The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-07
ANOTHER DEADLY INVENTION.


 The Advertiser has had somewhat to say about the noiseless gun reported to have been invented by the Maxims. and of the awful possibilities for the future if those guns prove as efrective as the inventor evidently anticipates. Now. however. there Is mention of an invention that may have more import ant results than even the silent gun. In the current issue of The London Contemporary Review. Col. F. W. Maude writes of gun invented by a man named simpson. which. he says. can impart by the application of cleo tricity an Initial velocity of 3o.0oo feet per second to projectiies of all dimen- sions. and which can be practically handled under war conditions, and on board ships and in permanent defences. Projectiies of 1000 pounds weight lie fairly within these limits"
 Colonel MauGe further declares that if the calculations which hold good in the case of ordinary guns shall apply equally to these. he can see no reason why these weapons should not be able to send showers of shells from London to Paris. or vice versa. at the rate of several thousand day. He goes on this new weapon proves true. all the navies of the world will be compelled to abandon armor plate and devote all their thought and energies to the mat ter of speed. Discussing this matter, The Hartford Times says:
 Three other things are suggested by this remarkable announcement. One is that existing coast defenses would be as worthless as our present battle fifteen miles outside of Sandy Hook and knock down sll the sky scrapers h New York city. Another IS that cannon 'I may explain why the the British Government. IS not planning the con immediate inn futures: The third rehee- Government may spend on more bat tleships of the present type will be utterly wasted.
 All this is interesting. and if the claims set up are true, what will be the use of attempting to build warships which can resist such an engine of de- struction as this? Colonel Maude seems to think that the nations must turn their attention to the building of vessels which can escape an enemy instead of fighting ham. Here. how ever, comes an obstacle which cannot be overcome as long az steam is used, and that is the question of fuel. For every mile of increase in speed the consumption of fuel rapidly increases. and to build ships which could escape such guns as this one would require more coal than any vessel could carry, so that there must be limit to speed unless a different motive power is brought into use.
 Accepting as true the claims set up for this new instrument of destruc- tive. it looks very much as If all na- tions and countries are up against a very serious proposition. No armor that vessel can carry will resist these projectiles. and no fort or other de- fensive works would protect city. If one of these guns can send a proiectile of 2.ooo pounds weight from London to Paris there is no reason why a ship thus armed could not destroy any city within twenty or thirty miles distance and there would be no means of pre- venting such a catastrophe that we can imagine. Looking at the matter intel ligently it appears that the trend of modern invention is to discourage war of any kind, and this will be a blessing to humanity.