The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-24
Washington Correspondence New To


 Sun.
 A NEW death-dealing device for use
 "A in aerial warfare has been pat ented by the Krupps, the we'll known German manufacturers. It con- sists of a highly sensitive fuse which in- sures the explosion of projectile on im- pact with the delicate resistance afford ed by the gas bag of a balloon or the light canvas covering of an aeroplane.
 Up to this time the explosion of such projecties in aerial warfare practice has been dependent altogether on time fuses, but the Krupps. by their latest invention, have eliminated the large elements Of un- certainly in this method and have added 6 weapon which will be an important fac- tor in the aerial warfare of the future.
 Letters patent have just been issued here for this latest of modern war de- vices The new fuse. while being sus- ceptible to the most delicate impact, is safeguarded by an intricate mechanism against the resistance offered by the air in its flight.
 The fuse has a base plug containing pellet of illuminated mercury which, when ignited, sets off the explosive charge oI the proiectile The illuminate is ignited by needle driven against the pellet by snring which is controlled by two levers. These levers are normally held agalnst swinging by movable shaft, which IS made of wood, for lightness. When the head of a. projectile strikes a surface as delicate even as that of the yielding silk of balloon or the most fragile part or an aeroplane the levers are released anu swing outward under centrifugal force' permitting the ignition needle to- be driven bv it's spring into the illuminate. The mechanism Is controlled against the resistance of the air by another device, which is, however. susceptible to the least impact beyond that encountered from the atmosphere.
 With the development of the possibili- ties of aerial warfare ordnance experts of nearly every country have been work ing for several years on offensive devices to destroy aerial craft Inventions along these lines have developed field guns hav- ing large angles of elevation, even ur- right, and having mounts designed to permit horizontal training from a clrcu- lar path with the rear of the carriage as a center.
 The proiectiles used in these guns up to this time have been of two general types -shrapnel and incendiary. The shrapnel shells are practically the same type as arc used in land operations, which when eN- 1 ploded scatter shower Of small balls | The incendiary shells act on the principle | of emitting jets of fire, so that the projec- tile having penetrated the gasbag Of a balloon explodes the gas contents, bring ing destruction to the balloon and death ] to the operator
 Experiments also have been tried by foreign governments with rapid-fire guns both stationary and mounted on automo' bile carriages. The principal on which | these rapid-tire guns are worked is prac- tically the same as the man who might attempt to hit a low flying bird with 8 stree in from a garden hose. With the gun squirting a steady flow of bullets across the aeroplane's path there is a good chance of it's connecting with some of them.
 | also serve another purpose. They mark the path of the shell and thus assist in the adjusting of the aim, which Is partic- ularly difficult to estimate because of the absence Of surrounding objects by which l to judge the distance.
 | In both types of shell, however fuse is used to detonate the charge in the case of the bursting shell, and to ignite the | flame producing material in the incen- diary protectile Nearly always the fuse | is a time fuse, controlled either by me chanical means such as clockwork, or by a burning train of powder. These fuses l however, require extreme accuracy o1 adjustment to explode the shell at the precise instant when, travelling upwafe | at the rate of 20O0 feet a second, it reaches the vicinity of the target" Moreover with objects not only nov ing rapidly, but having a third direction of maneuver instead of only two horizon tai directions, as with objects on lant and water, it becomes extremely dinicul to determine the operation of the fuse al the precise moment.
 l ,Experiments have shown that projec tiles pass through the gas bags of bal looms without completely disabling then unless the explosion of the shell or thu emission of fire can be assured sinultan l eously with the impact Although m aeronaut has yet consented to make him l self target in flying machine. 1t |