Untitled

Southland Times, Issue 714, 23 August 1867, Page 2

A Destructive Compound. — The "Progress" of Lyons publishes a letter from a chemisfc of Marseilles, who suggests a mode of opposing the needle-guns by a Greek fire he ha 3 invented. He says: — "To give an idea of the efficiency of my discovery, I declare and am ready to prove that I can, at a distance of 1,000 metres, envelop an army of 100,000 men in a sea of flame, within less than five minutes. If a town is to be taken by assault I have no need of a Rotomachine, as I can set it on fire in very near the same period. In a nayal battle I would run into the enemy, and in fifteen seconds cover all the deck of the . vessel-, with a torrent of flame which would burn the, rigging, penetrate between decks, and instantaneously stifle all the crew. In an attack on a seaport, I could burn the town and arsenals, within range with the rapidity of lightning. With such means now war is possible, as neither victors nor vanquished would return from ihe field of battle. As to the fortress of Luxemburg, the subject of dispute at the present moment, I undertake to rid it of its garrison ia a quarter of an hour,"