The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-01
WARFARE 20 YEARS HENCE HENCE.
-, the Verge Of a Revolution in the Art Of
Fighting.
Philadelphia; a:!,:;:o.i7a;a T Tc.Hses.
Fighting.

be afforded by the torpedo boat A
torpedo boat costs $4,000, and you
can build whole fleet of such craft
for the cost of one battle ship.
s"The advantage of high explosives
islthat only little power is required
to concentrate them in the place in
which they are to do work. Their
adoption as a means of construction is
certain to introduce an entirely new
series of inventions for war. The
development Of the art of war from
; this time on will be battle Of invcn-
tion. If hostilities should break out
between Spain and the United States,
invention in this line would be mar
vellously stimulated. Has it ever oc-
Cured to you to think of the fact that
during our own civil war a greater
number of fighting machines were in
vented than in all the history Ct the
world up to that time? The Franco
Prussian conflict gave agrcat stimulus
to military invention.
I'VE, Of course, are a nation of in
ventors. A war with Spain would
bring into existence many coEtrivan-
ces for destruction far surprising
what has hitherto been devised. The
Spaniards, themselves not at all an
inventive people, would think that
they had come up against nation of
devils.
"It is logically proper to assume
any absurdity for the sake Of argu
lnent. Let us assume, then, that we
were driven from the seas actually by
the Spaniards, and that our defeat was
absolute and overwhelming. The
wind up of the whole affair would
nevertheless be the total -yiping out
of Spain, for we would build vessels
adjusted to requirements. There is
no telling what we might do with cleo
tricity, which doubtless is destined to
( play part in future warfare as an ac-
tive agent of destruction. Tclegra-
ply without wires is as yet in it's in
ff'ncy, but something very substantial
in this line has been accomplished al
ready. If we can convey, as VIC do,
to distance and without wire,
enough energy to communicate intelli-
gcncc, we shall be able before long to
convey enough energy to work injury
AS our control of electrical energy
becomes more complete, we can extend
it's reach farther and farther. 1t does
not seem wholly improbable that the
time will come when we shall be able
to explode the magazine Of ship
without going near it.
THE only attempt thus far made by
the United States in the direction Of
utilizing high explosives for purposes
of naval warfare, if torpedoes be ex-
cepted, is represented by the so-called
dynamite cruiser Veauvius. which is
now in the neighbornood of Key West.
This vessel has on her forward deck
three fifteen-inch guns, which threw
projectiles loaded with dynamite near
ly mile and quarter. This ship is
only an experiment: and her practi .al
utility is regarded by naval authori-
ties as very 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 fighting purposes
that can be touched OFF by shock or
otherwise than by actual contact with
FIRE. The stuff called explosive gela-
tine, for example. is the most power
full of all known explosives, being fif-
teen times as strong rs gunpowder.
1t is made by dissolving gun cotton in
n;:ro glycerine, the preparation hav-
ing the consistency Of honey. But it
is very unsafe for use in battle, be-
cause bullet striking it II set it off
by concussion.
1T is extremely likely that in the
next great war shells :ha. libcratc
poisonous gases on explosion will be
employed. Ithas been suggested that
bombs loaded with hydrocyanic acid
| gas under pressure could be thus uti-
lized, releasing such fumes on burst
ing as would destroy all life in the
neighborhood. The French melinitc
has for its base coal tar product
termed picric acid. Its.consistcncy is
about that Of molasscs, and it is pour
ed into sholls and permitted 70 harden.
This stuff is entirely safe to handle,
though three times az powerful as
guppowder. The fumes set free by
the bursting of bomb loaded with il
are most deadly. y single one, fired
eEperimentally at a vessel, ON the
deck Of which had been placed mum