The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 27, 1896, Page 25

i THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2 < New Military Era—Catapult Bomb That Can Destroy a City Twenty Miles Away Some one, whether a philosopher or not, | has said that if but one-half of the en- ergy expended in the pursuit of the art of war were teken from its present employ- ment and devoted to the development of the arts of peace there would not remain at the end of fifty years a single acre of uncaltivated land upon the face of the globe. The statement may seem to be Tather extravagant, but s full knowledge of what has been done anda is now doing to sirengthen and maintain the immense armaments, at sea and on land, of the | Dations of the earth, would disclose abun- dumAeV\dence in support of the claim. It is impossible to ascertain exactly the number of men engaged in military and Daval service throughout the entire world. No records are attamable of those so em- Ployed by barbarous aud semi-civilized ons and tribes, and but partial returns are available relating to so-called civil- ized (?) nations. of the principal nations is here given, from which it will be strength of the armies and navies of these nations for up an ageregate of about 25,000,000 men. A list of twenty-seven | seen that thei Could we secure equally | ever paid so large a sum to its inventor or owner as has the invention of a single appliance of warfare. The receipts of the telegraph and ielephone combined are dwarfed into insignificance by the kingly revenue reaped by the owners ot the Whitehead torpedo. Colossal sums are cheerfully paid by ambitious Governments for some new improvements in gun or rifle. Each warlike natlon is constantly expending immense amounts in construct- ing cannon and armor. Millions are spent annuaily in testing new guns and defenses. Nor is the full desire ever reached. For a time an armor plate exists that will withstand the impact of a huge projectile, but for a brief period only, for soon there is produced a larger and more powerful gun capable of pierc- ing the armor plate; and then the costly but now ineflicient armor is cast aside, and at furiher enormous expense new and heavier armor is contracted for. Each | nation strives to be ihe possessor of the most powerful ordnance, the mighty cannon capable of hurling the heaviest projectile to the farthest possible distance. England hasa breech-loading rifled cannon of the soidiery and sailo: e rest of the world it is safe to say ghting men. 25,000,000 more would be added to the | | 960 pounds of powder at a single charge. that weighs 111 tons. It has a bore of seventeen inches in diameter. This can- non is forty-seven feet in lengta and uses AR NATION. MY, NavY. Ofticers—Men 146,178 Chie. Argentin Tnited S Actlve | Reserve Horses. Ships. | 62,4 108,950 80'000 36,010 31,090 . cpared from data in posst Figures of army strengths show January 1 50 per ce It must not be forgotten that every one | of these soldiers and sailors is able- bodied, selected after a rigorous physical examination, and, 1n fact, better qualified ’ to perform manual labor than is the aver- age citizen. What work could not an | army of 50,000,000 stalwart men perform | in one year, let alone fifty years? Every | one of this immense host is a consumer, not & produncer; a destroyer, not a builder. } To feed them and to lodge ana clothe them; to amu-e them; to nurse them while wounded or sick; to pension the | ivors and the cependents of the | illed; to furnish them with the play-| things of war; to transport thewm acrossj oceans and continents; in other words, to | tain this vast fighting force costs | fifth of the wealth of the civilized | le of the armies and navies ana uded in the huge total of 50,000,000 arevery many thousands oi people directly ng to the needs of Not only is the labor | awn upon, the genius of | lso led 10 deyise new | No invention used nof Unfied States Bureau of Naval Intelligence “‘war iooting.” *Peace es.ablishments” are aboat The shot fired by it weighs 1800 pounds and 1t travels at a veloci:y of fifteen miles a mirute with a force capable of piercing a plate of wrought iron three feet in thick- ness. The big projectile from this gun may be made to fall at a distance of over ten miles from the place of firing. | Accuracy of striking atthis distance i, of course, uncertain. The cost of each shot from this gun isseveral thousand dollars, The life of a big gun—that is the number of shots that may be fired from it without endangering the structural char- acter of the motal composing the gun—is very limited. It is extremely question- able if the big English gun would stand more than thirty firings, The tremen- dous concussion due to the explosion of such enormous charges produces marked | changes in the fibrous character of the iron and steel forming the gun barrel; the metal becomes granuiated more aud more with each succeeding discharge, until a condition is reached in which the gun metal loses its cohesive quality, and then the gun is unserviceable. Safety to those engaged in firing enforces ths abandon- ment of such cannon before the danger The moet powerful stimulus is con- ,_;linuslly applied to scientific deduction {and inventive genius to the end that better and more destructive engines of | warfare may be devised. Under ordinazy S | conditions, such as obtain in the firing of cannon, the use of dynamite and other high explosives is impossible, either as a | charge for gun or projectile. Used as a nring charge for a cannon the gun would | be burst; and used as a charge for the projectile the concussion of the discharge of the gun would, by its extreme violence, explode the shell-charge before it left the gun. This is why compressed air is em- ployed to project the dynamita shell, as is the case in the pneumatic guns placed at the Presidio. The terrible destructive effects of an exploding charge of dyna- mite, mellinite or gelatin make it ex- tremely desirable that these high explo- sives should be employed as the charge for shells and otber projectiles. The great impetus lately given to the study of aeronautics seems to have inspired a modern war genius and led to the produc- tion of a most novel engine of warfare. The new weapon is called the ‘‘catapult bomb.”” It is along, slender, metal tube, pointed at both ends. On either side isa convex wing of thin metal, which may be set at a desired angle, whileat the rear end of the projectile is a fan-shaped tail. The catapult bomb may be of any size, carry- ing from 100 to 1000 pounds of explosive, Itis not fired from a gun, but is started upon its path of destroc'ion by a steam Laere= engine revolving a drum on which is ot — — Modern Art of Warfare—Firing Bombs a Distance of Twenty Miles. wound several thousand feet of wire. When it is desired to fire the catapult bomb it is placed in a specially con- structed cradle, which holds the bomb at an angle from the horizontal, the cradie being located about 1000 feet in the rear of the windin apparatus. A wire is then attached to a ring fixed on the lower part of the bomb, the other end of the wire being wound upon the engine drum. The engine is then set in motion winding up the wire, the effect being to cause the bomb to mount in the air, precisely on the same principle as a kite. e s ficient accuracy to make it the most terri- ble siege weapon known. With such a weapon 1ts users might laugh to scorn the best known ordnance of the world; forthe great range of the bomb would allow of its employment beyond the reach of our present long-distance guns. Another novelty in war appliances is the “Military Eye.”” This enables a com- mander in an otherwise unknown regfon to ascertain the exact location of the enemy’s works and the disposition of his force. It gives the topography of the country as it actually i, The apparatus The Catapult Bomb. The velocity of flight is increasea by the act of ascension and just before the bomb reaches its highest point, just before it is vertical over the engine, the wire is cut, and thenceforward the bomb foilows a trajectory determined by its velocity and the inclination of its previously adjusted wings. Itisclaimed that the bomb can be fired with much greater accuracy than can a cannon shot at long distances, and it is moreover capable of being projected to a distance of twenty miles with suf- consists of a small balloon of a longitudi- nal shape, held captive to the ground by a cord which is formed of two small electric wires. The balloon supports a small photographic machine, which is main- tained pointing at a desired direction bya powerful magnetic bar, the adjustment of the lens of the camera with relation to the magnetic meridian being made before allowing the balloon to ascend. | By means of a current from a small bat- 1 tery on the ground sent through the wires, the photographic apparatus is made to operate as frequently as desired until the cepacity of the film roll is exhausted. As each exposure is made, the mechan- ism 1n the camera cuts oft the impressed portion of film, wraps it in a light-proof tube, and attaches the tube to a ring which is automatically detached from the camera, and travels downward on the wire to the operator on the ground. To develop the film, fix it, and then by the aid of a maenifying glass examine the picture, is but short work. The balloon is filled with hydrogen gas, and has a lifting capacity in excess of the weight it carries. Suould the exigencies of the confl ct make it hazardous to attempt the reeling in of the wire, it is cut, when released of its captivity the affair mounts and vanishes in space. Several devices of offensive warfare have appeared from time to time which, while undoubtedly capable of fulfilling their re- spective functions, are, nevertheless, so infernal in character that civilized na- tions have as yet hesitated in employing them. Prominent among these terrible weapons is the “‘cyanide bomb."”” This is a shell filled with a secret mixture which, when it explodes, liberates vast volumes of deadly gases. The mixture is not af- ! fected by concussion, requiring a fuse to explode it. The fumes liberated are so deadly that the inhalation of a single breath is fatal to animal life. It is stated that a six-inch shell loaded with the mix- i ture would if exploded within the hull of lzhe largest battle-ship totally annihilate 1 | every living being on board. The deadly gas is a heavy gas, ite specific gravity be- ing greater than that of air, and conse- quently the fumes if liberated in a fortress or other confined spot would not be easily expelled. It is not known that any na- tion contemplates the use of the cyanide bomb, though just what weapons a nation will or will not use is never known until the presence of actual warfure solves the question, The old army musket is a relic of the past. In its piace are a number of rifles carrying each a more deadly missile. The latest adopted one is now being supplied tu our army and navy. It carries a small- caliber bullet, the force of which is re- ported to be ‘‘terrific.” The velocities ob:ained by the newarmy and navy pieces are so high that when a buliet hits a man it makes a clean, round hole. Bones are pierced as though they were drilled witha gimlet. General Flagler, U. S. A., chief of ordnance, is reported by the New York Sun as considering a proposition to adopt a “mushroom’ or sprea ling builet, which would, when it struck, spread out so as to make a more dangerous wound than is made by the present used small-caliber bullet. Recent experiments have been conducted at tbe Frankfort arsenal with these ‘““mushroom’ bullets. Some years ago an explosive buliet was proposed for use by armies, but the consensus of opin- ion of the nations was that the employ- ment of such a missile could not be enter- tained by a‘‘civilized’’ power. Just where the distinction steps in as between an ex- plosive ball which kills what it bitsand a l mushroom bullet which inflicts excruciat- ing agony by a wound so terrible as to p-eclude cure is a very fine point—so fine that the average mind is incapable of | recognizing the humanitarian side of the “mushroom.” The cost of maintaining the vast armies of the world isa figure so enormous that were the money so used during a single year to be applied to relleving the neces- sities of suffering humanity want would be at once banished from the earth. It | would pay off every farm mortgage in the entire world. W ere the armies that main- tain by the prestige of the bayonet tbe crowned murderers upon their thrones to be disbanded and their stalwart muscles engaged in the peaceful occupations of the farmer and the srtisan, the deserts of the world would be made into fertile fieids and orchards, through which would tra- verse railroads and canals bearing the fruits and grains in cheap abundance to every mouth. Want, hunger and misery would be only ghosts of the past. True, there might be a few less kings or knaves, but then there are plenty of good, en joy= able games that may be played without the assistance of a king or a knave. That England spends $80,000,000 a year in building new warships and in main- taining her immense navy, France $43,- 000,000, Russia $38,000,000, Italy $20,C00,000. and other nations in like proportion for similar purposes, forms a melancholy pic- ture to the humanitarian, who sees the shadows of misery and suffering standing dark and menacing long aiter the glory of the *“pomp and circumstances of war’’ have paled and faded. F. M. Crosg, D.Sc. The two most expensive perfumes are the essential oil of rose petals, calied attar of roses, and the oil of jasmine. The former when quite pure costs very nearly £10 per ounce, and the latter £9. ear adds to the interest xhatl ut the wonderful ruinsof a pre- | historic civilization 1n Mexico and Central | America. Without wishing to discount the recent alleged discoveries of a buried | city whose area is said to be greater than | that of London, it is interesting, at least, | to consider other discoveries in other | years of ruins which were said to be even | larger than those made recently. In the | latter part of the thirties John L. Stevens | visited some of the more famous pre- | historic ruins in Yucatan and other parts | of Mexico, Central America and Chiapas. Tnose in Yucatan known as the ruins of Palenque are perhaps ibe most interesting. “In regard to the extent of these ruins.’” Mr. Stevens afterward | wrote, ‘‘even in this practical age the imagination of man delights in exaggera- tion. The Inaians and the people of Palenque say that these ruins cover an area of sixty miles. In a series of well- written articles in our own country they have been set down as ten times larger than New York. Lately, I have seen an article in some of the newspapers, re- ferring to our expedition, which repre- sents the city dscovered by us as having been three times as large as London, It isnot in my nature to discredit any mar- velous story. I am slow to aisbelieve, find marvels fade away as I approach them.” Mr. Stevens then goeson to relate that no one can hazard a safe estimation of the extent of the Palenquean ruins, but that so far as can be ascertained at the time they cover an area only sufficiently ex- ten-ive to accommodate perhaps a hun- dred buildings more or less. Indeed, these mysterions remnants of some former un- known eras in the history of man’s evo- lution are marvelous enough in them- selves to be thoughtful, without need of sensational exaggerations. Consider any one of these ruins by itself. There is not one of them but what furnishes material enouzh to the imaginative to weave a thousand fantastic theories about what might have been, or was, in these prehis- toric American ages. Glance fora moment at the grand old castle in Palenque, with its mystic memcries of an indiscernible past. It stands on an artificial elevation of an obloag form forty feet high, 310 feetin front and rear and 260 teet on each side. The elevation was formerly faced with stone, ‘which has been thrown down by the growth of trees, and now its form is but dimly perceptible. The building stands with its face to the east, and measures 228 feet front by 108 feet deep. Its height is about 25 feet, and all around it is a broad and would rathker sustain all such inven- tions, but it has been my unbappy lot to projecting cornice of stone. The front contains 14 doorways, each about 9 feet The Newly Discovered Ruins of wide, and the intervening piers are be-| tween 6 and 7 feet in width., The building was constructed of stone, with a mortar of lime and sand, and the whoie front was covered with stucco, and then painted. The piers were ornamented with spirited figures in bas-relief. On the top are three hieroglyphics sunk in the stucco. -Could those hieroglyphics be read what marvel- ous knowledge of dead ages might they not reveal to the present? This wonder- ful old palace, and many other lesser structures, which comprise the known ruins of Palenque, stand 1n a thickly grown forest, in which are trees hundreds of years old that have pushed aside in their infant days stones that were already ancient. Some writers and travelers who have visited these ruins have declared them to be antediluvian, but the consen- sus of archzclogical opinion seems to be that these ruins have no greater antiquiiy than perhaps two or three centuries be- fore the Christian era. One of the most remarkable of the re- cent discoveries was made about five years ago by Mineralogist Niven. He it was who first gave to civilization its knowledge of the lost city of Onutlan in the little- traveied State of Guerrero, Mexico. This city, like nearly all of those discovered in the present century, was at first credited with being larger than several Londons and New Yorks combined, ‘‘lt seems as if 1t were another wonder of the world,” wrote one of the early chroniclers of this discovery, ‘“‘for it is no less than the un- earthing of a prehistoric city in the State of Guerrero that was so spacious as to cover 900 square miles. It has no less than twenty-two temples and two huge pyra- mids. These structures were built of ma. terial that had apparently been selected with the greatest of care, the stone being bard and even and hewn of equal dimen- siors. The architectural skill shown in a Prehistoric Civilization in Central construction will compare favorably with modern buildings. One of the most beautiful of the ruins discovered in Yucatan is the majestic pile called after one of the princ'pal edifices at Uxmal, the Monjis, or Nuns. [t is re- markable for its fine state of preservation, and for the richnsss and bzauty of its ornamentation. The heigat of this fa- cade is twenty-five feet, and its width is thirty-five fest. It has two cornices of tasteful and elaborate design. Over the doorway are twenty small cartouches of hieroglyphics in four rows, five in a row, and to make room for which the lower cornice is carried up for several inches. Over these stand out in a line six bold projecting curved ornaments, resembiing an elephant’s trunk, and the upper center space over the aoorway is an irregular niche, in which portions of a human fig- ure, with a headdress of feathers, still re- main. Another prehistoric monument of rare architectural beauty is called the Eglesia or ¢ 'urch of the Chichen Itza ruins. This is 26 feet long, 14 feet deep and 31 feet in height. It has three cornices. the spaces hetween which are very richly orna- mented. The sculpture is somewhat rude, but grand and effective. The principal ornament is over the doorway, and on each side of it are two human figures in a sitting posture. Both of these figures, unfortunately, are-much mutilated. As a whole, however, this building is in & good state of preservation. The interior con- sista of a single apartment, once covered with plaster. Along the top of the wall over the arch are seen the traces of a line of medallions or cartouches in plaster, which once contained hieroglyphics. The Indians have a weird legend about this building, and they say that on Good Fri- day of every year music is heard sounding through these archaic walls. The history of the nations that inhab- ited these wonderful ruins is as misty, confused and indi-tinct as is the history of the builders of the round towers in Ire- land. The Toltecans, represented to have been the most ancient, are said also to have been the most polished and canltured of these early American racas. It cannot even be stated, however, with any degree of certainty that these ruins of Yucatan and other paris of Mexico and Central America are the work of the Tol- tecans. Indeed these ruins rise like skele- Majesty wore a veil and gown made of | Honiton lace, which was said to have cost a thousand pounds. Honiton lace guickly became fashionable, and the manufactur- ers reaped a rich harvest in the few months following the wedding. An inquest was held in Londen a week or two ago which indirectly caused serious injury to a certain class of trade. The subject of the inquest had died after eat- ing a rabbit-pie, and some alarming medi- cal statements were made as to the con- sumption of rabbits, which, it was stated, were often unwholesome. The rabbit in question was full of micro-organisms, and death was stated to be directly due to this cause. The case appeared prominently in ail the newspapers, with the inevitabl e re- sult that timid people who relish rabbits were startled, and the game-dealers suf- fered accordinglv. Last year the oyster trade was seriously dislocated through an tons from the grave, wrapped in their ‘burial shroud. They claim no affinity with the works of any known people. They seem to belong to a distinct, inde- pendent and separate existence. They stand alone, absolutely and entirely anomalous—perhaps the most interesting subject which at this day presents itself to the inquiring mind. The Eccentricities of Trade in London, Everybody knows that millions of Eng- lish money are often affected by mere rumor at home and abroad. but there are many less obvious trifles that affect trade in the most curious mauner. Nothing is more susceptible to trivial influences of all kinds than English commerce. Many unfortunate death under similar circum- stances. One of the most curious revivals of trade on record was the fevival of the Paris hat trade, which advanced last season by lit- eral leaps and bounds. The tradesmen attrihuted the exceptional prosperity en- tirely to the fact that “bowing” ‘became almost & mania among the Parisian dan- dies. It is difficult, indeed, to say what does not affect trade in one way or an- other. When something unusual happens, such as a big expenditure on a wedding or an enormous outlay on a royal reception, one hears the remark “It’s all good for trade,” and even those who regard such expendi- tures as waste acknowledge the benefits conferred on industry in this way. The theory that even crime is *‘good for trade’’ cannot be supported by a table of statistics, but there must surely be something in it, seeing that property is stolen every year in England to the value of several millions and that the “‘hauls’” of London thieves alone amount to £100,000 per annum.— Pittsburg Dispatcn. Positive and Negative. “My aunt .was always saying to me: America ‘Don’t talk so loud; your voice gets shriller every day!'”” said a pleasant-voiced Iriend. I became so nervous and irritated under this chronic rebuke that my voice was more uneven and harsh than ever, and I hardly dared speak at home. At lastl visited my cousins in L— (they are noted for their sweet voices, you know) and then suddenly- [ noticed the wide difference, which I Lad never understood before, be- twean a rough voice and a well-modulated one, and set myself, so to speak, to catch the trick of their intonations and their tones. In a month’s time, really, I taiked like a different girl. And when [ came home my aunt said: ‘Well, I am glad to see that at last my reproofs have made an impression upon you, Claral’ But they bhadn’t you know—the only impression she mdde was to make me unhappy and nervous. I have never forgotten the les- son; and when I want my children to im- prove.in any way I give them an opportu- nity to hear and see the right thing before Ireprove them for not following it.”’—Har« ver’s Bazar. The Phantom of the Rose. Sweet Iady, let your 1ids uaclose— Those lids by maiden dreams caressod; I am the phaatom of the rose You wore last night upon your breast. Like pearis upon my petals lay The weeping fonntain’s silver tears, Ere in the glittering arrav 'You bore me proudiy mlid your peers. 0 1ady, "twas for you I dled— Yet have I come and will I stav; And my rose phantom by your side Wil linger tiil the break of day. Yet fear not, lady; naught claim I— Nor mass nor hymn nor funeral prayers My soul is but a perfumed sigh, ‘Which pure from Paradise I bear. My death is as my life was—sweet: Who w ould not die as 1 haye done? A fate Ifke mine who would not meet, Your bosom fair to lle upon? A poet on my sentient tomb Engraved thislegend with a kiss; “Here lies a rose of fuirest bloom: E’en Kings are jealou. of its bliss.” THEOPHILE GAUTIER. Luggage trains are u-unlly-bo per ceni heavier than pass-nger trains. branches of trade are dependent entirely on the fashions, a change in which fre- quently revives one industry at the cost of another's depression. At aroyal draw- ing-room recently a feature of the dresses was a perceptibie improvement in the sta- ple trade of the lace-making towns. A similar effsct is produced by the adoption of new fashions by royalty. If the Princess of Wales, for instance, ap- peared at the theater 1n a new opera cloak there wou!d immediately bea ‘‘run” on that particular kind of cloak. There was a marked illustration of tnis on the occasion of the Queen’s wedding. Her