| Burns and scalds | 4,786 |
| Exposure and neglect | 1,299 |
| Homicide | 1,336 |
| Injuries by machinery | 120 |
| Railroad accidents | 2,349 |
| Suffocation | 2,339 |
| Sunstroke | 557 |
| Drowned | 4,320 |
| Gunshot | 2,289 |
| Infanticide | 40 |
| Suicide by shooting | 472 |
| Suicide by drowning | 155 |
| Suicide by poison | 340 |
| Suicide, other causes | 1,550 |
| Deaths by other injuries | 13,980 |
From the above, it appears that the total number of deaths from suicide, 2,517, exceeded the total from railroad accidents, and that the latter amounted to 65 in every 1,000 deaths from accidents and violence.
SUBMARINE TORPEDOES.
Harper, Kan.
How are torpedoes, for blowing up vessels, constructed and used?
Charles G. Boone.
Answer.—There are several kinds of naval torpedoes. They may be classed, as fixed—submarine mines—and locomotive. Of the first sort there are two classes, viz., the self-acting and those which must be exploded by the electric battery operated from the shore or some other means of direct ignition.
An example of the self-acting sort may be described as follows: Take a hollow iron cone; fill this in part with gunpowder, say 150 to 250 pounds, but not enough to overcome the buoyancy of the cone. In the top of this charge of gunpowder bury an iron case containing lime, and in it a thin glass tube filled with sulphuric acid. Connect this tube or vial with an iron rod running through the top of the torpedo cone, up to within a short distance of the surface of the water. From this upright rod let other rods, called feelers, extend horizontally in every direction; let the whole be anchored in the channel to be defended, so that these feelers will be so near to the surface that passing vessels will be likely to come in contact with one or more of them; in which case the shock will break the frail glass tube containing the sulphuric acid, which latter, acting chemically on the lime, will instantly generate sufficient heat to explode the charge and destroy the vessel. For a sample of the other class of fixed torpedoes, imagine a submarine magazine filled with gunpowder, or—better still for this purpose, gun-cotton, because water does not injure it—planted in a channel, connected with the shore by an insulated copper wire attached to a battery. Let a small piece of wire be soldered to the metal case of the torpedo, and unite this, in the priming chamber, with the shore wire by a fine piece of platinum. The moment the operator on shore connects the wire with the battery the current, meeting the resistance of this contracted bridge of platinum, heats it to incandescence and explodes the charge. By planting several parallel lines of such torpedoes across a channel, at no great distance apart, in such a way that the mines in one row stand opposite the open spaces in another, it is rendered extremely hazardous for a hostile vessel to attempt to pass. Of the locomotive submarine explosives, one of the most formidable is the Whitehead fish torpedo, the construction of which is more or less a secret, sold by the inventor to the English, Austrian, and Russian navies. The shape of the case is, as the name implies, that of a fish, and it is propelled by a screw driven by compressed air. From a peculiar carriage on shore, or more frequently on board a vessel, it is discharged in a direct line for the enemy’s ship, and is exploded by impact. It is a terribly destructive engine when it happens to strike, but its aim is uncertain. The American torpedo, of similar description in many respects, Harvey’s, is believed to be a more reliable and effective engine.
Finally there is the torpedo used to such good advantage in several instances during our late war, particularly in the case of the sinking of the rebel ram Albemarle. It is rigged on the end of a spar carried in the bow of a launch, and sometimes on outriggers on either side, and is exploded by contact with the vessel to be destroyed, at some point several feet below the water-line.