the greater shattering fore
f36or hardness OF the less plant steel IN
sresult being a progressive alienation Q
radical check with clInging yielding fore.
In theory the idea was good but eve
although the plates were snugy bolted TO
h gether. they lacked unity OF action am
sthat mutual support embodied in magma
Stion.
,s% The Harveyized process solved the dim
Guilty. One great mass OF tough ncke
3ttecl was made use Of. and the defensiv
lace was hardened to the desired depth
H'making homogeneous plate. Now whel
IN shot strikes this arnor. before the cute
}or hardened part has been taxed to tn
{52Feaking point. the strain TO great ex
xent has been absorbed and distribute,
1teuSh ? wide area OF the tough backing
~ - seeos q ne blow 4 70 nsutraiise'