TO MAKE WAR UNTHINKABLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 162, 11 July 1899, Page 2

TO MAKE WAR UNTHINKABLE.

Jan Szezepanik, the inventor of the method of photographing over a. telephone or telegraph wire, has been interviewed by a representative of Die Wage, a German weekly. He first discussed Tesla's transfer of electric v power without wires.

• 'I do not consider it at all impossible,' he said. T am Working on similar problems myself. But I hardly think that he will succeed in' transferring the power of Niagara to Europe to run our machinery. I believe that the first practical application of his discovery ought to be to the running of an airship. Our flying machines have lacked only one thing—■ !.a light motor. Now we can build an electric motor, and a receiver on the flying machine. By leaving the source of energy on the earth the problem is solved, the long sought light motor is discovered, and we can sail . around as far as the energy reaches. As for steering, an additional propeller will do that perfectly. 'Besides, this will make the flying machine available for war, instead of the easily punctured and unmanageable balloon. It is possible that the future war will be a contest between flying machines instead of between ships and armies. But before we reach that point I think that the perfecting of death dealing machinery will have made war impossible. It is this mechanical perfection that will i stop, war long before all the politics j in the world. WAR WOULD MEAN ANNIHILATION. 'To the mechanic the world is infinitely large and all too little utilized, j To the politician the world is too small j for his patriotic ambition. Only the fear of annihilation can check this lust for conquest. Once upon a time war was a necessity by which the cultured protected themselves frorii bar- j baric neighbours. It developed strong characters, strengthend the feeling of solidarity in the tribe so that it became a nation. It taught men their duty,, self-sacrifice, bravery, even contempt of death. • 'But then' it changed. The defensive war became a struggle for extending the boundaries, for spoil for the soldier,-the general, and then for the State. There was still an opportunity for the display of knightly prowess and heroism. The nation which could show its superiority in these qualities might rule over others with some semblance of right. 'To-day the contrary is the case. Personal qualities are almost on a level. The soldier has no right .of initiative; his bravery consists in endurance and implicit obedience to orders. It is all a matter of machin-. cry arid provisions. Thus, it is a question of cannon, boriibs and maps. Instead of a hundred soldiers with hand weapons ready to fight, we have a lot of shooting. A MATTER OF MECHANISM. ' 'The art of war is a question of capital and number of troops. It is a tremendous expense, and is already regarded as a terrible misfortune. The mass of soldiers to be trained in the handling of the machinery grows ever greater. Less and less is left to bravery and accident. But firearms are being so perfected that they will require : a smaller number of men to,handle j them, and a small State utilizing some I new mechanical invention may be able | to conquer the stronger and larger ! State. . " * I

'What then? It may be true that hand weapons will never become altogether useless. Even the sword still has its uses. But the chief endeavour lies iri the perfecting of the gun. Men are trying to build cannon that will shoot faster. Loading and shooting cannot be altogether done away with; but perhaps-the empty shells, can be dispensed with. This could be done by making the ball with a hole at the

bottom into which the explosive is put. No. cap would be necessary, for each soldier could have in the stock j of his gun a dry material which he j' could use for exploding the powder or j other explosive as he pulls the trigger, j CAN EIRE INCESSANTLY. j 'A man could then fire his gun al-' most incessantly were it not for the heating of the barrel, which has notyet been prevented. This mpy mark the limit of development of the gun, but then comes the infinite possibility of the destructive machine. This, too, limits the number of combatants. Instead of soldiers the destroying machine takes the field, fitted for slaying hundreds of thousands, though handled by only a few men. Who Can say whether at this very moment some one has not perfected some such terrible eugine? I know that not one but hundreds of expert mechanics are working on the problem, perfecting | those already invented, trying otheri | plans for reaching the desired result. j 'What possibilities are opened up if j Iwc can only apply. electrical skill to war machines! This must come soon. Why, 1 myself am building an appara- i tvs (almost complete now) by which j i every shot must hit the mark. It is j not a new "sight" but a new bomb. As j the enemy advances I run away, leaving the baggage waggons and all the. luggage, all filled with bombs, or chests full of explosives attached to a ! little apparatus. 1 light up the approaching hosts with a strong electric | or magnesium light, and as soon as they reach the spot where my ex- ; plosives lie, the moment that a ray ]of this light strikes them the enemy lis blown up into the air. The. exploi sion is caused by the electric light I Waves, or the ultra-violet raj's. 'Daylight would have no effect what- ' ever in preventing the action of the ultra-violet rays, as has been already demonstrated. These rays do not -exist in diffused sunlight. I- can light up the enemy even in the. day time with my electric-lamp. I have only to turn it .in their direction. My lamp sends out the ultra-violet rays because it has no-glass on it, for glass cuts oJ_ those rays.' At this point Ilcrr Szezepanik took .his interviewer into his .laboratory. 'Look! I light this magnesium lamp, and point its rays toward that littie apparatus ou the table. And now look at it!'' A light glowed in it, and continued' to burn as long as the light of the ■magnesium lamp shone on it. When ; asked how the apparatus was constructed he replied:—'! need this apparatus for my purpose, and built it j myself. It contains nothing but a little accumulator or dry clement, this j small spool and a kind of button- : shaped relay. My purpose in constructing this is to discover the heart's j electrical power by lighting up the cathode with ultra-violet rays. But just think if some one were to apply this principle to warfare, and, i besides, the idea can be utilised not only for exploding mines, which I have prepared, but also for exploding shells at the right instant. EXPLODED BY LIGHT RAYS. 'If an army with these shells, each of which has the proper receiving I apparatus, will merely lire the shells | high enough they, can be made to ex- ! plode immediately over the enemy and I annihilate it. This is done by casting ! the proper ray of light over the enemy, land the instant, the shells reach that [wall of ultra-violet rays they explode I with terrific effect. Neither daylight I nor stornis can interfere, and an elecI trie radiator may be used instead of the lamp. i 'If the enemy is possessed of the ! same secret, and tries to explode our I bombs and shells prematurely, this, j too, can be prevented. This is done I by a special attachment to the bomb, j making it respond only to a certain I force applied in a specific way. I know j that this all appears to be a dream of | what the future may produce, but you lean see for yourself how possible it all |is. | 'When these engines of destruction are completed war becomes unthinkI able. It will mean ruin for the one j who conquers as well as for the vanquished. After such a blood-letting as • the world has never hitherto beheld, I perhaps the victor will annex the con- ! quered territory. After the loss of I several hundred "thousand men he adds i a few more to his realm.'