Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-02
LETTERS IN SHELLS.
New Method of Communication by
 Armies in Time of War.
Ordinary Cannons Are Successfully Used as Mail Carriers-B ombs
 Explode at Will of the ' Sender.

One of the most interesting sug gestions recently submitted to the military authorities is that made by Capt. Hardin Beverly Littlepage, at present employed ii the division ot naval war records in the navy de- partment. It is new method in the forwarding of dispa tches 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. .t .
 The means is an ordinary cannon, from which dispatch boom" can be fired to the distance to which a shell is sent. The projectile is cylinder or sphere so constructed as to insure it's flight, it's explosion at the proper time, it's breaking into harmless fragments and at the same time unfolding trailing strealne1 of any color preferred ~ containing the message.
 A dispatch at night could be made of luminous ribbon, so as to be read. fly found in the darkness, while the shell itself would be so pyrotechnic in character that it would plainly in. dicate it's course while in the sky and be easily seen at it's explosion The shell, which can be timed so as to "'-,,lode at any point desired, is so ged that when explosion tai ce the sides of the projec. tile fall apart. releasing the rib. bon .hich the message is written and wing it to trail on the ground.
 This method will obviate tho diff culty 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 signaIed 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 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 rende, it eficacious in places where the telegraph could not be conveniently utilized. 5..
 Capt. Littlepage is a virginian by birth, graduate of the naval acad- emy 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 ly believed-that the Monitor defeat ed the Merrimac-is absolutely with out vestige 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 shelling 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 sev- 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 roled out. In this way they werc fastened in overlapping style, both on the sides and top, while ships grease was hberally 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, 'I can prove by the reports of the captains of several of the federal ships, as we'll as by dispatches sent to home governments by foreign ships in our waters.''
 The flag of the Merrimac was brought home by Capt. Littlepagc, but is now owned by c. r. Gun ther, of Chi cago. the famous relic collector who removed Libby prison from Richmond. | Capt. Littlepage is warm friend and classmatc of Marmaduke, now com mander of the Bogota, which is fight ing the insurgents in the interests of the Colombian government. The off, 1 cials of the Colombian government | first offered the commission in their l navy to Littlepage, but as he was mar ried, he was unable to accept and turned it over to Marmaduke, who, a | bachelor, was free to seek his for l tune in any part of the world. . | Our Cities a Century Ago.
 l 4Iz of 4 Lr