The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-08-17
Che Evolution Of
marfare.

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The excitement of conflict. One mon
arch did indeed wage a long and dis
astrous war on a neighboring king
because the latter had made some dis
paraging remark anent his abdominal
There arose professional
Or free lances, travelling from
one place to another, serving the mas
ter who paid the most. Wars became
long-drawn affairs, lasting all the way
from one to thirty years. For an old
soldier to be reinforced on the field by
the babe he had left in it's mothers
arms at the beginning of the struggle,
was nothing strange. Men of genius
devoted their whole lives to the art of
killing their fellow men on the field of
battle. Some of them became famous,
and magnificent monuments mark the
place where they sleep.
So the evolution of warfare went on
apace. Large schools and military
academies have been erected where the
children of men are instructed in the
complexities of military tactics and di-
plomacy. There they are drilled and
taught the fine art of the manual of
arms. On our high seas are large train
ing ships, where the mysteries of naval
warfare are inoculated into the minds
of the coming generation of fighters.
Millions of trained soldiers and sailors
are stationed in every part of the earth
awaiting the call to pounce upon their
neighbors. Today the different kinds
of rapid-fre arms and machine Enns
are wellnigh countless. We have can
mons capable of throwing projectiles
with accuracy distance of ten to
twelve miles. Of explosives we have
powder, dynamite, nitroglycerine, gun
cotton and dunnite. A torpedo charged
with the last named is of sufficient
strength to blow city, fort or battle
ship into atoms. A modern man-of-
war, with its heavy steel armor,
machine guns, revolving cannon, tor
pedoes, mines and trained fighters is a
terrible instrument of war.
AS one sees or reads of the countless
and wonderful instruments used in
modern warfare one is almost inclined
to believe that the very climax had
been reached. But not 80. The new
discoveries and inventions brought to
our notice every day prove that we are
still advancing along this line. Now
it is barely possible that universal
peace may be established-it is to be
hoped it will; but if not, the evolution
of warfare will continue.
Permit me, therefore, to take you
along to the year zoos, one hundred
years hence. The United States, nov
including the Dominion of Canada
Cuba, Porto Rico, all of the South
American Republics and the Philippine
Islands, with coaling stations in vari
GUS parts of Europe and the Wes
Indies, are at war with Japan, nov
controlling China, Russia, Manchuria
Korea, Siberia and the greater part O.
Asia. In Madison Square Garden
New York, is vast multitude of peo
pie awaiting news from the front
Towering above them is huge bulle
tin board, where wireless instrumen
is receiving and automatically repro
ducing or precipitating messages in il
Illuminated letters. Presently hum
ming is heard overhead and this mes
sage is flashed upon the board:
discovered enemy in south latitud
thirty-one degrees, fifteen minutes, an
west longitude sixteen degrees, tel
minutes, and in an altitude of abou
, nine thousand feet above the sea leve
The enemy opened the assault. Gu
air-densifiers proved very efficacious
: hampering the enemy's marksmanshi
greatly. My flagship, the White Drag
' on sustained an injury to one of he
! starboard fans, necessitating her II
moval out of range. We winged tw
: of the Japanese ships, which wer
: quickly taken in tow by their emerger
a cy 8rOdomes. The encounter Taste
: fifteen minutes and ten seconds. The
? then flew into some nearby clouds an
! eluded our pursuit. There were q
4 casualties on our side.
!. Signed, Admiral Hopetodie"
fl The foregoing message is from th