The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-10-14

From time to time the public press
announces the success of an expert
mentalist who has produced = small,
compact and cheap device which is
destined to 'revolutionize all naval
construction and relegato existing bat
tleships to the junk l.caI," In due
course, following this announcement
and after the local representative has
cajoled the necessary appropriation
out of Congress, the device is built,
tested and, more often than not, is
found to be an iCrominious and more
or less costly failurs.
The up-to-date navy of to-day is
the result of a long process of eyolu-
ton, in the development of which the
very best brains of the country, civil
and military, have been employed-td
say nothing of millions of public and
private capital. The battl3ship, the
battle cruiser, the scout, the destroyer
and the submarine have ~all passed
through the fiery ordeal of theoretical
investigation and practical tests upon
the high seas. At the head Of the list
and representing the first and last arm
of defense of maritime country is the
battleship; huge, complicated, and
costly, it is true but representing to-
day "the best we know how" in the
matter of naval attack defense
hn Of
development it has been evident that
the idea of producing some small an
cheap instrument of destruction, which
at blow, would wipe out the costly
battleship entirely, has been particu-
larly attractive to the man with an in
ventive turn. Whenever anyone has
appeared with an all destroying
vice which, on the face Of it, has
seemed to give some promise of sue
cess, he has been dealt with moro gem
erously in the public precs and Cf
there were any plcusibility whatever
also, and in both he has found ready
in his claims) in the technical press
hearing and has been gwen IA.
sral space.
Whitehead Torpedo.
There are many, as they read these
lines. who will recall the advance of
the little torpedo boat with it's dimin-
utive Whitehead torpedo, and how its
appearance was heralded as making
the doom Of the battleship of thirty
years ago. But the torpedo boat found
it's answer in the torpedo boat des-
troyer, larger edition of itself, swift
able well-armed, and because of Its
superior size and speed, capable OF
running down and sinking at will q
whole fleet of the supposedly Irwin.
chile torpedo boats. And then, as tn,
destroyer grew in size, and the range
of the automobile torpedo with which
| it was armed was increased, it was
noised abroad once more that tn,
great battle ship was doomed. But il
this critical hour Armstrong brough
out high velocity rapid fire rifle, ant
ucdNy SeCOuuSiIy DillSIy VI liSoS sums
searchlight, to defect and sink the des
searchlight, to detect and sink the des
sufficient, in connection with tn
troyer before 1t could get within effec
tive range.
Dynamite Gun.
Next among the annhilators, an
following the development of high ex
plosives, came the so-called dynamit
gun, big of calibre and capable c
throwing so many hundred pounds c
high explosive in a single shell agains
distant battleships or fortiication'
Here was an undoubted revolutionlze
Of naval and military conditions. Bat
tleships were to be sunk by singl
successful shot, and a few torped
shells were to suffice to disrupt
whole modern fertilization and seattle
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