174 
Offensive and Defensive 
[March, 
officers, who rightly advised the Government not to purchase 
the exclusive secret, for which Mr. Whitehead demanded 
jCza ooo, an incident unnoticed by Commander Sleeman, who 
also passes over in silence the following farts which certainly 
pertain to the history of this subjert. For torpedoes were, 
alas l not to be confined to civilised belligerents ; and as 
there are in all times and ages uncrupulous individuals who 
do not hesitate to make war on mankind, so the commercial 
world was startled by a communication, published in June, 
187^ by Mr. H. F. Hemming, Consul for Venezuela, stating 
that small torpedoes, made to look like lumps of coal, had 
been artually despatched from France to a Venezuelan port, 
not named, where a steamer was to be laden with goods of 
little value, but heavily insured, and this vessel would be 
sent to sea. having these coal torpedoes on board, in the 
exnertancy that she would be lost and the speculators gam 
a large sum. A few days later the “ Times’’ published a 
letter from “ Warhawk ” on the same subjert, and the 
French Minister of Marine issued a warning circular on the 
same subjert.* Fortunately this timely information put the 
insurance agents on the qui vive, and no explosions or total 
loss of insured vessels could be traced to this cause. But 
it does not follow that none have taken place since the scare 
has been forgotten, and thus it is not out of place to remind 
the public of such hidden dangers ; and the underwriters at 
Lloyd’s should remember that “ Magna fiencla latent is the 
apposite motto adopted by the torpedo school-ship, H.M.S. 
Vernon These coal torpedoes or coal-shells , models ot which 
were artually exhibited in London (?), were made of gun- 
metal and probably contained dynamite with fulminate of mer- 
cury so arranged that they would explode in a certain fixed time 
after being thrown into a steamer’s furnace, which would give 
timeforthe operator to escape, or, if placed in the coal bunkers, 
would find their way in due course of time to the fires during 
the voyage : thus the expenditure incurred m fitting out and 
loading the insured vessel would be not only recouped, but 
a handsome sum in insurance gained besides. . 
In 1875 another species of torpedo was invented, and, 
like the coal-torpedo above, it was rather sub-aerial than sub- 
marine. This was the infernal machine employed by Thomas, 
and the premature explosion of which, at Bremerhaven, in 
^75, caused such destruction,! although its results were 
* See “ Saturday Review,” December 25, 1875, p. 809, from which we ex- 
tr ^ ^^hund^^and Vwenty-eight persons killed, besides the wounded, about 
sixty in number. 
