The evening world., 1914-08-31

- ehctohNC VI oVV ydTuS. IL CApit
over an area Of about 100 square yar'
grenade can be fired. with the aid of
distance Of 400 yards.
Most deadly Of all Is the mine gre
nade." weighins>eight pounds and con-
taininD 400 large bullets This is buried
few inches under ground. When an
enemy Is over the mine the touch Of
an electric button causes It to spring
out Of the ground until 1t is checked
by chain at q height of yard above
the surface. when 1t explodes, moving
down every man in the vicinity.
The mine at sea is not new device.
but It has been brought into particu-
lar prominence by the sinking Of the
first British warship. the cruiser Am
phion. In the Russian Japanese war
the japanese used electro mechanical
mines as well as free mines around
the harbor Of Port Arthur. The Rus
sian flagship. the Petropavlovsk, was
blown UP by the mines set of by cleo
tricity. On the other hand, the Japa-
nese themselves were literally hoist by
their own petard. for they lost two Of
their largest ships. the Hatsume and
the Yashima, from the free mines they
loosed for the destruction Of the Rus
sian battleshipa
Every decade In the last half GEN.
fury has seen an improvement In the
accuracy. range and power Of heavy
artillery and the destructive power OF
the projectiles
The Belgian resistance at Lege has
drawn public attention to modern fort.
resses 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 II It explodes in the air,
on account Of the confinement OF the
earth II has penetrated. Walls sx-
posed to fire are therefore made OF
from five to ten feet Of concrete. some.
tunes reinforced with steel. Over these
there Is a few inches OF dirt as q bed
for grass, so that the fertilization may
be concealed.
In practically every European coun-
try either turrets or iron and steel re-
volving cupolas containing guns such
as those used at Liege are use. The
cupolas are a kind OF fiattened dome
and the turrets are fiat topped. like
those aboard ship. There are "disap-
pearing' cupolas mounting small
guns, oscillating cupolas set up on
edge and balanced by springs which
turn the cupola forward after q shot
is fired until the gun Is under cover
and others that move on central
pivot. There are large single gun
cupolas with very heavy armament
and smaller ones Of light batteries
There are even portable ones.
No world power has been at war
with another world power since the
Maxim silencer was invented, though
very elaborate field trials have been
conducted. Some OF the silencer's ad-
yantages. are, according to official re-
ports, the muffling of the noise OF
firing. allowing the voice of the officer
to be heard. thus giving better control
OF firing. The nervous strain and con-
sequent fatigue OF the solder due to
the distressing noise of firing Is abol-
ished. Another important aspect Is
that II not only muffles the noise, bur
at the same time reduces the recoil, So
that that 1t becomes a gentle push in
stead Of a sharp blow. The soldier no
longer fiinches instinctively as he pulls
the trigger This Is conducive to bet
ter craftsmanship. and. by abolishing
nervous strain, the soldier Is less liable
to yield to panic. Tho diminution Of
the noise OF the report increases the
enemy's difficulty In locating the firing
line. The difficulty Is still further In
creased by the fact that the flash is
absolutely annulled in the dark.
The value Of night attacks. always
more or less appreciated by military
commanders. was emphasized In the
Russian Japanese war. with the result
that troops have been specially drilled
In this form Of operation. and numer-
GUS devices for offense and 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 q generator driven by
a gasoline engine mounted on an au-
tomobile. These are especially relied
upon for protection In case Of attack
by a dirigible and also In attacks on
the ground. Without light, artillery
would be Of little use In night attack,
but with Q searchlight playing upon
an assaulting column II can b used
with deadly effect. -,
In the aboence az . oearchiight Z