The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-01

and therefore useless. The smoke IS
made up of particles of certain uncon-
sumed ingredients of the powder that
hoat in the air. The idea in powder is
10 have substance that shall have
powerful propulsive effect at a very
low degree of heat.
1t is the heat that plays havoc at
present with our guns, SO that the life
OF a gun is perhaps rs discharges At
the end of that time the interior of
the gun-barrel is all torn and
scanned and the weapon is use
less. A new form of gun IN
which practically all the energy of the
charge is impaired to the projectile is
tne laeal after which all inventors are
STRIVING at present. Even in the most
advanced types much energy is lost.
An increased range in our guns is
made difficult by the fact that we are
handicapped by certain mechanical
dlfflculties that limit the length. When
a gun is too long it is impossible to
prevent it retching under the impact
OF the exploding charge, thereby les
SEEMING the effectiveness of aim. This
may be overcome by powerful trusting
so that the gunbarrel will be perfectly
supported and held rigid, but even then
there is chance of disturbance that
Will interfere materially with the aim,
consequently guns cannot be lengthen-
ed indefinitely nor the range indefi-
nitely increased.
Electrical War Is Near.
In the matter of explosives a good
indication of what may be expected in
the future are the 'thunderbolts, as
the Spaniards called them, hurled by
the Vesuvius against the Cuban forth
fcations. So far no great range is pos
sible in discharging projectiles of this
N Ie.fN1 Af rtNrTna
hciently strong impact to insure long
flight without exploding the material
with which the shell is loaded not
having been perfectly met. But
progress along that line is rapid, and
in the next war we may be reasonably
certain that high explosives will be
thrown from powerful guns at long
range. Along this line various sug-
gestions have been made that noxious
gases may be used in the future for
some forms of shells. Humanity will
probably not permit the employment
of such forms of offensive warfare, but
l certainly believe that some form of
gas, which produces insensibility, will
be developed as the airship comes into
use and perhaps before.
1 have no doubt that soon electric
influences will be projected and that
the metal work of an enemy's guns
may be able to transmit shocks to
those serving them. The most impor-
tant factor we have at present to in
fluence the future Navy is the subma-
rine boat. 1t is a popularity of this
new addition to our fighting force that
its influences will be outside itself BY
that l mean that so far as the sub
marine boat is concerned, it is. at the
very outset a practically perfect craft.
Such changes as will be brought about
by its enrolment in the Navy will be
in the conditions to which it is opposed.
| was challenged a few months ago
when l said that the submarine boat
was less of an experimental vessel than
the battleship. This seemed an unreal
sonable proposition to those who had
not investigated it, in view of the fact
| that battleships have been afioat for
centuries, while the submarine boat
has not yet seen its first engagement.
| Nevertheless this view is tenable.
Danger in Submarine Boats.
We know that the submarine boat is
practically a perfect type of its class
because of the limitations of the field.
The submarine boat must be able to
| go at fair speed above and below the
| water. 1t must dive successfully and
be capable of going in straight line
at desired depth, and when it fires
| its torpedo under water must not lose
| its longitudinal stability. This is all
that has yet been asked of it. The type
of submarine boat which we have-the
| Holland-does all these things. There
FORE we are perfectly safe in saying
| that, unlike battleships, the opportu-
| mites for extension or development are
more limited and hence less likely to
be made.
The problem we are confronting now
is to find something that will give us
protection against the submarine. At
| present we have nothing. The only
measure that an enemy menaced by
one of these boats can take is flight,
and battleships are not built to run
| away. Therefore some of the greatest
| minds of the day are wrestling with
the problem of finding something with
which to combat this new form of Of
| Tense that has been sprung on the
world. 1t has been suggested in some
quarters that the bottom of war YES
| sells be heavily armored as a protective
measure, but this proposition has met
| with no favor 1t would means an ad-
ditional loading down of our ships,
| which are already carrying as much
| armor as weight can be spared for.
Experts are not wont to view favora-
bly, any device that will retard the
speed or further cumber our fighting
machines.
submarine 1 doubt that it will change
materially the general type of the bat
| tleship. There may be deeper double
bottoms, more bulkheads and a general
increase of honeycomb structure, but
the exterior shape will after all remain
about the same. 1t has been so in the
mast and undoubtedly will be so in the
future.
The Cost Considered.
One thing is certain and that is that
as naval equipment advances there Will
he a concurrent advance in the relative
cost. This is shown very conclusively
by experience in the past. The eX-
pense of firing a hundred rounds from
the 13-inch guns of the battleship Mas
sachusetts in ammunition alone would
exceed the entire cost of the old Con-
stitution battery in 1872, with ammu-
milton enough thrown in to fight all her
batteries. Each one OF the 13-inch tur-
rets of the Massachusetts, with its two
guns and all its actuating gear, cost
more money, so far as construction is
concerned. than the cost of the old
Constitution entire, from the time her
keel was laid until she bombarded the
Rashaw's castle at Tripoli. The cost
of the whole battery of the MasSa-
chusetts. including the armor used as
gun protection, would have built. arm
ed and equipped ready for battle two
l12O-gun three-deckers like the old
Pennsylvania; the cost of the side ar
imor alone of the Massachusetts would
have built and put in motion the Hor-
met and Wasp of our little navy OF 1872,
and the cost of the Massachusetts ma
chinery would have provided sailing
mower for our whole naval force at