The Dickinson press., 1888-04-21
LIGHT UNDER WATER.
ELECTRIC ILLUMINATION OF THE
DEPTHS OF THE SEA.

An Experiment Which Was but the Bee
:innim.-t search for Fi>l.-Ih" l:lcc-
tr:c Light Reveals Crcaturc> Never Be
fer. seen by Man.
WAs it Was discovered that an artificial
light Tia: very ciu>clv resembles the natural
ll@!., al day could be procured from electric
lily. aid iliai it could lie >" easily provided
Is i" take. il a great measure, the place of
Gus ior Lighting purposes, everybody WAS
naturally a>tuiis'le,l and thought that the
electricians We're the greatest mol on earth.
Tie new system was hardly old enough to le
all assured success before Il lot of wise men
began considering the altvisahilly Of devot-
ins ,his light t" q greater purpose than that
ui merely lighting UP the huiii,;rum affair
OF every ,tay life.
rs an experiment Il small iucanleScent
high. WIS thrust beneath the water in n foam
t2j,.. The effect was superb while it lasted.
lu; the water managed to work its way into
III" eiule. and tie light was cxtinsuiSl!el.
Tais gave the electricians something 10 think
a"Tit. AMI they began immediately to rack
ti".' brains t"r Il means of keeping the water
away fro::: lhe sol,cr OF light. y coating of
rlhl"r va, i:.t,ll.y placed over the joint
wi":c thu :-i:Ss globe joins thu brass holder,
aul over ;iis was drawn IL rubber bag that
tittc'! tightly over Tic top nj Ia" globe and
around the pipe through which Tie Wire is
passed. This promised To Lac successful, hut
Il brief experiment showed lhat tie glass was
not s;rolg enough to stanl TIL. pressure of
winter, and. at,or lt ling exposed 10 il for II
short tine, would collapse. y globe was
then made OF plate slas, that proved able to
stand the strain.
SEARCH FOR FISH.
For some time this WAS only used in light
ing mp fountains lv way OF an ornament.
Then ii occurred to I'r"t,>sor Baird. of the
United States ;i,h commission. that if a light
Guild lie used under water it would prove of
Great advantage To him in lis search for iisl.
that never allowed themselves to Inc caught
10y any oil the old fashioned methods. He
believed THAT there existed at Il great depth
IN Til. ocean various Kinds of fish that had
l.rNcr Leen seen. Every t"y who has eyer
lived near the water knows that a favoritc
method Of catching tels i, tnlmc them within
sicaring distance by a bright light placed in
HE how of a boat. Light not only attracts
tvis, but nearly everything "ls. That lives in
the water. and the professor was sur. that if
4! ll-ti 'hllll M lniitlc 10 i've at u great tlttJln
in The water the reward would lac great.
The steamer -Albatross of the commission
was provided with an cngin" and Il dynamo.
a liberal supply of heavy glass giolcs that
would hold a light equal TO lii" lighting
power of 100 candles WAS Placed on hoard,
and. equipped with other necessary articles,
such ;s a lot of insulated! wire, IL large guam
thy of light, strong rope. and n number of
i.,u,-N- ,Nnirtts I a, .r.t-. ,SS,nl.,,. tl,,g , ,,,r
started out. The first attempt was mlSrcccss-
full. for at Il depth of 1000 %fa,l"lns the pres.
sure was so great upon the @loI" that i:
broke. Another trial was speedily made
with heavier. globes. and !iley wri,. found
t,! 10 stand the pressure Of any depth to
which they could lac sunk. But the most
wol,lprfuI part al this trial trip. which took
place something like three years ago. was rc-
lated I" Secretary Frank $. Hastings, of tho
Edison Electric Light company, by Professor
Baird.
NJ Il point near the Bahamas. according Ia
the professor, thu light was dropped over
board and sunk by lnrals of heavy weights
tn nearly Loco iliioms below the surface.
Uu the deck of the vessel stomci the crew with
n,ts ready h. drop them under the fish that
Nri' liiirl tloul Shrir homes in the great
,lvith. lie light was allowed to remain in
the water for some time, and then it was
slowly raised. 1t l%"uici ike the reflection OF
Il star i'll the waiter az first. and its rays were
seen. ai'l i'll them We're visible the forms of
darling fish. The light soon lit up the water
tur twenty feet around. and il weird ;issort-
inclli uf fish that had never before been heard
TT WIS >CcIl. When hear the surface tho en-
trail, ol some oi these fish burst from their
mouths. The professor ~ascri!cl this said
Mr.. Hastings. "to the inward pressure. Ma,
ture had made them so that they could live
in the Great depths in which they were found,
and when this pressure of the deep water wa;
reint,vei there WAS Il countcracting fore,
Thai killed them"
BARI .AHD CURIOUS SPECIMENS.
The dead fish We're just as useful for tho
purpos, for which the professor wanted then
as live ones. and lie gathered i'll II great
many rare and curious specimens without
much trouble. Tho light was also used I,
good purpose for discovering the varion.
depths in which different kinds of fish lived
1h" cost of lifting up Il steamrr with tn,
necessary apparatus to produce electric ligll
is about :l.ooo. hut this first cost would III
counterbalmced by tn" clcapneSS of TIN
light it would produce. The cost of light
roughly cstilnated. would not be within one
sixth is much as the cost of the usual metho,
OF lighting.
The United States torpedo station at New
port is experimenting with electricity il
order IN expose by its rays my obstruction
That might lie in the path of II vessel. Tn
experiments have reached that point wlcr
it i, certain that the water cam be readil
illuminated for II space sufficiently great I
Show a passage for a vessel. The difficulty
i'll regard to the propelling of this light ut
DISTANCE sufficiently far ahead to enable
vessel to swcrve from its course or come to
full stop before striking Il revealed obstru,
ton. The lca of these experiments is I
show. in times of war, explosives that Ii
beneath the water.
In the West Indies and the Bahamas. wllel
valuable she'll, and spongcs lie deep in IL
water. the Scalchers after these articles huS
It box with q glass bottom. The top is open
LII the box is placed u lamp, and then IL
glass bottom is pressed down in the watt
until it is slightly below the surface. III
water directly below the box is perfect.
smooth. and it is possible to see through II
water for nearly ninety feet. Mr.. Hastin,
thinks that this same system could he adopt,
with the electric light, which would throw
stream of light much stronger than could
obtained hy any other means. y boy w
recently drowned at Winchendon, Ma.
Two days later his body was discovered
means of un electric light that was thru
under water by a pole. In the clearing al
raising of wrecks the electric light, it
thought, will be OF great value.-New No
Sun.
Instantaneous photographs.
Instantaneous photographs of birds fyi
are valuable for physiological uses, but I;
certainly not artistic. The British Jour-