2-798-480 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Novel experiments in warfare - hut destroyed by a shell, 1844. Display of explosives in the grounds of Mulgrave House, Fulham [in west London]. A shell '...was suspended from a pole, and at a given signal was made to descend upon a substantially-constructed wooden hut, which it instantly shattered to pieces, the planks, rafters, &c. flying to immense height...The object was to show that the inventor has complete control over this destructive missile, and it appears that his control consists in the application of a percussion-cap of a peculiar kind; for Lord Ranelagh, one of the visitors, applied an ordinary cap, which exploded the first time without igniting the shell. On the inventor's cap being applied on the second occasion, the shell fell into a deep hole prepared for the purpose to prevent danger, and exploded with terrific force'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol V.