Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-12-16
SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOATS.
Tie Latest Step in Their Deyelopment-Condi-
tions Which Limit Their Usefulness.

: New York Sun.
The latest step in the Development of
submarine torpedo boats is novelty.
Lieut.. Zalinski, who has divided his stud
les and experiments at Fort Hamilton
between subp arine torpedo boats and
the dynamite shell throwing guns, pro-
poses to so arrange matters in his under
water boat that in case it should from
any. accident get permanently sunk In
reasonably shallow water-say ten or fif-
teen fathoms-the crew could escape to
the surface with their lives. The details
of his plan he is not yet ready to disclose
but in general he proposes that in case
he finds that the boat can not be raised
to the surface the men will dress them
selves in some sort of a divers
suit, which will OF course be as light and
contain as much air as possible. Then
they will open valve in the side of the
boat and let it fill with water. This done
the manhole on the top of the boat can
pc opened, and the men will crawl out
and rise to the surface. Divers say that
this is practicable, for, diving in the or
binary diving suits it is necessary for
divers to weight themselves heavily be-
fore they can reach the bottom. To
prove the efficacy of his devices Lieut..
Zalinski proposes to run his boat into a
dry-dock, and there submerge it with the
men (himself included), after which he
will fill it up and come to the surface.
That the men might save their lives even
if ia battle the boat should be sunk is ap-
parent, provided the new devices should
work as they are expected to dc. But the
chief value of the proposed improve
ment is the influence it will have on the
crew in working their vessel. Feeling
confident of escape in case of accident.
they will have less hesitation in making
experiments, and in time of battle would
attack the enemy with greater bravery.
Lieut.. Zalinski thinks, however, that the
influence of the submarine torpedo-boat
i'll it's present state of developement, in
time of battle has been greatly overesti-
mated. The speed of the boat with the
best-known appliances in every limited,
three or four knots being all that the best
boats can continuously attain. Even with
a speed of ten or twelve knots their
efficacy would not be so great as the I'M
informed believe it would be. Once under
water, especially in such water as flows
in New York harbOr, the navigators are
IN darkness compared with which the
blacklist of fogs on the darkest night at
sea is day light. 1t is easy work to light
th interior of the boat with the electric
light, but that does not aid the pilot in
finding the enemy: in fact, it might hurt
the chances of finding her, for pilots do
not want lights in the pilot-house. Only
such lights as would enable the men to
work the machinery would be wanted.
The power Of outside electric lights to
light NY the water around the boat, and
thus enable her to find the enemy, is so
limited as to be scarce worth mentioning.
Besides light powerful enough to illu-
inmate water would disclose the location
of the submarine boat to the enemy and
thus enable him to drop a dynamite
bomb on it and totally destroy it. The
submarine beat must get the bearings
of the enemy before it goes below the
water. If the enemy happened to be at
anchor, something not likhly to happen
in the case of a fleet blockading New
York for instance, the submarine boat
might work with fair success. The tide
however might upset the calculations by
drifting the boat out of its course, par
ticularly as the tidal currents usually run
in one direction on the surface while run
ming in the opposite below. To find
the exact position of way, at most 6Ox40
feet large, even when at rest in slack
water, would be a matter Of no little
for the submarine nevigators,
who would have to take their departure
from point several miles distant. 1t
would require several trips to the surface
to renew their bearings, and at such times
they would have to rely on the snallmess
of the pilot house to escape observation.
In case the enemy was steaming about,
if the ship had a modern speed
of say eifihteen knots an hour, the sub
marine boat would be of no more value
than torpedo at anchor, if the sub
marine navigators proposed to blow the
enemy out of water by attaching torpedo
to his heel.
Lieut.. Zahnaki thinks that the subpar-
inc boat must use some sort of torpedo
throwing gun like the ones used by the
ordinary tOrpodo-boat. Very naturally,
he thinks that the pneumatic gun which
he has developed will answer the purpore,
throwing as it does, an immense charge
of the explosive for two miles through
the air better than the Whitehead method
with a range of six hundred yards. Be
sides, the recent British experiments in
Portsmouth harbOr on condemned iron
clad showed that steel netting at thirty
feet from the ship effectually stopped a
Whitehead torpedo. It is apparent that
the chief value of a submarine boat is in
its ability to sink unebserved within easy
range of the enemy, and then rise to the
surface and discharge the projectile. It
can then sink out of sight, if necessary,
and either escape or prepare for another
attack.
The pneumatic gun which Lieut.. Zalin
ski is building for the new torpedo cruiser
ordered by the navy department will
throw a projectile with four hundred
pounds of nitro-gelatins in it. The con-
tract calls for two hundred pound pro
jectile, but the larger one is furnished in
order to more effectually demonstrate
the efficiency of this method of discharg
ing large quantities of high explosives.
HOW THEY MAKE 1T PAY.
Fellows Who Act as Go-Betweens for the Poll
ticians and Keep Up Style.
Like the lilies of the field, they reap
not, neither do they SOW, but the Fifth