Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-05-18


single and powerful automatic gun,
mounted forward and arranged in such
manner that upon firing the gun should
completely disappear and the port through
which it fired be automatically closed"
As the vessels arc not intended for dis
tant work, but always to be within easy
touch of base of supply, the weight other
wise given to coal could i'm tho case of
these ships be given largely to the engines.
In the semisubmergcd condition, or fight
ing trim, Mr.. Maxim counts upon n speed
OF Is knots, and, as the vessels arc also in
tended TO ram, the blow from a moving
body of quite 5000 tons travelling mt that
rate would prove destructive to tho stout
est craft ailoat today. With the water bal
last ont and In light cruising trim, nc ex-
poets IA speed Of something i'm the neigh
borhOod Of % knots an hour.
Nikola Tesla claims to have discovered
that 1t Is just as easy to blow up an enc
my's vessel by mcans Of his oscillatur as
1t is to send message by telephone from
enc end Of the city to tho other. The
question of distance between the enemy s
ship and the oscillator does not enter into
consideration at all.
Il can send message that will reach
to Mars, says Mr.. Tesla.
The same force that can convey a mes
sage that distance will be able, Mr.. Tesla
thinks, to blow up the biggest battIesbip
that has ever been afloat mt an equal dis
tancc.
The manner CT accomplishing this is of
course not divulgcd by the inventor in de-
tail. In general way, however, no does
not hesitate to say that he simply conveys
an electric spark into tho powder maya
zine of the vessel to be blown up and the
spark and powder do tho rest
By the aid of powerful machinery the
oscillato- can be made to start "a yibratory
wave, ;" said MIR. Tesla yesterday, (which
would accumulate force ns il progressed.
In striking the object against which the
wave is directed it does so with such q
percussion as would inevitably explode it.
the same as II II was struck with a per-
cussiOn cap"
This news, will DO more pleasing to
those sailing in Uncle Sans ships than
to the sailors Of Spain, for Mr.. Tesla will
undoubtedly offer the use of his invention
to the United States government. If his
offer is acceptcd-and there does not ap-
pear to be any reason why it should not
be-the best thing Spain could do would
be to begin to hustle to get all her ships
relieved OF ammunition. Every pound Of
explosive In their magazines, no matter
how securely stored away, Is but SO much
menace 10 their safety.
The only condition to the success Of
Mr.. Tesla's operations Is that no be cor
rectly posted as to the location of the yes
sci he desires giving the quietus TO. In
order 10 be able to ascertain this 10 a GER
tainty another phase of the oscillator can
be called into requisition. When this part
of the mechanism has been pcrfectcd, ii
Is safe to predict that no nation on the
face OF the earth will ever care to 90 TO
war, as its own weapons will be more
formidable against itself than the armies
ana navies OF its enemies could ever be.
Professor Garrett =. Seryiss declares
that such things are actually within reach.
The experiments have been tried. There
Is no missing link in the chain. 1t is only
necessary that the proper instruments
shall be supplied.
Another way in which the electric osciI-
lafor could be made an effective instru-
ment on board OF warsbips would be the
control OF the engines and the electric light
system of every ship in q squadron by the
commander Of the flagship. With proper
Instruments attached to the electric
switches connected with the machinery of
the ships it would be in the power Of the
commander Of the squadron, by simply
pressing button, TO put out or illuminate
every light in all of the vessels simultane-
ousiy, or to stop or start their machinery
as II they were all controlled BIZ a sippIe
lever.