0 
smoke they found the opponent in another position, and had themselves to turn, 
either to avoid being rammed, or to get a fresh run to ram the enemy. 
For saluting and signal shots, which play a great part in naval affairs and 
require a considerable amount of powder, the ordinary powder would also be 
used. Not only because it is more suited for those purposes, but also for the 
sake of economy as all the smokeless powders that have been produced so far 
are far-and-away more expensive than the ordinary powder. 
On the other hand, in this instance smokeless powder might be used in excep¬ 
tional cases for the bursting charges of shell. Shell that had penetrated the 
skin of a ship, would, if filled with smokeless powder, very likely pass unnoticed 
by the crew, and so, like those mischievous red-hot shot once so dreaded by 
sailors, their penetration would first be noticed when the flames began to burst 
forth from the sides of the ship. Also the bursting of several large shell, filled 
with the ordinary powder, on and in the walls of a ship, would produce such a 
thick smoke that after a time an exact aim on some particular spot would be 
impossible. And in close quarter fighting it may often be necessary to hit one 
particular spot. 
One has only to recall to mind the concentrated broadsides of Admiral Tegett- 
lioff, which, although only fired from smooth-bores made such holes in the 
enemy’s armour plates that the Italians imagined they had been struck by shell 
from guns of enormous calibre. In the same way the A ustrian Coast Artillery¬ 
men fired shot after shot of their round shot and shell, into the port-holes of the 
“ Formadabile ” and the other hostile armoured frigates which had penetrated 
into the harbour of Lissa, and obliged them to decamp. Again, in the war 
between Brazil and Paraguay, the Brazilian armoured ships going down the 
Parana suffered a considerable amount of injury and annoyance for this reason, 
that the Paraguayans directed their very small guns on the enemy’s port-holes, 
and as they repeatedly struck the same spot they even occasionally succeeded in 
shattering an armour plate. But this requires a very accurate aim, which would 
be difficult if the shells were filled with the ordinary powder, especially if the 
fire was “rapid.” Besides the usually so important observation of the burst of 
a shell is not so difficult at close quarters even with smokeless powder, and is 
also not necessary for “ranging” purposes. 
In all the foregoing no argument has been brought against the introduction 
and use of smokeless powder. The advantages which speak in favour of it are 
too great to justify any serious opposition—and even where it is not in use it 
must soon be introduced, for the simple reason that the armies of neighbouring 
States have adopted it. We have only endeavoured to show that in many 
instances, and for a long time, the old powder can be used with advantage 
together with the new explosive, and that, at least at present, it is much to be 
preferred to the latter, when the attainment of certain particular objects is desired. 
The usefulness of the old powder has in no way been played out, and in more 
ways than one it is still indispensible. And even if that were not the case, but 
merely that in certain cases there would be no disadvantage in the use of the 
old powder, still, having regard to the costliness of the new explosive and the 
enormous stores of the old powder, the latter would have to be used whenever 
and as often as possible. Also the extraordinary demands which the maintenance 
of an army makes on the financial power of a State, in order to keep up with 
the advances in military materiel, and to prevent one’s own nation being sur¬ 
passed by one’s neighbours must be borne in mind, so that it is of the greatest 
advantage to the financier as well as to the soldier, when old materiel can be 
most advantageously used up and thus new materiel saved, especially when this 
can be done as easily and without the slightest disadvantage, as in the instances 
given above. 
Simla, 
26th June, 1891. 
