The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-08-12
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1a, 1902.
NEW AID TO DESTRUCTION OF HU-
MAN LIFE.

There is constant struggle for the
mastery between the inventors OF i'm
proved offensive weapons CT warfare
and schemers who devise means to min
imize the effects of these inventions. It
is constant war between inventors of
offensive and defensive implements of
war. Some man MAKE a powerful can
non that will send a solid she through
the sides of the thickest a~rmor-Dlated
vessel of the day or d shell containing
such powerful explosives that it will
shatter the hardest and thickest steel
plate on a warship. Immediately some
man sets to work on improving the de-
fensive armament Of the warship, and
a plate is soon secured that will with
stand the fire Of the heaviest gun. And
thus 1t goes on, each side keeping up
with the progressive movements of the
other. When the long range cannon
cam into use their effectiveness was
impaired by the difficulty of securing
accurate range. n was overcame by
the invention of the stadimeter, which
enables the gun pointer 10 find the
range in thousands Of yards as easily as
he formally could in hundreds Of yards.
In the small arms branch of the ser
vice the improvement Of the range and
rapidly of the fire of the army rifle
could not be met by counte inventions
of defensive character, SO this was made
up for by increasing the distance be-
tween opposing forces. This n~ecessi-
tated the invention of a range finder for
men using these small arms. This at
last has been done. Professor Forbes, |
an EnSlishman, has perfected such
range finder. His instrument is simple |
and it's work is SO accurate that he has |
found it easy to get within W per cent
of the actual distance az three thousand
> yards by it's use. 1t is true there has
been used in the. British army a So
called range finder for some time, called |
the "mekometer," but it was not accu- |
rate and was cumbersome to handle. |
Professor Forbes invention overcomes
the advantage Of long range fighting
which the refensive side of this conflict
mas ~1naugurated to lessen the effective
ness Of the modern army rifle. With
use of this instrument a good marks
mans fire VII be as accurate at long
range as al short. All such a man
wants TO know is the distance OF the
object at which he is TO shoot. Profess
sor Forbes invention .ives him this.
Following is the description of this
new aid to the destruction Of human
life as given by the New York Tribune:
The Forbes range finder is much SIM
pier than the "mekometer," and can be
~ DHNl fa1 hry Drn WOW NH "a ~ 4
shielded from the enemy's fire. There
is a light staff or rod six feet long, |
jointed in the middle, so that 1t can be
folded VI when not in use. The rod is
held horizontally and st right angles
with the direction in which the man is
1ooking-that is, croSswiSe in front of
his face. At each end is a small prism
which catches an image of the enemy,
reflects it along the rod to the middle,
where another prism bends 1t again, and
sends it into one barrel of Il big field
glass. There are two prisms at the
middle Of the rod. Each barrel receives
a different image.
"A certain amount of adjustment is
necessary in order to secure a good,
sharp image. That adjustment is eff
ected with a screw having an enormous
fiat head which is suDdivldeC like a
scale. The device is known as a mi
crometer screw" and is commonly at
tached to microscopes for fine focusing
and to telescopes for measuring angles.
On the Forbes range finder one can de-
termine the distance of the enemy by
noting the position Of the micrometer
screw when he has obtained a perfect
focus. Near the graduated periphery
of the screw head is a stationary index
with a sharp point, and the numbers ex-
tend around the entire circle. Rotation,
therefore, changes the number opposite
the index.
'"To assist the eye in focusing, Pro-
fessor Forbes puts into each barrel OF
his field glass, where it will not obstruct
the view, a transparent photograph or
a balloon with a short tail rope. II the
centres of the two barrels are exactly
in line with the centres of the pupils,
the two images will cOalesce and appear
as one, and the balloon will seem to be
suspended in midair. One photograph
can be- shifted sideways with a micro
meter screw. 1t can be pushed inward
toward the other barrel or withdrawn.
This lateral motion makes The balloon
seem to move toward or away from the
observer. When the tail rope is thus
mad to hang directly over the column
of troops or the tent On which the IN
strument is trained, the focus is perfect
and the scale may be read Off"