The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-05-10
PATENTED WARFARE.
Awful Things THAI Might Happen on
Land and Water.
(Army and Navy Journal. }

(AEluy duu Navy JOurudl.
If all of the inventions directly trace
able to the inspiration of war and to the
feyerish preparation for hostilities, should
be put.to use today, the men of the navy
would be kept pretty busy and the coast
defense force would have to be largely in
creased. Nearly all of these thousands of
devices for the destruction of hostile ships
and then 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 on sea and land,
will become so dangerous and destructive
that either whole fleets and forts and
armies will be annihilated, or the very
terrible aspect of such war will bring
about forced and lasting peace among
the nations of the earth. This remark
able tendency in inventive genius makes
it necessary to safeguard the army and
navy departments against the specious
pleas Of cranks of all kinds who are at
tempting to foist upon the heads of bu-
reaus scores of crazy schemes which may
be infinitely more destructive to our own
side than to the enemy.
This avalanche of patented problems
for war cannot be too closely scrutinjzed.
limit must be set, too, in the morale
of the devices. For instance, every re-
sponsible government chief may we'll hes
itate about adopting the patent of that
inhuman genius who proposes to annihi.
late whole armies, or entire crews of war
ships, or the complete force in a fortifica-
ton by means of powerful gas which
suffocates every living being. Such de-
vices go along with the electrical patents
to slay the enemy at wholesale at an en-
tirely safe distance. We are not ready
for that horrible weapon yet. Subma-
rine coats may also be still olassed among
the extra hazardous implements of war
fare.
Civilians probably do not understand
that the navy and the army distrust In
ventIons which propose to do away with
lighting. What with five thousand dollar
range-finders and thirty-five hundred
dollar automobile torpedoes and expen-
slye guns and submarine boats and dirig-
IDLE electric torpedoes and search lights
and two million dollar battleships and
harDor mines and SiXteen-1nch guns,
lighting has become more and more sol
entl1c, but 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 nj! the canisters with calcium car
Dlde, with small quantity OF calcium
phosphide mixed in. These canister
lights could, be placed in the water near
the patrol boats or fired half a mile away
from a mortar. Acetylene gas would be
given of from the contents of these CAMS
tiers and this would be ignited continu-
ously by the presence of spontaneously in
tammable 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 long time and reveal the approach
of hostile torpedo boats, which seem to
be SO much feared.
Then there is an invention. which re-