The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-06-19
Patent War Devices.

II all the inventions directly traeeable
10 the inspiration Of war and 10 the fever
1 !sh preparation for hostilities should be
put into use today. says the Army and
Navy Journal, the men Of the navy would
be kept pretty busy and the coast defense
force would have 10 be largely increased
Nearly all OF the thousands Of devices FOR
The destruction Of hostile ships and men
require operators possessed Of more or less
scientific training. Thus. when the day
arrives when the war patents realize
the expectations OF their owners fighting
both OF sea and land viii be come 50 dan
gerouS and destructive that either whole
fleets and forts and armies VIII be ami
hiiated. or the very terrible aspect Of such
war viii bring about forced and lasting
peace among the nations Of the earth.
This remarkable tendency in Inventive
genius makes II necessary 10 safeguard
the army and navy department against
the speclous pleas CT cranks of all kinds
who are attempting TO fo.sJ upon the heads
OF bureaus scores Of crazy schemes which
may be Infinitely more destructive 10 our
own side than TO the enemy.
This avalanche of patented problems for
war cannot be too closely scrutiuized. \
limit must be set, too. in the morale OF the
devices. For instance. every responsible
government chief may well hesitate about
adopting the patent Of tha, inhuman geni-
US who proposes 20 annihilate whole ar
mics, or entire crews Of war ships Or the
complete force In q fertilization by means
or a powerful gas which suff0Cates every
'uving being. Such devices 20 along with
the electrical patents 20 slsy the enemy az
wholesale at an entirely safe distance We
are not ready for that horrible weapon
yet Submarine boats may also be stin
classed among the extra hazardous imple-
ments OF warfare,
Civilians probably do not understand
that the navy and the army distrust inyen-
tons which propose 10 do away with fight
Ing. What with five thousand dollar
range finders and thirty-hve thousand dol
lar autoombile torpedoes and expensive
guns and submarine boats and dirigible
electric tOrpedoes and searchHghts and
two million dollar battleships and harbor
mines and siXteen-inch guns. fighting has
become more and more scientific. bur there
Is still the element of danger that the true
soldier loves. and which he cannot escape.
The Wizard Edison suggests the use OF
large numbers of canister lights. He would
I'll the canister with calcium carbide. with
a small quantity OF calcium phosphide
mixed in. These canister lights could be
placed IN the water near the patrol boats
or fred half a mile away from a mortar.
Acetylene gas would be given off from the
contents Of these canisters. and this would
be tgnited continuously by the presence Of
spontaneously inhammable phosphoretted
hydrogen. Thus. great numbers of cheap
lights could be placed over an area equal
TO = square mile, or even more. These
lights burn for a long time and reveal the
approach of hostile torpedo boats which
seem 10 be so much feared.
Then there is an invention which re-
sembles bottled lightning. The electricity
is stored in cOndensers which hold as
much as a celestial thunderbOlt and any
thing can be destroyed by il. Il is unfor-
tunate that one Of the scientific expert
mentors with ttls trrible weapon was re-
Gently killed with his own lightning.
An electrical bomb has been almost com
pleted. The flying projectile unroHs and
carries along a copper wire connected with
alights it can be exploded by touching a
button at the firing station.
Mr.. Seely in the patent office. has got
up an electrical gun which will throw a
continuous stream Of projectiles contain
ing high explosives. The range is six
miles. Two Russian inventors have a de-
vice for boring the bottom of hostile
ship fun of holes. This is TO be done from
a submarine boat or otherwise and the
holes arem ade by an electrical courri-
vance, which causes the metal % the ar
NOR TO melt and jus; run down. thus leay-
ing the hole.
Captain Zalinski furnishes his new de- /
device, which is a flying torpedo /
fitted with a dry battery. This Is 20 be
thrown alongside an enemys ship and the
water energies and eNplodes the affair
and probably destroys the vessel.