Spanish Torpedo Taken from Harbor of Santiago.
In modern warfare explosives are coming more and more into use. Streets and thoroughfares as well as rivers, straights and harbors over which it is thought the enemy may pass, are mined with deadly explosives sufficiently powerful to wreck the mightiest battleship or overwhelm a large land force. Torpedoes are usually made in forms similar to a cigar, so that they may be projected under water, the sharp end going forward. As is well known, they can be arranged to explode by contact, a time fuse, or an electric wire. The sample death dealing instrument shown in this view provided with contact arms which, when struck, thrust a spike into the interior as shown, causing explosion by percussion. Doubtless it was some such contrivance as one of those described above, which, on Feb. 15th, 1898, tore into shred and sent to the bottom of Havana Harbor, our proud battleship “Maine,” together with nearly her entire crew.
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