The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-08-25

An Alleged Feniau Torpedo Ram.
Mr.. H. Hubble, of l7s Broadway, was
the engineer that Delamater & Co. put
in charge of the construction of John
P. Hollands torpedo ram when the in
ventor first applied to them in May.
1879. He said yesterday:
81 have dissolved my connection with
Delamater Il Co., but I know Mr.. Hol-
land very well, and did all the engineer
ing work for him on the torpedo ram.
Holland is wide awake, and very
clever man. The boat is an undoubted
success, and am very glad of it, not
only because her construction was
carried on under my direction. but be-
cause l am glad to see that the idea
which Holland has so long championed
has at last been carried through to a
practical success. This ram is pro-
PEELED by a twenty horse power Brayton
motor which can be run with kerosene,
naphtha, or petroleum. One of these
motors has been put into a launch
which belongs to a friend of mine. and
he makes ten miles an hour all day long
OH less than ten gallons of kerosene.
The machines are very powerful. There
is one point about Hollands ram that
know nothing about-his invention for
purifying the air. The very engineer
he has on board of her is ignorant of
his secret, and he's too shrewd to allow
it to slip out, There is no secret. how
ever, about his torpedo. 1t is shot
through tube in the bow like ball
from 4 rifle, after the method invented
by John Ericsson. The inside of the
boat is filled with machinery. She is
steered by the aft rudder by means of a
lever, but the side rudders are worked
by complicated machinery. These side
or horizontal rudders enable her to
shoot up or down at any angle in the
water, and are very essential
"HOw long can q man stay under
water with herP'
about five hours would be the
maximum. The speel attainable is
not more than seven miles an hour be-
low the surface. It's very hot inside.
with all the machinery clicking about
ones ears and the steaminS motors I'M
der ones very feet; but the water in
side is cold, and serves to equalize the
temperature. The jacket about the
man trap has two windows fore and
aft, and two on each side, so that a
man can put his head up there when
he steers and look right into the heart
of the river. The glass is an inch and
half thick in this jacket to resist the
heavy pressure. The principle on
which the boat is constructed is well
known and thoroughly tested"
"Who paid for the boat?''
"The Fenian John j. Breslin was
at the yard every day, and watched
the work with the utmost care but I
am not prepared to state, in fact, 1
don't know, whether he paid for her
or not. only know that he was con-
stantly on hand. have been out of
town for some time, or l should have
gone down in her. will 60 as soon as
I get an invitation from her inventor,
for l believe in her all the way
through
A Paterson Land Lacquer and former
neighbor OF Mr.. Holland says he has
made submarine trip with Mr. Hol.
land in the boat. cit was on the 18th
of July" he said to a San reporter
yesterday. 1--WE started down near
Judge Van Brunt's place, and went
fully half a mile under water. Holland
made the boat do just what he wanted
it to do. There is dial on one side
that denotes the water pressure and the
depth below the surface. He can keep
q level course at any depth he desires,
and can ascend or descend at will. An
other gauge indicates the steam pres
sure. Still another shows the speed
and direction of the vessel. It was a
hot day, but the air was fresh and pure
in the boat, though we were under water
for an hour. The light that came in
through the bull's-eye lookout made
everything plainly visible inside. We
sailed at q depth of sixteen feet from
the surface, and could see everything
in the water for some distance. 1t was
sort of twilight. We saw the bot
toms of steamboats, and sailing YES
sells beneath which we passed. Only
once was it dark, and then we
ran into mud bank at the bottom.
That sent up clond of sediment that
turned the water into ink, and it was
some minutes after we assembled little
that we ran out into clear water. The
torpedoes are pushed out from the in
side by an ingenious arrangement SO
quickly that with six wooden ''dum.
miles, only three quarts of water get
into the forward compartment. That
can easily be pumped out again, for
sc, INV lot
ting water into the compartments or
pumping it out again. The exploding
torpedo does no harm to the ram.
Several real torpedoes have already
been discharged from it. 1t could blow
up any ship that floats. Holland is an
Irishman, and that is probably the
cause of the Fenian story; but that is
all there is in it. Holland could sell
the boat as it floats to one or two oil
three European Governments for $780,
600. His offers have come from five
comparatively small countries"
The Custom House authorities are
considering whether the vessel is not
lidble to seizure for being without a
license or name, and for carrying nc
lights at night.-M y Sun.
Thirteen Full-Grown Men Quietly
Robbed by a Mellow.voiced
'' Brigand. g."
H. M. Burton, the alleged stage rob.
Der, who was arrested in Pueblo and
brought to Denver, had his preliminary
examination before Judge Brace yes
terday afternoon. Burton is charged
with rObbinr the STAGE running be-