Show FIGHTING WITH LIGHT professor henry morton morten in a recent report to the franklin frankiin institute sti tute gives the following db description of the use of the calcium ight light during the of fort hort wayne on james island opposite charleston the front of fort wayne toward which the advances of the united states forces wore were made was about seven hundred yards la length while tho the approaching proa pro cling aching saps were confined to a nar row strip of solid land about fifty yards across the rest of the fort being covered by one side and the we ocean on the other for this neason reason neason reason when the tho head of the sap had been pushed to within two hundred and fifty yards of the fort further advance was rendered impossible because the zig would be bd enfiladed from one side or another b by fur fyr the tho g guns un at ht the tha extremities of the fort t I 1 etwas it was under these conditions no advance having been made for several days lays and the loss in the tren trenches clitis being very heavy that the calcium lights were wore first tried two of these with jets one eighteenth of an inch in diameter burning about fourteen cubic feet of gas per hour houn were set up at the extreme left of the second parallel about seven hundred and fifty yards distant front froni the tho fort these jets were supplied from large reservoirs fiffe fifteen en inches by eight feet each capable of holding two hundred and wid fifty cubic feet bath the gases were made on the island in a laboratory established for the purpose where a detail of twenty soldiers and and twelve negros were constantly employed din in the manufacture manti mantl facture and compression of the gases for use in various ways waya connected with the military operations at this point suei such as the prevention of blockade ri running inning at night of sending supplies and troops 0 0 pa to eort fort sumter ac the two ligh lights ts above mentioned were BO so arran arrad arranged e d with parabolic mirrors as to throw sectors of light over one half of the fort and the other over the remainder ma inder the ji eld eid of light being sharply cut by the diaphragm so as not to re reach uell tell below the edge of the parapet the effect of this was to make every motion and each figure on the rebel works perfectly clear to those in the trenches while tho the space below froin from the ditch of the fort to the saps and parallels was wa hid in impenetrable darkness the tile union riflemen and sharpshooters in fact were able to th leave the protection of thoin their works with impunity while on the contrary r nil nii ii li 11 the gunners in ift the fort were exposed to fire the tile consequence se sequence quente was that within twenty minutes atter after the starting of the lights the fort from a constant fusillade fusi lade had been ir kept ept tip up ever since the tho th e darkness had set in was absolutely absolute silenced and remained so during the night tage was wag of course taken of this condition to push forward the sap and by the end of the second night such progress r 0 had been made that the eastern nasf nast 6 r n angle of the fort was entered and the work becoming no longer tenable was abandoned by its garrison of course every available gun was brought to bear upon the lights from the neighboring 1 batteries but these dazzle dazzling ng points 1 seem to have been very hard objects to aim at for though some bome of the reser reservoir were hit by fragments of shell and still bear the depts so inflicted thew the apparatus 7 was never seriously dal dai damaged natel 0 |