The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-08-12
DEArH-nEARINa RAYa
Destruction to Be Accomplished BY
Electricity Sent from a
SearchIlght.

Again science is indicating the fic-
zionist. In his thrilling story, THE
War of the World" Mr.. H. G. Wells
described how the inhabitants OF Mars
invaded the earth and spread destruc-
ton with a marvellous heat ray. 1t
was like a huge searchilght, except
that it set fire to everything upoB
which it played, reducing woods and
towns to finder, and blowing up the
ammunition of the terrestrial artillery.
Almost as terrible as this imaginary
heat ray of the Martians. is an inven'
ton which has just been produced by
Hungarian scientist.
He is said to have devised method
of sending electric waves along thu
rays Of searchlight, which will de-
stroX anything in their path.
To some extent the principle of the
X-rays is employed in creating the
new light. 1t has almost the same
power under water that the search.
light has in throwing it's beams
through the clearer medium of the
air.
If you look carefully at search
light in action you will see an espe-
cially brilliant concentration of its
brightness just at the point where the
rays leave the protector. A long
stream of rather faint light marks the
rest of its course until it strikes full
against the solid hull of the ship tow
ard which it is directed.
Upon that surface the food of light
seems to concentrate itself again with
nearly the same intensity that it man
ifested on leaving the protector. White
and clear in every detail, the object
pointed at stands out as though the
sun itself were shining direct upon it.
Now, far down beneath the surface
of the ocean this wonderful neWly-dis-
covered light behaves in very much
the same fashion. Indeed, it differs in
but one particular The rays are prac-.
tically invisible, except at the point
upon which they are directed. A
wonderful step in the game of war is
the development of this new submar-
inc searchlight, and yet it is only half
of what the ingenious British invent
ors expect to accomplish,
Torpedoes or submarines could be
detected by the new light, but to de-
stroy theI ould be a more difficult
matter. Something better than steel
shells must be found to sink lively
little craft running along 20 CT 80 feet
under the surface of the water.
This better plan has been hit on by
following up the experiments of eX-
perts who have studied the possibility
of sending electric currents along the
track made by rays of light Already
they have succeeded in telephcning
for limited distance over light-ray
of great intensity. The rays have de-
veloped one unquestioned property
they ar rs useful as wires for the
transmission of several currents at
time.
The current used in these expert
ments is of peculiar nature. The
secret of its production has been very
carefully guarded. Naval officers,
when they vouchsafe to give any in
formation at all on the subject, say
that it is not SO much an alternating
as a cumulative current, and works
somewhat as follows: The projectors
from which the light issues are To-
Gated in the nattleships a little below
the water line. The operator in charge
of each sweeps the sea beneath the
waves until he discovers the attacking
submarine or torpedo.
He then turns on the special cur
rent, and this is what happens:
A stream of electric pulsations
flows outward along the light ray, and
the intervals of pulsation lessen grad
strength and increasing in intensity
until they become powerful blows ap-
preaching detonations in character
The shock of these electric blows
strokes of lightning they might be
called-is sufficient to set off any ex-
plosive contained in the hull of the
approaching submarine.
In proof of this fact, the officers
conducting recent test blew off the
head of a. torpedo at a distance of 300
feet, the torepdo being 80 feet under
water at the moment of the explosion
In other similar tests the pulsating
current acted on the fuse or trigger
of the torpedo, setting it off just as
effectively as would sudden contact
with the side of a ships hrLl.-Lon.
don Express.
A Frank Comment.