The torpedo has already played very important part in the present war and in the immediate, future it is likely to prove a most Gestructive weapon. The British ud German torpedo have the same origin, but it is believed that our Tatest projectile has a greater tinge. There are two fundamental differences between shell and a torpedo. The shell is fired upwards, whereas the torpedo is fired from w tube either above or below the water line and runs slong under the water at a depth that can be arranged beforehand by means of adjustments within the torpedo. The second main difference is that while the shell owes its velocity to the explosive charge by which it is expelled from the gun, the torpedo carries its propelling machinery within ite own body. It may be expelled from the tube by means of compressed air or by a smal! charge of gunpowder, but as soon as it strikes the water a stop is released by means of which its own engines, driven by compressed air, come into play. In the latest Bri torpedoes the compressed air heated by means of @ secret arrangement invented by a naval engineer officer, with the result given amount of air drives the torpedo much further. The modern torpedo is cigar-shaped, with a blunt nose. The nose itself consists of m series of "whiskers" by which the charge is fired, even if only a glancing blow is struck.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.