MASSACRE AS FINE ART.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 199, 1 February 1915, Page 6

MASSACRE AS FINE ART.

3ERMXN SCIENXIS TLX XVAI;;-\u\i:. EXTRAORDINARY AI'MiAXC l£/. The chagrin which the Oman feeln j it tile non-success of his deep-laid plana nust be doubly mortifying when ho ■onsiders that included in his war equipment are the pick of the latest armanent devices, writes J. W. Hicks, in the Daily Express. His superiority in the matter or leavy Held and siege ordnance has been ■ ;he subject of inucli comment, but there ire numerous other directions in which :he thorough and up-to-date nature ot' jie ,i<erman preparation for conquest s all too evident. Every battery of German (ild artillery s provided with a wonderful stero-tele-;<o;>e, the production of the well-known fen'a firm of JJcisi. Till-; remarkable initrument ("'.ll be used from belr.nd •orcr, anil cannot be seen by the en•my. "'lie outstanding feature of this :elet'cdpe lies in its two slender arms, vhieh may be likened to the antannac )f an insect. Tiie operator can make accurate ob- ] lervations of the range of the enemy vlule safely hidden behind a tre of laystae!'. All that is neeesary is that .lie ends of the two :dendel' telescope irms, which nviy he moved in any direction 'shall be allowed an uninterrupted new. Another novelty in sights is used in lirect'mg pun lire. When a shell is ired, the rilling of the gun causes it to leviatc from the direction jn which it s discharged. This new sight autoniuically allows for this deviation when she gun is elevated, thus saving the iißie needed for a second operation. FUSES AND AIR BOMBS. Krupp has produced what is claimed ;o be a clockwork fuse 20 )(']• cent, more ;u",: ;, vate than those genially employed. F-uvs are used with Grapnel shell, which, they serve to explode, and thus scatter tile siirapnei .nillets at the proper moment. If the merny is at a range, of 000(1 yards, for I instance, it is necessary to burst a shrapnel shell at about 200 yards short 3f this range. Fired from a modern field gun, the shell takes less than a second to cover this 200 yards. If the shell bursts beyond the desireS range, the bullets spread harmlessly aver tile ground to the rear of the enemy, and if it bursts short, the bullets will probably have so small a striking energy as to do little or no iamage. If the claims of the Essen Grin can be substantiated, it has lieen successful in making a .distinct improvement in fuses. In them atter of bombs, and appliances for bomb dropping, we are well aware that the German has been far from idle.

A bomb which used to be used for attacking dirigible balloons is made in the form of a torpedo. Attached by a wire to the tail end of tliis bomb is a wooden cross. When the bomb penotraes the balloon fabric, the cross is arrested, and the consequent pull on the wire serves to operate a fuse to burst the shell and destroy the dirigible.

AIRCRAFT DESTROYERS. A second device for destroying airships consists of a shell with a very sensitive nose-fuse. On striking the fabric, sulphuric acid and explosives are released. Still another anti-airship has ah ollow rear-part containing a wire rope, to which a number of hooks are attached. When fired, the rear part of the shell becomes detached, and the hooks serve to tear the balloon if it should be hit. Accurate bomhb-dropping from aeroplanes is a matter of extreme difficulty. It might at first appear that a oomb thus dropped would fall vertically downwards. This is far from being the case. The bomb leaves the aeroplane with a forward velocity equal to the speed of the aeroplane, 30 that its path to earth is considerably curved. For instnee, a bomb dropped from an aeroplane tlving at GO miles an hour, at a height of 3OOA feet, would fall at a horizontal distance of 400 yards away. The ingeniousGc rman device to adjust ' this is the invention of an engineer named TSendemanns. His appliance consists of an air-gun, supplied with compressed air, which pushed the bomb out from the back of the aeroplane with the same velocity at which the aeroplane is travelling. , The two velocities thus neutralise one another, and the bomb is made to fall exactly at the spot over which the aviator is flying. ■ IXGENIOUS DEVICES. Tlie German is not content with hand J signals from aeroplanes engaged in re- j connaissanee operations. Many of his aeroplanes are fitted with wireless installations. (Although the apparatus used is necessarily small, the instruj meuts are reported to be capable of transmitting messages from a distance of 30 miles. A cruder form of signalling adopted is by means of pud's of powdered chalk or soot. The means of signalling in this way is through the engine exhaust, and it is said to be a quite efficacious method. p, By employing a new metal in the construction of gun-shields, the German is enabled to give his gunner additional protection. A compound shield, made of steel hacked with a lighter metal known as "duralumin," is found to be capable of resisting the penetration of bullets better than a shield made entirely of steel, which is generally used. For the same protection as is given by the all-steel shield a shield made of a combination of the two metals would only have three-quarters the weight of the former. Krupp's illuminating projectile has already been heard of in the field. This consists of a shell containing two illuminating bodies provided with parachutes. A bursting charge in the centre of the shell serves to expel the parachutes as desired to illuminate the field of operations. Magnesium enters into the composition of the illuminant. A night-sight for rifles is the invention of a German doctor. This arrangement consists of a little electric lamp fitted in a box at the muzzle-end of the rifle-barrel. The light from the lamp serves to illuminate a white plate, against which the back-sight of the rifle is silhouetted, and by this means carreet elevation can be secured Fy the infantrymen wTien engaging the enemy in tho dark. This synopsis by no means exnausts the new and ingenious devices which the German has produced to enable him to wage his world-war, lmt it will be sufficient, perhaps, to indicate that the present conflict has occupied the. attention of Oerman war scientists for many years past, and that many minds have | been at work in order to secure a OerI ma:! victory.

A PL4.GUE OF TIIE NIGHT. Keeps thousands awake; makes life a misery. You know what it i;—Pi'ss, Nearly drive you mad. Hard to bear. Hard to get rid c . Can't find relief. .But wait a minute. Yes, you can, too. It's a case of knowini* how. Knowing how means relief. It means get tho lifht thing. It means get Doan's Ointment. Doan's Ointment will do it. All itching skin diseases disaopeai under the soothing influence of Doan's Ointment. Here's proof of this: — _Mr. John Stott, bootmaker, 110 Harrison street, Wanganui, says:—"For years I was a martyr to "that most trying complaint, Itching Piles, and only people who have suffered in this ivav have any idea what I went through. At one time I was so bad that I went into a hospital, and had an "operation performed, but in a little while I was just as bad as ever. I tried almost every Pile remedy known, but could on!" get temporary relief from the awful irritation. I suffered most during the warm weather, or when 1 "ot heated in any way, and sometimes the irritation was so terrible that I felt I could tear myself to pieces. Some months ago I was advised to try Doan's Ointment, and 1 am pleased I did so. I (rot relief from the first few and before I had used two pots I was completely cured, and as I have been free of Piles ever since, I think I am safe in sayin" my cure is permanent." " Two years later Mrs. Scott says:— I lu J sban<l has not been troubled f with 1 lira since Doan's Ointment cured j mm over two years ago. He strongly l recommends this remedy to all who su' I fer as lie once did." ] When w sn» that Doan's Ointment I will cure Piles, we mean exactly what we sir* nothing more or less, and we are able to make this cmnhatic statement booked by such evidence as the above. Doan's Ointment is sold bv Ail chemists and siorckecners at % per' pot, or will be posted oi, receipt of yirice h ' Svdr'ev Co., 7(i Pitt street,