Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-08-01
Miseellaneons Reaains,
MAxIM's ARTILLERY sILENcER.
II Promises to Make Battles of the
Future NoiseIess

In battles of the worlds next grea
war death will come from unseen, 81
lent sources, and the only sound will
be the ripping, shrieking noises o
shot and shell, whose course can b.
but vaguely guessed by the destruction
they wreak, says the Boston Post.
The fash and roar and the whirlinl
| clouds Of dust that marked the dis
charge Of artillery in the recent Russo.
Japanese war will become as much 6
memory of obsolete conflict as the low.
ering, cream-trick smoke of blacl
powder at Gettysburg and Pittsburg.
Such is the picture of the great
change now coming over warfare as
drawn by Hiram Percy Maxim Of
Hartford, Conn.,, who has at last con-
structed a silencer for heavy artillery
on the same principles as his famous
silencer for small arms.
Just as the silencer on the rife does
away with noise and flash, so the 81
lencer that has already been tried or
three-inch field guns will blot out the
much greater roar of the artillery
Moreover, the silencer can be built fol
use on any size Of big gun, and Mr.
Maxim declares that no new or diff
cult problem Is involved in construct
ing them to do their work on the grea'
IL and 14-inch guns Of the navy and
coast artillery service.
Further tests with Mr. Maxim's lat
est device to make warfare more terri
BILE than ever before are to be con-
Quoted within the next two weeks by
representatives Of the war department
and this may mean that the United
States will be the first power which
will literally muffie its big guns.
Just when and where these highly
important tests are to be made Mr.
Maxim refuses to state because of the
secrecy enjoined by the war depart
rlent in such matters.
1.-The usefulness of silencer for ar
tillery," says Mr.. Maxim, "is In some
respects far greater than that Of the
silencer on the small arms. 1t must be
remembered that the silencer does
away not only with the noise, but also
with the flash and the blast Of gases
'In the case of artillery the flash
and blast are as effective as the noise
in announcing to the enemy the posi-
tion of the guns. In the war between
Japan and Russia the Japanese had
regularly organized bucket brigades tc
wet down the ground in front of the
field pieces. The object of this was to
prevent the kicking up Of clouds OF
dust which would show the location
of the guns to the Russians. Il know
that many persons not familiar with
the action of artillery suppose thai
with smokeless powder the position OF
guns can be noted only by the noise
In actual warfare, however, the con-
dition Is much different. The flash OF
the artillery Is such that 1t can be seer
at. longe range even I'm daylight. A,
night, of course, the flash is fatal to the
highly desirable concealment Of posi-
ton.
"The blast Of the artillery Is so great
that even after q heavy rainfall 1t dries
the ground in front Of the guns in the
course Of a few discharges. Once
dry, the earth Is cast up by the blast
in a great cloud Of dust. Thus to take
field guns out in a dry country and
discharge them means that the clouds
of dust are as bad from the standpoint
of concealment as were the smoke
clouds of the old-style powder.
1T seems clear, then, that with the
blast and flash taken up as well as the
noise of the explosion, the concealmen'
of the field gun could be made nearly
perfect as far as all ordinary methods
of reconnoitering are concerned. But
II Is a strange evidence Of the balance
of offence and defence that just now
we have the aeroplane as the means
of scouting.
with the silencer on the artillery al
long range, l think that the only
means of ascertaining it's position
would be by aeroplane observations
An enemy without aeroplane scouts
attacked by artillery equipped with 81
lencers would be at very great dis
advantage. The use Of such a device
as the silencer would, therefore, be
another very potent reason for using
aerial scouts.
Would the difficulty Of noting the
location of such guns cause the aeria
scouts to come within range? Undoubt-
edly, but that does not mean great dan
ger Of destruction for the scout If HI
uses an aeroplane. The question OF
craftsmanship in connection with hit
ting a swiftly moving aeroplane at
great height is something into which
do not care to enter.
"Of course, the usefulness Of silen-
Ger on disappearing guns can be easily
appreciated. 1t will make the gun vir-
tually invisible at the long range al
which it would open on an enemy's
ships. The flash today does much tc
help locate such guns in the brief mo-
ment they appear to fire.
THE power Of the blast Of the big
guns is another thing to be reckoneo
WITH This blast is so great that or
board ship if the gun happens to be
two low when fired 1t will tear uE
planks from the deck. The roar Of the
guns as fired today is so great that Its
elimination would also be great help
to work aboard ship in a battle"
AS to the construction Of the new 81
lencer, Mr.. Maxim cannot go into de-
tails owing to his present relations
with the government. The silencer Is
he says, on the same general principle
as his silencer that has proved as ef-
fective on small arms. He explains
this by the fact that although there Is
increased volume in the discharge OF
the big guns there Is no increased
pressure.
ORGANIZED A MONKEY TRUST.