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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1915)
THE 8EMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. ' ?B OHIO'S "SECOND M'KINLEY" Cu&r 'jep&FiP drre-Mzeiz&e. A..t.rBWBc3SBS mB JQk LTHOUQII It is only rocontly and with reluctanco that Eng land, (or the protoctlon of her shores and ships, has (in Imi tation of tho Germans) resort ed to the expedient of Bowing the Straits of Dover and the North sea with contact mines, all tho harbors of tho British Isles liavo boon planted with submarine oxploslvo contriv ances over slnco tho beginning of tho wnr. Anil tho samo may bo said of the harbors of dormany. But these contrivances for harbor defense, while much moro formidable and dangerous to an onemy, nro harmless to friendly ships1. They aro what are known as "observation mines," and, being con necjted by wlro with tho shore, aro sot off by tho jsendlng of an electric spark at a moment when a lliostllo vessel may happen to bo within rango of thelr tremendous oxploBlvo activities. All tho navigablo channels of tho harbor of Portsmouth, for examplo, aro at this moment (guarded by an claborato systom of "mine fields," 'which aro protected by rapld-flro guns on shoro. At night they aro undor constant watch, as well ias by day, bolng swept by hugo searchlights. Such mines nro hollow spheres of galvanized Iron threo foot In diameter, each containing GOO pounds of guncotton, which Is lighter than wator. bo that thoy can float. Thoy aro anchored a fow feet below tho surfaco In a serlos of lines ncross a channel, about eighty feet apart In each lino. If an ouomy'B ship woro to succeed by good luck jln getting through one lino without being blown lup, sho could hardly pass another. Tho area of water surfaco covered by a mine Hold 1b laid off (by caTcful survoy) In a checker board of imaginary squares, This checkerboard is reproduced on a small scalo on a tablo in an un derground casomato on shoro, which Is part of a ifort. Supposo a hostile vosscl to approach Two Itelescopos aro aimed at hor from points on shoro Bonio hundreds of yards apart, their linos of Bight 'crossing, of course, at tho spot whoro sho floats Tho telescopes nro oloctrlcally connectod with two pointers that movo on tho table. Moving with tho telescopes, tho onds of tho pointers meet on tho flqiiaro corresponding to tho ono whoro (ovor tho mlno Hold) tho vobscI actually is. A button mark led with tho number of that squaro is touched, and bang! sho is blown Bky-high. Small stenmora especially equipped for tho pur ,poso aro used in tho business of planting theso mines, and tho work being of such great Import nnco, tho men who undertako it nro highly trained. Theirs is a branch of tho coast artillery which does its fighting lltorally under wator, and, npart from tho mechanical dotalls of their employment, itliey must have a fairly oxpert acquaintance with kslectrlclty and tho chemistry of explosives. A part of tho preliminary work of establishing a mlno field consists in making soundings. Tho dopthc all over tho surveyed area having been ascertained, wlro ropes aro measured oft Into cor responding lengths, a heavy leaden sinker (or anchor) being attached to ono end of each, and a mlno to tho other end. Dy this simple means tho upbore of galvanized Iron Is mado to float Just as many feet below tho surfaco ns may bo dcslrod. Recently, howovor, nn Ingenious "automatic an chor" has been contrived, by which, no matter what tho dopth, exactly tho required submergences for each submnrlno may bo obtained offhand. As yot experience in actual warfaro has not afforded practical demonstration of tho usefulness of bucIi observation mlneB. nut of their destruc tive power thoro can bo no question. Mnny ex periments have been made with them in tho blow ing up of old hulks, and on thU sldo of the water, not long ago, n miniature ship of war was scat tered In smithereens nt Fort Totton, N, Y by a mlno of corresponding alio Ignited by an electric npark from a dlstnnco of n mile nnd a quarter. From such trials tho conclusion hns boon drawn -that tho explosion of a mlno containing 500 pounds of guncotton would nt least dlsablo tho stoutest 'fcattloBhlp wlttrln a radius of CO feet, if it did not jfllnk hor. In a "field" defending a harbor channel, leach row of galvanized Iron sphoros Is strung along ono elei'.trlo cablo, which Is attached to tho mlnkors (or anchors) nnd runs along tho bottom. Tho roVB nro connected together by a main oloc itrlo cable, to which each mlno Ib joined by a branch cablo that meets It Just above tho anchor Thus every mlno In tho "field" Is undor direct control by tho apparatus In the casemnto on shoro Tho casemate Is an underground room, lined with concreto, nnd containing all tho mochanism for controlling tho mine system. It Ib connected ty telephone, nnd othorwlso eloqtrically, with tho two observing stations, in which nro mounted tho telescopes alreaay mentioned, for watching hostllo ships. Sometimes, for tho protection of harbors, what aro called "electro-contact" mlnoa nro used. Thoy arc much smaller In bIzo, and aro commonly ar rat red In groups of flvo or bIx, which are cou- nectcd with each other and with tho shore by one main cablo. It is only when a current of elec tricity is turned on thnt they becomo dangerous; under other clrcumBtanceB thoy nro "dead" and harmless. But when thoy aro "allvo," If a ship hits them, a circuit la automatically closed and tho water Is quickly strown with hor remains. Vari ous Ingonloufl. means havo boon devised for bring ing about this closing of tho circuit, ono of them being n little cup partly filled with mercury, which, if tilted by a shock, cauBos tho mercury to roach a metal bar. TIiIb does tho business, nnd oang goes the mlno. It Is interesting Just now to consider tho fact that tho very first employment of a floating mlno wns at tho slogo of Antwerp by tho Spaniards In 1585. Tho boslegerfl, bolng ablo to mnko littlo or no hendway In thoir attacks upon tho Btout walls of tho city, rosorted to a novel nnd unheard-of stratagem. Loading n ship with a great quantity of gunpowder, they sot hor adrift at a tlmo when tho wind and tldo would surely bring hor up against tho sea wall; and, when sho was tolerably close, two men on board of hor Ignited a pro viously arranged fuso. Tho idea worked out, howover, in a way not at all In accordanco with tho plan contemplated. For tho sturdy burghers of Ahtworp repaired the damago donb to tho wall by tho explosion before tho besiegers ' could tnko advantago of it, and. udoptlng tho suggestion offorod them by the en emy, sont out a almllar gunpowder boat undor full sail against tho Spanish fleet and blow up ono of thoir biggest ships. In recent news dispatches a good deal has been oald about tho use of mines on land, for tho oppor tuno blowing up of brldgoa or approaches to forti fications whllo tho enemy was passing over them. Uy bucIj means whole roglmonts aro said to havo beon annihilated. Tho expedient is by no means now, but tho methods adopted aro of up-to-dato and suporior Ingenuity. Suppose, for oxnmplo, that a pleco of road Is to bo mined. Tho infernal mnchino is concealed from view by spreading over it a fow inches of earth. In consists in part of a small electric battory, providod with two wires, ono of which communl cntos with a roceptnelo containing n largo quantity of high oxploslvo, whllo tho othor runs to an ar rangement called a "springboard." When a man or horso stops on tho springboard, a ploco of motal bonoath tho latter Ib brought Into contact with a projecting pin, thereby completing a clroult which ignltos n fuse. Tho Batno Idea Is easily applied to a brldgo In tho caso of a fort, a system of moro scientific ally constructed mines may render ovory approach a waiting volcano, a switchboard insldo tho de fenses onnbllng tho besieged to explodo them at tho moment when thoy aro likely to kill tho great est number of men. In modern warfaro wholesale killing takes tho place of tho old-fashioned military murdor by re tail. DoubtlesB, as tlmo goos on, "Improvements" in this direction will steadily progress. Tho Brit ish and Germans havo both beon experimenting with means whereby (It is hoped) Bubmarino inlnos mny bo sot ofT by wireless apparatus. They aro also trying to contrive a submarino "flsh tor podo" (rosembllng tho Whitehead) which can bo Bteerod from Bhoro to uttnek a hostllo ship por haps miles from land. Tho Whitehead Is nn Englishman's Invention, and is tho only kind of fish torpedo used in tho British navy. Oddly enough, tho Blmllar devil's contrivance used by tho Germans Is called (after Us originator) tho Schwnrtzkopf meaning Black head. They differ only In minor details, being shaped in imitation of tho porpoise, and fired from tubes by charges of compressed air. Tho typical up-to-dato torpedo of this descrip tion is really a submarino boat In miniature. It is a stoel cylinder, 15 foot long, with a conical attachable noso called a "war-head," which con tains 200 pounds of high oxploslvo. Tho main body Is a chamber holding alrvat a pressure of 2,000 founds to tho square inch. This air pressure runs tho machlnory In tho rear part of tho cylin der, which actuates a pair of propellers. Tho steel fish travels through tho wator at a speed of 40 miles an hour. It can bo discharged at a target with as much accuracy as a bullet fired from n gun. Pursuing Its course at a dopth of 16 feet below tho surfaco, so as to Btriko beneath tho armor of a warship, It is kopt automatically at that dopth by an Ingenious littlo ruddor which turns up If tho noso of tho torpedo attempts to point downward, or vise versa. Insldo tho cylinder Is a gyroscope, which Is started aplnning and i V .. V "u lurBei OOIoro ino Bubmarino projec tile s discharged. Thus, if It tends to turn either to right or loft, it is promply brought back into lino. Until within tho last fow weeks very littlo was known through practical oxperlonco of tho offec tlvenoss of tho submarine torpedo as a weapon of war. It has oven surpassed expectations. Tho cost of ono of those tbrrlblo projectiles is about ?1,500; but, inasmuch as ono of them Is easily oooPonn destroy,?S 9 ttlcshlp valued at ?lJf. money' " t0 b W0" Worth th" "Tho second McKlnley," as his friends call him, Frank B. Willis, tho new governor of Ohio, Is a product of tho farm. Whllo ho is not "self-educated" In tho sonso that Lincoln was, Willis tolled hard to help pay his way through school and college HIb en tire llfo has been ono of toll and en deavor, tho conservation of energy not being ono of his cardinal virtues. Willis is a Buckeyo through and through. Ho was born in Lewis Con ter, Delaware county, Decomber 28, 1872, and worked on lits father's farm whllo attending tho common school at Lewis Center nnd while going through tho Galena high school In tho samo county. Willis is ono of tho big men phys ically in Ohio politics. His friends take prldo in declaring that ho has the loudest voice in the state, is a prizo hand-shaker and laugher, and that ho Is absolutely clean in his, private lire, in congress Willis, while not classified as a reactionary, has been regular in his party allegiance. In fact, ho Is regarded as a most cautious man when it comes to questions aris ing in his own party. It is recorded that as a congressional nominee, seeking re-election from the Eighth district in 1912, ho went through tho entire cam paign without declaring himself as between Roosevelt and Taft. vws Wr&. i MXMMr fri. W fit w . j& SOCIAL FAVORITE TO WED One of tho most interesting an nouncements mado in Washington so ciety this season was that of tho en gagement of Margery Colton and Randall Hagner. Both of them aro so thoroughly identified with Wash ington and havo such a wide circle ol friends that congratulations were sim ply showered on them. Miss Colton is tho daughter of tho Iato Col. Francis Colton, and though sho has lived a good deal abroad and in tho Orient, it has been mostly be cause her father, or her brother, or whichever member of her family sho happened to be living with, was sta tioned in some far-away post Tho Coltons aro all army people, and be tween whllo Margery has always como "home" to Washington. Mostly she has mado her homo with her brother, Col. George R. Col ton, U. S. A., and as ho was stationed In Manila for several years, and was governor of Porto Rico for a while, Margery, who was chatelaine of his establishment at both these posts, has moved around considerably. Lately sho has been living with hor brother-in-law and sister, Commander and Mrs. Archibald Davis (the navy this time, in stead of tho army) and it is they who mako tho announcement of tho engage ment. But whoever she's living with, everyone in Washington knows Mar gery Colton. No date has been set for tho wedding, but it is announced that it will tako place during tho winter, and it is bound to bo a big affair. mm HHH JIMMY SLOAN PROMOTED THE NEW JOKER. - fni011',1 Boe th0 war ,s a" over." announced a fellow who was trying to be a. contributor V hat do you mean, all ovor?" repllad tho fel low ho brought along with him as a feeder ,ittVZJrLZllA U' "'comedian, THE CAUSE. "Cholly has a swelled head." "There Ik ono thing only which with reason could glvo that idiot a swelled head -"And what might that bo?" "A good punching." HEARD IN A BARBER SHOP. Barber (shaving customer Do you know thrt when tho oilgo of a razor Is examined under a mlcroscopo It has teeth like thoso of a saw Tortured Vlctlm-I don't need a mlcroscnt to know that. James Sloan, Jr., head of tho secret service force at the Whllo House, has been promoted to becomo chief operator of the Detroit headquar ters, ono of tho most Important fields In the service. Mr. Sloan is famous throughout tho country for his per sonal attendance upon Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson. "Jimmy" Sloan, who has traveled in ovory state, and almost every coun ty, in tho United States, as the guar dian of threo presidents, was assigned to duty at the White house 12 years ago. President Roosovelt onco Bald of him that if ho had a regiment made up of men like Sloan he could whip several regiments of men. Colonel Roosovelt was so fond of Sloan that ho wanted to make tho secret service man United States marshal of tho Danville district of Illinois, but "Uncle Joe" Cannon, then a power in tho house, had someone elso ho wanted for tho Job. Secretary Tu multy paid Sloan tho tribute of saying that no accident has happened to a president of tho United States during Sloan's connection with the service, and that ho deserves tho promotion he has received. RUSSIA'S LEADING SOLDIER Grand Duko Nicholas, who is giv ing such n good account of himself as commander in chief of the Russian armies in tho war with Germany and Austria, is a second cousin of tho em peror of Russia. Ho was born in St. Petersburg fifty-eight years ago and slnco his youth has been conspicuous In tho Russian army. Ho presents a striking contrast in overy respect to his father, who was a notorious profli gate. Tho present grand duke is uni versally respected. In 1907 ho was married to Princess Anastasia of Mon tenegro. Tho grand duko has often beon employed on special missions by Em peror Nicholas, who has always re posed tho utmost confidence in him. As in tho caso of nearly overy prominent momber of tho Russian Im perial family, tho grand duko has beon tho victim of several attempts at assassination. For a' number of years Grand Duko Nicholas has been recognized as tho foremost cavalry leader of Russia, if not of Europe Ho is very tall and a superb horseman. On several occa sions during tho war between Russia and Japan tho emperor was urged to appoint him to the supreme command of tho Russian troops in Manchuria, in tho placo of General Kuropatkln, and tho military authorities In Berlin, Lou don and other European capitals havo moro than onco expressed the opinion that tho Russian army would havo mado a far better showing if the emperoi had listened to this advlco. i A 1 - "5.M i it u