New-York tribune., 1918-03-31
Was he Gun an
w American ldea2

WO Americans recognize the gun by
its work as their own invention. Dr.
Henry Amling and Sheridan D. Sim
mons had planned a gun to use re
lay" projectile, which was offered to the
United States government. Says The
New York World:
"The Amling high velocity projectile,
which may be the ordnance the Germans are
now directing on Paris, is described in the
records Of the Patent Office as compound
shell or projectie which comprises body
that has rife bore and chamber adapted
TO contain an explosive for projecting
she'll or projectile held in the riied bore
The firing Of this explosive is effected
by time fuse, SO that the shell or projec-
tile as whole can be fired out of gun of
standard construction, and when the pro-
jectile has attained Predetermined point
in its fight the explosive charge therein
is automatically fred and projects the
smaller shell or projectile at a very high
velocity. This velocity is the sum of the
velocity of the body at the time Of the ex-
ploson of the charge therein plus the veloc-
ity due to this explosion
The mysterious missiles that are fall
ing on Paris may be only a German
adaptation of an aerial torpedo, invented
by G. f. Russell, Of 1903 Washington
Street, Hoboken, the secret of which was
stolen from him, Mr.. Russell believes. bv
Captain Boy -Ed-one of the directors
of the kaiser's spy system here, says
The Tribune
Mr. Russell designed some time ago q
glider torpedo that could be launched
from an aeroplane and directed in it's
downward flight by the effect of wireless
waves upon 4 specially constructed
stabilizer.
Captain Boy-Ed, in 1915, received
from the inventor, who had made fruit
less attempts to interest the United
States and British governments in his
device, a description of the torpedo and
pictures Of its exterior and its stabiliz-
ing mechanism. These never were re-
turned to him. The inventor stated:
These glders need no propelling mech
anisra. They sail forward at a rate of six
feet for every foot drop. Thus, an aero
plane four miles in the air could launch a
missile that would travel forward twenty
tour miles before it reached ground By
means Of my stabilizer the man who
launched the torpedo could direct its
course by wireless waves, and, following It's
flight through field glasses, guide it to
strike in so large a target as the city OF
Paris"
But while the gun remains a mystery
the she'll is not An Associated Press
dispatch from Paris, published Thursday
morning, says
"The calibre Of the shells being fired into
Paris by the German long range gun is 8.s
inches and the length of the she'll is &c
inches" LHomme LIbre,' Premier Clenten-
ceaus newspaper, states. The she'll weighs
200 pounds and contains less than twenty
pounds Of explosives
Tho shell s provided with a fuse pro
tected by a threaded stopper and has a
diaphragm inside which divides the she'll
into two compartments Of unequal size
/ Two holes in the diaphragm afford conmu-
nication between the two pockets. These
facts are accepted as an explanation OF the
two explosions which on occas on have fol
( lowed in quick succession and which led
to the belief that two guns firing"
On early reports Of the bombardmen;
Professor NJ. /. Pupin, Of Columbia, was
inclined to think the gun was 'mechan
teal hoax"
Lewis Nixon said that liquid air was