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

'" Wc are on the edge OF great
~ -: ,,,;ou in the art Of fighting and
s,,. l,ns the methods Of warfare
:, .pproycd to-day will be regarded
50 49, .bolly out of date. Twenty years
fam now. reckoning at the very far
!, there will be no floating for
of the kind which we call battle
M Lin. they will be considered as rep
ar,jng an obsolete type of naval
.s;,,cture comparatively small, yet
.n;,cly more formidable and de-
4 s.ructiye
# .gv ,ha, time also, electricity will
ave made it's appearance as an active
s. ,so, of destruction aud militafy en-
inc, of all sorts will have assumed
S1i.,ms as get undreamed Of
The words above quoted were used
Government official who is one of
h. foremost scientific men in this
y,yy in conversation with me. In
,o.nr the condition that his name
.aould not be mentioned, he proceeded
& to develop the idea by series Of sug-
# ,sstlons so striking as to excite the
almost interest. He said:
81 ITO illustrate the tendency of the
.rcIopment Of warfare at present [
q iii refer to the wipipg out of the bat
sleship Maine: According to my 90.
#8ei. IS Il took Just about three men to
accomplish the destruction of that gi-
r,u,ic fighting machine. They had
siarse quantity Of nitro -glycerine or
.ome such high explosive, packed in
b.gs impervious to water. In each
sItsg was placed just enough cork to
9riye the contents the specific gravity
81 s: water, approximately. Dragging
hhe bags, one or more of the men swan
81 hut to within a short distance Of the
S,hp then dived and swan under the
water to escape observation and came
up under the safe shelter of the side
|scf the vessel. To attach the bags to
! she bottom of the ship was easy, and
d chemical time fuse that would burn
under water could be 'ignited readily
enough, permitting the assassins to
Al "a. l.
ln some such way as this, think,
Sbhe Maine was Destroyed. 1 only cite
;;aiihe case to illustrate the case with
.s3 which mighty wsrship Of this kind
4 ssn be destroyed by 'wo or three de-
ermincd men at q minimum 6f cost.
s. 4 fcw dollars worth Of high explosive
& will wipe out ~ 900, 600 worth of ma
5 jshiuory and several hundred lives.
$3lf half dozen hostile vessels Of war
33ventured into inc harbor Of New York
they would be annihilated very quick
5y. not by our own war ships, but by
sual! groups Of courageous men with
sdso called Internal machines Of one
kind or another. When this sort Of
thing can happen. and is always likely
10 occur, it means that the fighting
Y 3shir of the type described is out of
date. The modern battleship is con-
& ai!ructed, so to speak, on a gunpowder
basis in the building of them no
4 more account is taken of high explo-
a'i,es than if there we're no such
things But it is perfectly certain
n that the wars of the immediate future
areto be prosecuted with high explo-
4ii,es.
4 y u must remember that as yet no
5'dsauate sestr6f the efficiency Of bat
3tle ships has been made in practice;
]'ney arc built on theory. What does
]'heir strength amount ao-the thick
3aess OF their armor and the weight of
3'he Mojectiles they can throw-if they
Asan be $" readily destroyed? They
represent putting of matter in the
wrong place. In q museum Of natural
history ye' will see the skeletons Of
many extinct animals which have
Zahsed at va ious epochs Of the earth
s5a'story. You can tell at glance the
sTsF" ancient skeletons from those
which belonged to creatures Of more
recent times, because the latter aro SO
|3noch lighter and more graceful, rep
S3'esentlng improved types. In one of
5'0es warships you see a massing of
!. .5naterial. regardless of expense and
3n''t"nt regard to practical conditions.
"csr'"rc this species Of vessel is
auo"ncd t" early extinction, like the
3lagc ' aud nnwieldy mammals of the
Pliocenc.
IN great war ship aud the great
}san are the naval ideals of to-day.
00'h Of them are based on what! On
4,suopo~dcr. Modern forts, both on
anu and on sea, are built on a gun
l''"uer oasis, and without any consid-
nf L. 4 .