The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-12-15
A WONDERFUL INVENTION.
An Independent Working Torpedo
Invented by NikOIa Tesla, the
Eminent Electrician.

An interesting suggestion has recent
ly been made by Nikola Tesla, the emf
nent electrician and inventor. He
thinks it will revolutionize naval war
fare, and render big battleships worth
less. Whether this hope will be fully
realized or not, the proposition itself
is worthy of notice. Those who read
are aware that submarine mines are
provided with a fuse that can be ig7
nited by electricity, the current being
transmitted by wires from a station
on shore. The operator presses a
''key," or closes Switch" and the
electricity flows to the mine and eX-
plodes it.
But at an electrical exhibition in this
city last spring a toy mine was ex7
ploded by new method. The receive
ing part of the wireless telegraph of
Marconi was introduced in the charge,
beside the fuse, and at the proper mo-
ment an electric impulse was sent out
to it from a distant point. No wires
led to the mine; yet instantly the dy7
Mantle, or gun cotton, within was fired.
The impulse was sent by the transmit
ting apparatus of the wireless tele7
graph, and travelled through the ain
from one instrument to the other. Mar
coni's apparatus has sent mess5 a
for a distance of nearly 20 miles. Mr..
Clarke's miniature mine was exploded
at distance of only Is or 20 rods.
With a full-sized mine, though, and
suitable instruments, the operation
of ten miles.
Now, Mr.. Tesla would dispense in a
similar manner with wires, yet he
would employ electricity to explode a
charge of dynamite or gun cotton on
a boat. He would also control the
propelling and steering machinery on
the boat by the same means. Thus it
would be unnecessary to have any crew
or armor or guns on the boat. Instead
of using the torpedo boat, as now, as a
moving station from which to launch
the common torpedo. a torpedo con
tanning only 200 or 500 pounds of eX
plosiye material, the navy of the fu-
ture may put on the craft as big a
quantity of dynamite as is thought de-
sirable, say 500 tons! Then when it
goes off, the most terrible results
would ensue. Of course, the boat that
carried the stuff would be annihilated
but it would have no living passengers.
1t need rot be a costly affair. The boat
itself would be a cheap affair, and its
engines and screw, the electrical ma
chinery which Mr.. Tesla would put into
il, and the charge of explosive. would
be the chief items of expense. An eX-
plosion like this would sink the stout
est battleship that was ever conceived
This end would be attained either by
smashing the vessel itself, or by raising
proportions.
Twenty or thirty years ago Mr.. Edi-
son devised a torpedo, shaped like IA
magnifed cigar, propelling itself and
carrying a charge of dynamite. a tiny
cable from the stern, reaching to land
admitted a current whereby the op-
orator on shore could direct the tor
pedo's course. Mr.. Tesla does the same
thing on a much larger scale, and with
out any wires at all.
The tendency Of things is now toward
universal peace, but the appalling char
acter of the weapons of modern war
fare have as much as the efforts of
statesmen to do with bringing about
that conSummatiOn.- Y. Tribune,