The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-05-31
THE VOLTA BLOWN UP
COZ. COLT SUPERVISED THE RE-
MAakAeIE EXHIBITION.

tary OF War Was Preaent IN C@seAe
Garden.
The civilized world had a hearty
laugh at the unique proposal that some
one In authority srrange a naval battle
between the United States and Spain
outside the hArbor Of New York. 1t
was received as the suggestion OF q
humorist. And yet there is no reason
why a fierce encounter between the
naval fleets would not furnish a grand
spectacular demonstration in cornpar-
ison with which yacht races would DO
the tamest Of pastimes. The crowds
who would take all risks in order to
witness such an engagement would be
unparalleled. To-day we consider It
ultra-sensational to have two engines
run into each other to show how ter
rible a railroad collision ma. be, md II
the crowds that visit a wreck long after
1t has taken place be an index to the
public appetite, fully half Of New
York's three millions would go upon
the water to see a real naval battle.
Fifty-six years g over 10000 people
witnessed the explosion OF a steamer in
New York harbor by Colonel Colt.
This was one OF the great events OF
submarine history, and IN these com
p~aratively quiet times caused the adj
3ournment Of Congress and the suspen-
sion from his duties of no less a per-
sonage than the Secretary of War.
Though Robert Fulton was one Of
the first improvers Of the torpedo, 1t Is
not generally known that Samuel Colt.
Of the Colt revolver fame, was the
father of the modern submarine bat
terry in the days OF President Tyler.
Indeed the use Of torpedoes In war
down to the days OF Tyler wal regarded
with the same nameless feeling OF hor-
ror as the Guy Fawkes story produced
for three hundred years in England.
In was considered an inhuman inven-
ton due to "water-worms, flre-devils,
and submarine assassins," Fulton
himself was described by a squeamish
writer In the Naval Chronicle. as "a
crafty, murderous rufian." But Pres
ident Tyler took a different view of the
submarine battery. He had an appro-
priation Of ST. 900 made to Colt for the
perfection of his invention under the
following circumstances.
The Government placed a schooner at
Colts disposal in August, 1912, to ex-
pertinent uoon on the Potomac. The
President, General Winfield Scott and
the heads of the various Departments
in Washington took a day off to see
Colt experiment on her. He'destroyed
the schooner from an observation
tower on the banks Of the Potomac
while five miles distant; a feat which
was then considered a most unparal-
leled an extraordinary triumph OF sci
ence. He asserted that he could ex-
plode a shell under water at a distance
Of ten miles by the same methods, and
It was In order to produce such a feat
that Congress voted the appropriation.
Two months later, October IS, 1912,
Colts battery produced a still more
notable effect in New York Harbor in
the presence Of 10000 citizens, who
went down the Bay to see 1t with as
much interest as they now would go
to see a yacht race.
1t is worth reproducing the report
made In the Evening Post of October
10, 1912, OF this event, not only to show
the entire success of the experiment
and the manner Of reporting the events
Of that Period, but to contrast the
space afforded and the utter absence
Of that vivid description with a similar
spectacular event OF the present day
journalism:
"a vast multitude assembled yester-
day afternoon to witness the explosion
Of Colts Submarine battery placed I'M
der a vessel OF 260 tons. The North
Carolina, seventy-four. about four
O'Clock gave a salute of thirteen guns.
Immediately afterwards the signal for
the explosion was given. The vesse
rose bodily out Of the water and then
separated into fragments which were
thrown about seventy feet in the air.
The next moment nothing was seen OF
her except a few pieces of the wreck
which were floating On the water and
OF which the boats lying near fastened
to possess themselves. The Secretary
Of War was present n Castle Garden"
The name OF the vessel was the brig
Volta" The experiment was per-
formed under the auspices Of the
American Institute, while Colonel Colt
applied the electric spark from a bat
terry on board the revenue cutter
Swing" 1t Is also noteworthy, en-
PEASANT, that other papers like the
Morning Courier and Inquirer" did
not give a single line to this phenom-
email triumph Of American science;
though the Courier" OF the next day
gave q whole column to a foreign dis
patch relating to a fire in Liverpool
which took place on the same day thai
Colts battery blew up this brig, and
the very explosion Of which must have
shaken the windows Of the Courier"
ONCE. The same paper also printed q
detailed map OF those streets in Liver
pool between which the IRE occurred;
but tbs editor obviously had no time
for a local American event that
brought the Secretary Of Wa from
Washington. and 10000 Of his fellow
citizens out upon the water. Need II
be said that the Courier" has long
since gone.
In the month Of April following a
brig Of 500 tons was blown to pieces
while sailing At the rate OF 5 knots an
hour while Colonel Colt tho operator
Of the battery was on shore ave miles
away. Both Houses Of Congress adj
journsd TO witness this event which
was performed BY the arrangement Of