The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1916-12-28
WEAPONS OF WAR
Deadly Devices Used by Warriors
In Ancient Times.
THE JAvELINS OF CAESAR.
They Turned the Tide Of Battle In One
of His Gallo campaisns-The Fa-
nous Greek Wet Fire and the First
Use Of Gunpowdsr and Cannon.

NOUS GTSok WEI anu &atw pSs
Uss Of 0unpowdsr and Cannon.
Reviewing the history of warfare
among civilized nations" says Geo
graphic Society Bulletin, lone Of the
earliest engines of destruction whose
fame has been perpetuated ON the
pages of legendary epic was the great
wooden horse which the crafty Ulysses
left on the plains of Ilium and which
the Trojans believed to be an offering
sacred to the goddess Athena. Coun-
seled by the false Simon, the Trojans
razed their walls in order that the
gift of the Greeks might be brought
into the city. After nighfan the war
riors hidden inside the wooden animal
crept out, threw open the gates of the
city and admitted their companions,
thus bringing about the destruction of
the city Of Priam and wreaking venge-
ance upon the people who had shell
tered Paris and the fair but false
Helen of Troy.
IAN engine of war which energies
from the cloud Of legend and takes
Its place among historical actualities
was that employed by Alexander the
Great In his seven months siege of
the famous Phoenician metropolis,
Tyre. This ancient city was strongly
situated on an island, and as there
were no long range catapults In the
fourth century before the Christian
era, Alexander conceived the plan of
building a mole or causeway from the
mainland to the island. This engi-
neering enterprise was hampered by
the 1'yrians, who launched blazing
ships against the assailants as they
sunk piles to hold In place the rock
and debris that formed roadway
over which the army was to march.
In order to protect his construction
corps Alexander devised an engine
of war, great towers covered with
green hides These were set up as
shields against the floating flames of
the enemy, and the result was one of
the memorable victories In Alexan-
der's conquest Of the eastern world.
zone of the simplest and yet one of
|
cient times was the javelin with a
point of soft iron employed by Julius
Caesar In one of his Gallo wars. The
Roman DICTIONARIES hurled these weap-
ons against the shields of their enc
mics. The iron head penetrated the
outer coverings of bulls hide, but fat
tened out against the hard wood or
| oil ha oh Of
became hooked to this protector. The
shanks of the dangling javelins sc
impeded the movements of the bar
barian soldiers that they were forced
either to throw away their shields and
fight uncovered against the Romans
or else stop long enough "a fatal de
lay in their advance) to disencumbel
themselves from this unique weapon
which may properly be called the
dumdum plum, the progenitor of the
soft nose or dumdum bullets of today
Greek fire is a term which has beer
, applied to various compounds through
a succession of centuries going as IA
back as 424 B. c., when at the siege Of
Delium q caldron filed with sulphur
pitch and charcoal was placed agains
the walls of the city, ignited and tn,
: flames intensified by bellows attach
ed to a hollow tree trunk. The mos
i famous of the Greek fires, however
was that invented by the architec
Callinicus during the reign of Constan
e tine Pogonatus This particular engin
Of destruction was known as wet fir
on account of its property of bursting
. into fame when wetted. Thrown iron
siphons, 1t fell upon the ships of tn
Saracens, causing them to burst int
flames, and thus Constantinople wa
saved to the Byzantine emperors TO
n the time being (66S A. d..
II Probably more farreaching In 1t
|. effect than any other engine of wa
g was the introduction of gunpowder o
e the battlefield. 1t was one of the mos
e potent factors contributing to the ovel
q throw of the great feudal system, 70
% It destroyed the superiority of the al
,. mored knight over the yeoman foot so
der and, as Carlyle rightly said, i
made all men of the same height Fo
lowing the use of gunpowder in sma
20 arms came the invention and develoI
, ment of the cannon. weapon whic
, was employed with destructive effet
:. against the walls of Constantinopl
:, when this historic city finally fell int
:, the hands of the Mohammedans
:, 1853.
1.-The aeroplane, the Zeppelin and tt
submarine have been developed graz
ually In times of peace preparatory fl
war and are the products of man
8 minds Not so the ironclad Merrfmf
and the turreted Monitor. which a
t. peared suddenly and almost simult
s. neously on the horizon of naval wa
I'd fare during the American war"
O.