The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-03


IKE MS IN appearance, by some mystic
power the things would .go Off and
XIII people. OF golden artillery there
are several examples. The Gaekwar of
Baroda has two, which would not he
lnefect1ve, probably, for they are lined
Win steer, put the castings of gold are
substantial enough to he valuad of
s 10000 each. Devout Mahrattas travel
Iar TO do poojah" before these pre-
clous engines. We never heard or
wooden guns, excepting dummies .
such as the Chinese government
mounted on the walls of Picking. But
carlyle mentions a project for manu-
lacturing them, submitted to the Com
mlttee de Salut Public: "One citizen
mas wrought out the scheme of q
wooden cannon, which France shall
| exclusively profit by in the first in
stance. Ii Is to be made of slaves nv
the coopers-of almost boundless CALI
per, but uncertain as to strength.
The Knights of Malta invented spe-
cles OF artillery all their own. We
nave pleasant description of if in
'Brydone's Travels" book deserved
~ renowned in its day, not yet uni
VersaIly forgotten. He saw Malta
When the rule of the knights was lust
coming to an end, and very curious are
ms observations. Upon the top of the
cil1f, Wherever an enemy might land.
( SAAN CAiS4AiCCiS Sdilh nOlGS IN the llV-
ing rock-gigantic mortars. as If were
In some cases the diameter was as
mucn as SIX feet, and the smallest held
barrel of gunpowder Upon the
charge lay a wooden cover, exactly fit
tlng, on which were placed stones. can
non balls and fragments of metal the
whole rammed tight. The biggest
mould olscharge forty tons of these
miscellaneous projectiles in a shower.
covering space of 200 or 800 yards.
Inc crew of the stoutest ironclad
would be very uncomfortable when
that shower of boulders descended
from the sky like a volcanic eruption.
even if the vessel were not seriously
damaged. But the contrivance was
the invention of Napier, of Merchis-
ton, which was guaranteed to clear an
area of four miles circumference. an
nlhilating all objects thereon above
twelve inches high. Sir Thomas IJr-
quhart says that it was rashly tried
on large plain, when many sheep
and cattle We're blown into space"
But it is not made clear that Urqu-
mart saw the wonder with his own
eyes. which is pretty strong evidence
that he did not
According to Napiers own descrip-
ton, it was a "shot which ranged
abroad within the whole appointed
space, not departing forth till it had
eXerted its whole strength by DESTROY
ing those that be within the bounds
OF the said place" The discoverer of
logarlthmS was a most responsible
parsonage, whose assertions are not to
be lightly dismissed, but we really can
not accept this. Another invention
was mirror like that of Archimedes.
put improved to reflect artificial fire.
third was a closed and fortified car
riage to bring arquebusiers into the
midst OF the enemy. Yet another was
"a device for sailing under water"
but perhaps he did not complete this,
which is numbered among the ~strat-
agemS for harnling the enemy which
by the grace of God and the work of
expert craftsmen | hope to perform"
On his deathbed, however Merchiston
refused to tell the secret of these ma
chimes, saying that too many devices
for the ruin and overthrow of man
have been framed already" This was
the last year of the sixteenth century
Two of the inventions described are
actually in use now-armor plated car
riages and submarine boats-but we
dare not conclude, unfortunately, that
Napier forestalled modern science 800
years ago. So a contemporary ac-
count of Sir William Pettys wonderful
discoveries mentions "a wheele to run
races with This looks very like a
Dlcycle, put, In TACT, no doubt it was
the hobby" which, overlooked for gen.
erations, on sudden became "the
rage" in the beginning of the last CEN
tury-a wheel propelled by the riders
feet, which touched the ground on
either side. But this is wandering
from our theme. We have learned that
the more ingenious and the more de-
structfve, potentially, our warlike en-
glnes may be, the less suffering they
actually cause. More men We're killed
and hurt by the leather guns of Gus
tavus Adolphus than by our magazine
rifles and Maxims during the Boer
war-London Standard.