zALINAKI'S PNEUMATIC TORPEDO GUN.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7941, 4 January 1888, Page 3

zALINAKI'S PNEUMATIC TORPEDO GUN.

In an age prolific of inventions, and incessantly trying the capabilities of every kind of force, it is not surprising that an ingenious Pole should have turned to atmospheric pressure as a means of propelling shells. Has it not been recently proposed to transport 'human beings from place to place by " pnenmatic despatch," and why not destructive projectiles ? It is true that a human being, unlike a package of dry goods or parcel of dynamite, requires to brenthe in order to live, but that difficulty iniy be overcome by some process ensuring their safety during suspended animation. The telephone carries the human voice many score miles, and the electric wire transmits handwriting. When wo havo gone from tho catapult, which did very pretty shooting in its day, to the hundred ton gun ; when we let loose tho various species of torpedoes and send them speeding away under water, and talk of having a gun-torpedo in a ship's bows below the water - Hue ; when the chemists proride an emburras dc richesse in the shape of explosives, we may well inquire whether there are any limits to the triumphs of science in the arts of destruction. Have not shells been heard of, which, loaded with some horrible corn-

pound, and dropped upon a flock of sheep, have simply obliterated the poor animals, so that they were seen no more ? Ureekfire, famous in its day, was nothing to this ; yet the real work even then was

done by the ordinary artillery of the period. Has not some one discovered a compound which, as he contends, explodes forward only, so that it might be used in parchment guns '( No substance has yet superseded gunpowder for artillery purposes, for one reason, because nothing is comparatively so safe ; but, of course, il3 nose may be put out of joint even by the skilful application of the all-pervading air to the base of a projectile. That is precisejy what the PolishAmerican, or American Pole, proposes to do, or at least to put (ho fiphtiug world in the way of doing. If we may believe tho reports which come from New York, a certain soldier ol fortune, belonging to usi unfortunate people which has produced many such, uy name Zalinski, has inveute'l, or rather developed, hoiiic crude Anglo-Saxon invention in the form of a

ViU, air-gun ; for it « as evidently the ollensive walking-stick, no great micooss in itsolf, which sugge&U-d the bright idua. It is not called an air-gun, but bears n lii^li-Konnding name; it is .styled "the pneumatic torpedo-gnn" — a mfcnomer, unless all projectiles which explode on impact, whether in thc / nir or water, are to lie called torpedoe.s. The description of Zaliuski's weapon is, of course, not very definite as regards construction. " It is an Sin tube, tiOfl long, of wrought iron iusidc, and lined with an I'm .seamless brass tubing," and works " with a pressure of 10001 b." We suppose the Biu describe the calibre, and the GOft— un enormous length — the whole of the apparatus, as well as the gun proper. Now, it is reported that this curious piece of ordnance will, at an elevation of 35deg, fling a shell loaded with 601 b of " dynamite gelatine " two miles and a quarter ; that, at an elevation of 32deg, a 1001 b shell can be projected 3000 yards ; and further, that last year, when tried before the United States Navy Board, the gun placed four out of live shots exactly at a range ol 1600 yards, while a fifth shot only went seven yards beyond. This statement does not mean, we suppose, that the shots all fell on the same spot. Indeed, nothing is said of the {jun's accuracy, except as to range ; and it is difficult to imagine that a smooth-bore could attain the relative

precision of a rifled gun. That point, as well as its capabilities for rapid tiring, remained to be settled by special experiments. It should also be said, because this is a point of grave importance, that the explosive used for loading the projectile is desoribed as " perfectly harmless under cortatn conditions," not a very conclusive claim, becauso it might be affirmed of gunpowder, or any other explosive. But unless the conditions are such as accord with the rough work of war, the gelatine employed will not prove to be harmless. It burns and sputters, like the damp gunpowder familiar to our youth, when touched with fire, but explodes when placed in a confined spot and Sierced by au electric spark. Neither oes this explanation show that it could bo handled and used with reasonablesecurity. Yet, whatever may_ bo the merits or demerits of the big air-"un and the charge it hurls from its muzzle, the invention has been thought worthy of investigation by British as well as American officers ; and in dqo time we shall know more about a device which, if successful, will have a certain effect upon some kinds of warfare. What are to be the uses of this latest application of science to gunnery? M. Zalinski describes them in language which [ snems to imply that they may be employed offectivoly in coast defence. Ho says that if an ironclad came within range, and if a 1001 b shell alighted on her deck, even if it were 4in of steel, she would be crushed by the explosion. Now, it is very difficult to plant a shell on a deck : if it were not, mortars of some kind would long ago have been part of a ship's armament, bo that the ironclad, we imagine, ■would have little to dread from vertical

fire. But ho thinks that if a 4001 b shell burst near v tui-ret. the garrison would be

placet! hur&de comhut by the mere shock ; while a shell exploiting under water near an iionclad would loosen t.li« plates and render her unserviceable. Here the destructive effects belting less to the gun than to the shell, tfnd we see no reason why such missiles could not be impelled from other guns by the ordinary means, unless it bu contended that the use ot' atmospheric pressure is essential to the emission of projectiles loaded with Zalinski's compound. At any rate, the United States' Navy Board, who are ready to try any likely-looking invention, have ordered a boat to be built which is \o be armed with two of these pneumatic aims.' They are to shoot oft' shells containing two hundred and four hundred pounds of gelaline, which js mnch more powerful than gunpowder, and they hope to make such craft useful as cruisers, mainly, we suppose, for coast-defence. The step is one which tells in favor of the gun, but it is by no means conclusive as to the value of the Invention.