The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-09-26
The Next Great War

to undertake the task. Each of these
would be worth $1,000, 900. In cou-
Pile of hours bombardment they might
effect $5,O00,000 worth of damage. At
the end of that time their guns would
be about worn out and would be
sending shells head over heels, as
one throws club, all over the place."
Perhaps few cruisers might then
come up. with new guns, and your
battleships would stand good chance
of being captured or sunk. In this
case 1T would cost you, roughly, three
millions of money to do 100000
worth of damage to your opponent"
The large guns Of the navy, says Sir
Hiram, are worn out and shoot errati-
cally after 60 charges have been fired
from them.
Look, on the other hand, at the
havoc which will be wrought by the
aerial torpedo when it comes Imagine
the state of a town which is attacked
by half dozen mechanical monsters
out of reach. In the heavens, constant
ly dropping into it dynamite bombs,
each one. perhaps, capable of wrecking
whole districts. Defense or retalia-
ton of any sort will be utterly i'm
possible. and the cost of wiping out a
town will be inconsiderable as COM
pared with the expense of present-day
warfare.
According to Sir Hiram Maxim, the
invention indicated is inevitable. I'VE
have already" he says, demonstrated
the possibility of aerial navigation, and
have eliminated most of the serious
obstacles which initiated against it's
practicability in the past We have
now everything we need in the way
of initial knowledge and data, and, in
a word, it is now only a question of
experiments"
Germany First in the Field.
Even more disquieting is the prog
nostication. delivered with almost
equal certainty, as to the nation which
will be first in the field" There
was time" says Sir Hiram, when
everything suggested that Great Bril-
tain would be the first to solve the
problem. That time has gone by"
We still have the men who know most
of the subject and who have expert
mented for years. Not unnaturally,
however, they are, in most cases, un-
able and unwilling to incur the enor-
nous financial outlay necessary. Now,
when Brfttshers are just Stacking off
for want of encouragement and assist
ance, the Germans under the spec
ial patronage of the kaiser are hard at
work upon the problem, and may be
expected to display their characters
tic tenacity and ingenuity until use
full results are attained. The govern
ment of the fatherland will, in the ma
tured opinion of Sir Hiram Maxim,
see that no money is spared, and the
best scientific and mechanical brains
of the land be requisitioned and en-
ployed in herculean attempt to wrest
from Nature the secret, first possession
of which will make Germany absolute
mistress of the world.
The Poison Gun.
Bad as they are, the horrors of war
are as nothing to what, even now,
they might be. Scientists have far
more deadly weapons at hand, which
they have no intention of using, than
any of the destructive machines in use.
By way Of illustration Sir Hiram
Maxim mentioned that though poison
guns are not supposed to be used by
civilized nations they could very
easily be made if necessary. Indeed.
he even told the writer of method
by which it would be possible to kill
every living creature on battleship
by exploding a single shell On board.