Show NEW AERIAL TORCH enables scout to make Ob observations servas at night capable of illuminating battlefield protecting itself finally exploding with terrific effect prominent military officers have expressed their approval ot of a flaring torch the late development of a texas inventor that Is primarily designed to enable an aerial scout to make observations behind enemy lines at night the instrument has a number of ingenious features and as a whole the earmarks of being not only an effective fec tive but also a destructive weapon it Is potentially capable of brilliantly illuminating a considerably considerable area of a battlefield for a period of ten minutes formidably protecting itself against disturbance in the meantime and finally exploding destroying whatever may be within 30 or 40 feet it has three major parts the base consists of a pointed cone that houses a heavy bomb on one side of this la is fixed a cylinder holding a quantity of powder for priming purposes at the middle radiating in all directions a couple of feet from the bottom are 35 rifle barrels arranged in tiers of seven surmounting these Is a tank containing a special ponder that gives off an intense light when ignited capping the top is a parachute shaped reflectors that serves the tha double function off of f properly distributing the light rays an and d in a degree breaking the fall of the torch which Is supposed to be dropped from an airplane in its present form the apparatus weighs 38 pounds and it Is estimated that three or four like it could be conveniently carried li a military biplane As needed they would be released by the observer so as to strike desired points within the elnes the device Is balanced so that it fulls falls point down and from an average height will penetrate the ground for a distance of about a foot thus firmly anchoring itself s elf the resulting impact discharges a percussion cap that ignites the cylinder of priming powder this touches off the illuminating substance and ignites a series of time fuses connecting each of the rifles while the torch flares brightly throwing its light in all directions across a field the rifles discharge one after the other making any attempt to overturn it exceedingly hazardous at the same time that the light extinguishes itself a fuse leading to the bomb in the base it Is lighted the explosion of the latter demolishes the torch and does damage to anything near it |