The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-08

as this-a war OF silence-deathly a. :
lence! There would be no shriekings-
Of shells and thunderous crashing Of
guns and mortars. no sparks and
flames bursting and streaming FROM.
the muzzles Of these guns--nothlns
but silent. terrific. invisible forces 90
intense, so destructive that Il brings
terror to the mind even to think OF
them.
This vibrating. silent. terrific force.
which. although invisible. 10 ever p: e..
erit and all around W. we know very
little about. yet tn terrible power ws
family eco In tremendous lightning
flashes and crashes!
Imagine tho enormous power Of &
condensed. concentrated field Of eiec-,
tricity many times the power II that
lightning fIash! Then you will ut an
idea Of the force Of one Of these eyns.
have secn in power houses which.
generate our electric current IN sntIra
section Of the power leads blow cut
melting thick porcelain walks and cas.
ings instantly. "
Yet these discharges powerful 10
they are. are mild compared with
what perfectly controlled and con-
centrated electric force would Do.
Great lightning bolts have torn
down buildings and smashed to pieces
solid masses OF masonry and steel
gtrders. and yet these lightning flashes
are not nearly ~ intense In degsfuc-
tive powers a. the bolts and beams OF
force which man win probably BE-
Every one who has had the ex- !,
perience OF being near place struck
by lightning can realize the terrific
power Of Z lightning discharge from
the clouds. which travels with incon--
ceivable speed, far SURPRISING thS
speed Of our mightiest shells.
II one OF these guns, pointed from
an airship dying over q city. wers
pointed at any OF fts mighty buildings
II would melt the steel girders and
cause the buildings to collapse.
Applied to Submarines.
In warfare now we can at least tell
the direction from which the enemy
Is firing. but from an electric gun wa
would never hear sound or see a
fash. There would be nothing but
silence and destruction all around us.
and we should be helpless to strike
back unless We knew where the enemy
was. i.
A city would be wiped OF the map .
rs IL by a gigantic invisible hand. and y
In dark night. with the enemy's air 4
ships lowering over us In the dark. :
ness. We could not have any chance
OF defense.
An operator can cit In his wireless e.
station SIX miles away from q sub
marine boat fitted up with the wire
less control He presses his wireless :
key. which sends the wireless cur
rents up the aerial wires. These wires
radiate powerful electric energy. This I.
electric energy travels practically In =
simultaneously over the nix miles. II
strikes the aerial Of the submarine Z
boat, runs down the wires and ope-
rates "relay" which starts the en-.
Eines. and the submarine starts on 4
her journey. controlled by an In
visible force.
A. the submarine gets nearer tho
hattleship target three more taps from
the wireless mans key makes her
slow up speed. and a. she gets along
side OF tho battleship one long tap !
Ia given to the key and the invisible
electric force discharges 4 torpedo
which PUSHES AGAINST the battlc1hip !
and explodes. blowing tho target to
atoms.
This il only one OF the wireless
controls now ready for future war.
There IL also q device which can be
attached to any torpedo and which ia
W "HOiGSo~ AhGu6 u atSQ
a wireless control Of submerHed
mines bombs. &C. which at the least
tap from tho controlling wireless key
would explode and blow into eternity
anything within IT. immediate vicinity.
This wireless control Of submarines.
may be 30 ~erfected that an entire
battle could be fought bv maneuver-
Ing, the Submarines via wsrelAsa sfoo. !
troll az efiiciertly A. II there were
men aboard. Professor An hony has I
exhibited q method OF airship con-4
troll OF his own by wireless He and !.
Leo Stephens recently rave An exhibi-
ton Of starting. controlling. turning (.
and stopping an airship by wireless {
which was quite lop- distance from
the station which controlled Its actions, !,
This may sound fantastic. but re. 1
member wireless is hardly ten years y
old.
What wonders the next ten yeare :
may bring even those OF III who are \
experimenting hardly dare prophecy.
New York World. -