The suburban citizen., 1901-10-26

pOlht " be strucks anu 10 eAPVsS A'9SlL
accordingly.
In those days. defeat generally
meant annihllation.
With the advent Of the long-range
modern weapons, it became unneces-
sary to mass the attacking party; 1t
only became necessary to concentrate
its fire. BY this means the same effect
Is produced as formerly, but without
a similar exposure Of the troops.
At sea, however, the battleship still
exists as a Laradox TO all true philos.
ophy Of modern warfare. It has been
demonstrated that, with progressive
smokeless powder, charges Of any re-
Quired size may be employed for
throwing aerial torpedoes, and the
pressure in the gun regulated exactly
as may be desired, for the attainment
Of the highest results, and without
any danger whatever Of over-stralning
the gun. Furthermore, there are n
number of high explosives, as strong
as the most powerful dynamite, which
can be thrown from ordnance at any
required velocity with perfect safety.
have recently developed a new high
explosive called Maximite, which is
being tested by the United States Gov
ernmept with a view to It's adoption.
1t is more powerful than anything
heretofore tried while It is so insensi-
tive to shock that 1t may be not only
safely thrown from ordnance with
powder charges, but armor.piercing
shells filed with It may be fred
through armor plate and the Maxim
ite will not explode until it has passed
through the plate. A single shell filed
with this material fired from one of
our largest guns, and exploding inside
battleship, would probably place her
hors de combat.
The present twelve-inch sea-coast
rifle of the United States army weighs
ffty-two tons, and throws an armor-
piercing prOjectle weighing one thou
sand pounds. This shell will carry
about seventy-fve pounds Of Maxim
ite. a torpedo gun, however, may be
made of the same weight as the
twelve-inch gun, but with twice as
large a bore, which would be capable
Of throwing projectiles carrying half
a ton of Maximite at very high veloci-
ty This gun would be capable Of
throwing a ton Of Maximite n distance
of five miles, Such a quantity of high
explosives, striking a battleship, would
not require to penetrate armor-plate in
order 10 effect its destruction, and.
striking in the water anywhere with
in twenty-five to fifty feet Of a battle
ship, it would sink it.
1 predict that, in the future, large
torpedo guns, capable of throwing
such quantities Of high explosives as
to render armor plate useless, Will re-
place the heavier cannon now carried
on shipboard 1 have also invented a
new compound called Motorlte, a ma
terial capable OF burning without at
mospherlc oxygen, producing n very
hot fame. 1t Is proposed to burn this
material in a confined space, under
pressure, and utilize the heat of the
products OF combustion, or flame, to
eyaporate water, by directly mixing
the water with the flame. No boiler
will be required. The products of
combustion, and the steam thus gen.
Grated, will be utilized for driving tur-
bines for the propulsion of torpedo
boats and automobile torpedoes Ex-
perlments have already been conclud-
ed which demonstrate the perfect
practicabllity and utility Of this lnyen.
tion.
A torpedo boat, such as that already
designed, would be adapted to travel
upon the surface Of the water in the
same manner as the torpedo boats and
torpedo boat destroyers now in use. 1t
would be supplied with ordinary steam
boilers and steam engines, of sufficient
horse power for its propulsion at
speed OF from ten to fifteen miles an
hour. This speed would be great
enough FOR all ordinary purposes, when
cruising about and the engines and
boilers would not weigh more than
a quarter as much az those now en-
ployed.
In place Of the extra weight of en-
glnes and boilers thus saved. l propose
to carry quantity of Motorite, with
auxiliary engines and turbines, sufii-
Client to develop enough horse power to
propel the boat through the water at
the speed Of the fastest express train
say at the rate Of mile a minute.
Enough Motorite could be carried to
develope this speed for half an hour.
Means will be provided for regulat-
ing the combustion OF the Motorlte, so
that only just such quantity as de-
sired may be burned in given period.
1t Is intended that, before going into
action, this Aotorlte-driven torpedo
boat will assume a semi-submerged
position, leaving above water only its
lookout tower and Il long, thin back
simply for tlotation purposes.
This boat, sighting, at a distance of
ten miles, a battleshlp going at the
high speed of twenty miles an hour,
would be able to gain upon 1t at the
rate of forty miles an hour. and to
oyertake It in fifteen minutes.