The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-07-28
guns sssch as Napolecn used crushed
everything before them and decided the

~ 0@-sA ~ IA
everything before them and decided the
fate of actions. q.
But what would have been the result
had they fired shrapnel? TIL the very
last the French generals regarded the
power of Shrapnel's shell as a phenom-
enon. i%nexplicable at that time. but
not likely to endure. In 1912, before
Salamanca. Marmont was bruised by a
spent ball from a shrapnel shell and
demanded OF his staff, Whether the
British lines had not been reported a
mile distant?" To the answer that
such was h case, the Marshal rejoin-
ed, How then, do o account for this
musket ball?' After the war Marmont
visited England, and while at Wool
Wich the very man who had laid the
u which fired the shot In question
was introduced to him.
Turned Tide at Waterloo.
Lastly, at Waterloo, according to Sir
George Wood, who commanded h bril-
gade OF artillery, had it not been for
any effort could nave recovered La
Haye Sainte farm house, a hence on
this simple circumstance hinges en-
tlIely the turn Of the battle" Shrapnel
labored incessahtly to bring his lnysns
ton to perfection, and partially sue
eegfsd: But he appSaxs sys e have
SAsS VI AOOtA>'N oAASAA0s
The long peace was attended by the
decadence Of the projectile. The lack
OF a proper range at Woolwich pre-"
vented the young school of artillery Off.
GERS from obtaining the practice neces-
sary for acquainting themselves with
It's proper application. Further, from
motives of economy, the services of
General Shrapnel as inspector of ex-
plosives We're dispensed with, and be-
reft of his superintendence the shell
manufactured in the arsenal became so
infeTior in quality as to lead to the
wholesale condemnation Of shrapnel as
more injurious to it's own side.
The Inventor was first allowed a roy
atty of s2s per 1000 rounds in the
East India Company's service. Suisse
quently the Board of Ordinance broke
this agreement. and tool to supplying
the shell, when such was the deprecia-
ton Of the shot that the duke was In
duced to alter his opinion of Its value.
On his account he declined to recon-
mend the family of the deceased In.
ventor for public favors.
Died a Disappointed Man.
Shrapnel died in 1912. a disappointed
man. In 1913 he petitioned that he
should be recompensed for the many
thousands of pounds of his own money
which he had expended on this and
other inventions, notably the excava-
III VI LII AOSh dl4CA1CS al S4O1dlldlS
the brass tangent slide and disappear
ing gun mountings. All he got was q
pension of $1,000 a year, which grant
was so niggardly interpreted that he
would have been better off had 1t never
been made. William " announced his
intention of creating him a baronet,
but died before giving effect to his
resolution.
1t is a fact that the action Of shrap-
mel shell was unknown outside of Eng
Ian until 1884, when Captain Bor-
mann, of the Belgian artillery, COM
menced experiments with the projectile
founded upon the inventors treatises,
and the successful issue of his effots
attracted the attention of German ar
tillerists. At the outbreak of the Cri-
mean war the British artillery, thanks
to the gross Misrepresentation con-
corning its utility over a long period of
years, decided to it's employ
ment; but, subsequently, the naval
guns, mounted in the trenches before
Sebastopol, fired shrapnel with great
effect. Meanwhile the Russians were
unacquainted With it.
The revival Of shrapnel was due to
the Germans, who fired it, equipped
with an improved form of fuse. in the
campaigns of 1864 and 1866. In the
latter, the Prussion slnooth-bore guns
firing shrapnel beat Off the Austrian
rifled ordnance, which relied on conf
NOR shell, to the surprise and incred-
ulity OF foreign and even British artil-
lerymen. Again, in the war Of 1904,
over the French artillery, which had
some defective %shrapnel, by the same
means. The experiences of this war
led to shrapnel being adopted by all
armies as the standard type of pro-
jectile for field artillery.