Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 July 1877 — Science in War. [ARTICLE]

Science in War.

The present Rnsso-Turkish war cannot well be less interesting than those that have so recently preceded it, and we may especially point out two directions in which fresh examples of scientific warfare will probably manifest themselves—in connection, namely, with the cavalry pioneer and the Whitehead torpedo. Both of these will probably be seen in warfare for the first time, and before many days are past we may hear of their doings in action. The cavalry pioneer must not be confounded with the Prussian uhlan, who played so conspicuous a part in the last war. The übiquitous uhlan, terrible as he was, did not work the injury which some of the Cossacks will have it in their power to inflict if accoutered as pioneers. These arc selected from the smartest and most daring troopers, lightly armed and well mounted. In a belt round their waists they carry a few pounds of guncotton or dynamite, and with this liigli-ly-destruotive explosive they may work incalculable harm. A small charge of guncotton placed simply upon a rail and fired with a fuse sufliees to blow several feet of the iron to a distance of many yards, thus rendering the railway unserviceable on the instant. A treoper may dismount, place a charge at the base of a telegraph pole, fire it, and be in his saddle again within seconds. Wires may thus bo cut and communication stopped in the heart of an enemy’s country by fearless riders, who have but to draw rein for an instant to effect the mischief, while lines of railway in the neighborhood are entirely at their mercy. Even light bridges and well-built stockades may be thrown down by the violent detonation of compressed guncotton, and forest roads considerably obstructed by trees thrown across,which are never so rapidly felled as when a small charge of this explosive is fired at their roots. The influence of the Whitehead torpedo, of which we have heard sq much of late, will likewise be felt for the first time during the present war. An implement so ingenious in its character that, as Lord Charles Beresford the other day happily remarked, it can do almost anything but talk, is in the possession of both belligerents, and will doubtless bo heard of before long on the Danube and in the Black sea. These torpedoes are manufactured atFiume on the Mediterranean, and, like Krupp guns, are to be purchased by anyone who chooses to pay for them. —Scientific American.