The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1914-09-23
INSTRUMENTS or
WAR SLAUGHTER
MurderOus New Weapons Of
Battle Now In Use.
DEATH DEALING "GRENADES"

One Modernized Type Fired From a
Howitzer Throws Two Pound Mis-
sile 300 Yards-Explode on Contact,
Scattering 215 Bullets Over a Hun.
dred Square Yards.
At the siege of Port Arthur the Jap
anese made such effective use of i'm.
provised hand grenades that the atten
f, ton of military experts was attracted,
with the result that this ancient weap
on has also been modernized. One
type of modern hand grenade, the
Aasen, weighs one kilogram and con
tains 100 bullets. AS these fly In all
directions says the New York Even
ing World. II can only be used from
under cover. Another form of the
grenade can be fired from u howitzer
weighing about twenty-four pounds.
which can be carried in a case like II
rife 1t throws murderOus missile
weighing about two pounds to Il dis
| lance of 300 yards. 1t eXplOdes on con.
tact. scattering 215 bullets over an
area of about 100 square yards. Still
another type of this so called grenade
can he fired. with the aid of a stick
/ thrust into n rifle barrel, to a distance
of 400 yards
Most deadly OF all Is the mine gre
made. weighing eight pounds and con
tanning 400 large bullets. This is
buried a few inches under ground
| When an enemy is over the mine the
| touch of an electric button causes 1t
to spring out of the ground until it is
| checked by chain at height of
yard above the surface, when It ex-
plodes, moving down every man in
the vicinity
Heavy Shells and Their Targets.
The Belgian resistance at Liege has
drawn public attention to modern for
tresses and their defense Heavy shells
fred from long ranges will penetrate
as much as twenty feet of sand, which
offers more resistance than other soils.
Moreover, a shell which explodes after
! it has penetrated soil will cause more
damage than if it explOdes in the air
on account of the confinement Of the
earth 1t has penetrated. Walls exposed
! to fire are therefore made Of from five
to ten feet of concrete, sometimes re
enforced with steel Over these there
are a few inches of dirt us bed for
grass so that the fertilization may be
| "Oncealed
In practically every European coun
try either turrets OF iron and steel re-
vOlving cupolas containing guns such
rs those used at Liege are in use.
The value of night attacks was EN-.
phasized In the Observation-Disclosures war.
with the result that troops have been
specially drilled in this form Of opera
ton aud numerous devices for Offense
ana defense have been invented. One
of these is the new portable searchlight,
with which all European armies are
provided to some extent at least. These
consist of generator driven by gaso'
/ line engine mounted on an automobile.
These are especially relied upon for
protection In case of attack by dirigi
hle and also in attacks Oh the ground.
Parachute Lights.
In the absence of searchlight n
force may be equipped with parachute
lights. u sort of grenade weighing four
teen ounces, which, with the aid Of a
firing stick. can be shot from rifle to
distance Of 30 to 100 yards, where it
will toat in the air and burn brilliant
y for half to three-quarters of Il
minute a larger form of parachute
light. tired from field gun with Il
small charge of powder, floats In the
rir, giving dazzling light for severa
Minutes
\ phase Of war OF interest to the mil
Itnry expert is the fact that M Amer
lean invention. the gun silencer, devils
ed 10y Hiram Percy Maxim of Hart
ford will be given II thorough trial
Some OF the silenCer's advantages are,
according 10 official reports. the muf
| a. Il s....