Middletown transcript., 1898-06-25

/M IA tioD, is the
II IA W Whitehead tor
/ls pedo. In the
hands of skillful and resolnte men, it
is the most terrible engine of warfare
the world has ever seen. A ship which
receives blow from it is doomed as
surely as if she were already at the bot
tom of the ocean,
This is the estimate which Lieut.. G.
E. Armstrong, recently of the British
royal navy. places upon the implement
of war which is expected to play lead
ing part in The present struggle be-
tween the United States and Spain,
and it is likewise the opinion held by
most of our own naval officers.
A torpedo is an intricate piece Of
mech anism, too, SO delicate in its poise
and balance, SO complicated in its op-
erations, that none but specialists, even
among the officers of the navy, can
thoroughly understand it. A man can
study torpedoes dozen years and still
be learning new facts about them at
the end Of that tine.
"sTEEL BABIES" WITH GIANTS
POWER.
The first idea to get lid of in order
to understand the torpedo is the be-
lief that it is bullet in the same sense
as il, say, 13-in shell. The latter is
propelled by the charge that is behind
it in the gun; it will 60 the distance
that charge drives it, no more, no less.
The former carries its, own engines; it
can be regulated TO travel fifty yards or
1000. 1t is within one step of being
autonomous, as it is automobile. In
the English navy torpedoes are called
"steel babies.n A more appropriate
name would be steel devil fish. They
are the modern and real successors of
those fabled monsters which, accord
ing to ancient belief, could destroy
ships by single blows from their tails.
The torpedo is in reality sea monster
obeying the will of man with devilish
ingenuity. When it is released it fol-
lows he course mapped out for it in a
straight line aud at a liked depth. 1t
al, ,n8n IN fn
this depth no matter how much it is
detected by intervening Influences on
its way towards its prey. Careful de-
vices guard it against remature ex-
plOsion, and other devices render it
practically harmless after it has run its
course in case it does not hit the OBJ
| ject at hch it is aimed. 1t will float
in water, and yet it can be kept sub
merged. In fact, it has all the re-
quisites of demon except a will and
intellect. The torpedo cannot change
its mind-in that res spect it is superior
to some commanders.
Thee is only one place in this coun-
try where Whitehead torpedoes are
manufactured. That is big brick
factory facing The East River, in that
part of Greater New York known as
Brooklyn, under the afternoon shadow
Of the Brooklyn bridge. The building
is occupied by E. w. Bliss Company,
which controls the sole right to manu-
facture the Whitehead automobile tor
pedo in America. From the outside
the factory looks like many another,
but you find that an unusual kind of
business is carried on there as soon as
you try to enter. At the door you are
met by respectful hut firm guard who
insists on learning the business that
takes you inside. If from your ac-
count it does not seem TO, him of suffi-
cient Importance, You are sent packing,
and no protests will avail to change his
decision. Tnrpedo-makers seem to
have little sympathy with idle ecuriosity.
1t is not we'll for Uncle Sam that every
one should know the secrets of his war
engines.
Once past The portal, however, the
sir Of mystery vanishes. One sees
huge drills, big steel lathes and all the
paraphernalia Of casting and ma
chine shop. for every part that goes in
to torpedo is made under one roof.
WHAT TORPEDO CONSISTS OF,
The outer case of the torpedo is, in
in brief, a steel cigar sixteen feet and
seventeen inches in its greatest dame
fer. 1t consists of Eve separate parts
| which, in the completed torpedo, are
fitted closely together. so as to be air
and water tight. The head, which is
the business part Of the torpedo, and
carries theexplosive, is of Tobin bronze.
It is in the shape Of cone, and COM
prises, roughly speaking one-third of
the entire length Of the torpedo. Back
of this, and somewhat greater in the
length, is the air flask, lis walls made
Of the fnest-forged steel, 10 withstand
the pressure Of 1900 pounds to the
square inch, which is put upon it when
the torpedo is ready for use. Still
further back is the buoyancy chamber,
By the ballasting Of which the depth of
the torpedo In its submarine voyages
can be regulated as desired. Behind