Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-01-29
LETTERS IN SHELLS.
New Method of Communication by
Armies in Time of War.
Ordinary CnnnOns Are Successfully
Used ms Mail Carrie rs-BOmbs
Explode Mt VIII of the
Sender.

One of the most interesting sug
gestions recently submitted to the
military authorities is that made by
Capt. Hardin Beverly Littlepage, al
present employed in the division Of
naval war records in the navy de
partment. 1t is a new method in the
forwarding of dispatches in the time
of war, a system by which time will
be almost obliterated, while there
will be no danger Of the courier fall
ing into the hands of the foe, says
the Washington Post.
The means is an ordinary cannon
from which a "dispatch boom" can
be fired to the distance to which a
shell is sent. The projectile is q
cylinder or sphere 50 constructed as
to insure its fight, its explosion at
the proper time, its breaking into
harmless fragments and at the same
time unfolding a trailing streamer
of any color preferred containing
the message.
a dispatch at night could be made
of luminous ribbon, so as to be read
lily found in the darkness, while the
shell itself would be so pyrOtechniC
in character that it would plainly in
dicate its course while in the sky
and be easily seen at its explosion
The shell, which can be timed so as
to explode at any point desired. is
so arranged that when explosion
takes place the sides of the projec-
tile will fall apart, releasing the rib
bon on which the message is written
and allowing it to trail on The
ground.
This method will obyiate the diff
Guilty which so hampered both armies
during the civil war. Captured
couriers have been the reason of one
branch of the army being delayed
or routed through their ignorance
of orders which were intercepted,
while the bad results Of such orders
falling into the hands of the enemy
cannot be Overestimated.
Had the French during the siege OF
Paris by the German army employed
such methods they could have sent
messages over the heads of the ene-
my right into the hands of friends.
The confederates could have signaled
over the union lines in the civil war
at the assault on Fort Fisher, while
at the investment of Fort Morgan,
after Farragut's fleet had passed in
side and the fort was entirely cut off
from the confederates, the latter
could have sent dispatch booms over
the federal lines without a single
message being intercepted.
At present the navy is experiment.
ing with. wireless telegraphy, which,
of course, can be used as a means Of
communication even with an enemy
intervening, but there are many
points about the bomb which render
it efficacious in places where the
telegraph could not be conveniently
utilized.
Capt. Littlepage is Virginian by
birth, a graduate of the naval acad-
envy at Annapolis and was in the serv-
ice of the government at the beginning
of the civil war, when he resigned his
commission to cast his lot with his
native state. He was one of the crew
of the famous Merrimac, the building
of which he graphically describes.
He also says that the statement so
often made in histories and universal
" believed-that the Monitor defeat
ed the Merrimac-is absolutely with
out a yestige of truth and that the
facts are that the Merrimac not only
whipped the Cumberland, Congress,
Minnesota, st. Lawrence and Roanoke,
but that she gave the "little cheese
box" such a Smelling that the latter
was glad to run into shallow water,
into which she could not be followed
by the Merrimac. On being invited to
battle next day by the proud victor the
Monitor drew away, declining to ac-
cept the gage.
The idea of armoring the Merrimac,
he Also states, was not the results of
one mans thoughts, but the gradual
outgrowth Of the suggestions of sew
eral naval officers. Railroad irons were
first used in their original state, but
later on were taken to the Tredager
works in Richmond where they were
rolled out. In this way they were
fastened in overlapping style, both on
the sides and top, while ships grease
was literally rubbed over all to facili-
tate the glancing Of the balls.
THAT the Merrimac was not de-
feated by the Monitor, but that the
latter declined to renew the contest"
says Capt. Littlepage, 81 can prove by
the reports of the captains of several
of the federal ships, as well as by
dispatches sent to home governments
by foreign ships in our waters"
The flag of the Merrimac was
brought home by Capt. Littlepage, but
is now owned by C. +. Gunther, of Chi
cago, the famous relic collector who
removed Libby prison from Richmond.
Capt. Littlepage is a warm friend and
classmate of Marmaduke, now COM
mander of the Bogota, which is fight
ing the insurgents in the interests of
the Colombian government. The Off
cials of the Colombian government
first offered the commission in their
navy to Littlepage, but as he was mar
ried, he was unable to accept and
turned it over to Marmaduke, who,
bachelor, was free to seek his for
tune in any part of the world.