The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-17

air noars, which were SO graduated that
they were sunk by the weight of the net
few feet below the surface of the water.
from which position they held the net
suspended vertically.
This net, which was intended to pro-
tect the repeller against the approach of
submarine tornnedoee which might be
directed from the shore, was anchored
at each end, two very small buoys indi-
eating its position. The crabs then fall
ing astern, Repeller No. lay to, with
the sunken net between her and the
shore, and prepared to project the first
instantaneous motor bomb ever used in
warfare.
The great gun in the bow Of the vessel
was loaded with one of the largest and
most powerful motor bombs; and the
spot to be aimed at was selected. This
was point in the water just inside Of
the mouth of the harbor, and nearly a
mile from the land on either side. The
distance Of this point from the vessel be-
ing calculated, the cannon was adjusted
at the angle called for by the scale of
distances and levels, and the instrument
Indicating rise, fall and direction was
then put in connection with it.
Now the director-in-chief stepped for
ward to the button, by pressing which
the power of the motor was developed.
The chief of the scientific corps then
showed him the exact point upon the
scale, which would be indicated when
the gun was in its proper position, and
the piece was then moved upon its bear
ings SO as 70 approximate as nearly as
possible this direction.
The bow of the vessel now rose upon
the swell of the sea, and the instant that
the index upon the scale reached the de-
sired point, the director-in-chief touched
the button.
There was no report, no smoke, no
visible sign that the motor had left
the cannon; but at that instant
there Appeared, to those who were
on the lookout, from a fort about
n mile away, a vast aperture in
the waters of the bay, which was
variously described as from 100 yards to
500 yards in diameter. At that same in
slant, in the neighboring headlands and
islands far up the shores of the bay, and
in every street and building of the city,
there was felt sharp shock as if the
underlying rocks had been struck by
gigantic trip hammer.
At the same instant the sky above the
spot where the motor had descended was
darkened by a wide spreading cloud
This was formed of that portion of the
water of the bay which had been in
Simultaneous raised to the height of about
thousand feet. The sudden appear
BILE than the yawning chasm in the
waters Of the bay, or the startling shock,
but it did not remain long in view. 1t
had no sooner reached its highest eleva-
ton than it began to descend. There
was a strong sea breeze blowing, and in
its descent this vast mass of water was
impelled toward the land.
1t came down, not as rain, but as the
waters of vast cataract, as though
mountain lake, by an earthquake shock,
had been precipitated in body upon
valley. Only one edge of it reached the
land, and here the seething food tore
away earth, trees and rocks, leaving be-
hind it great chasms and gullies as it
descended to the sea.
The bay itself, into which this vast
body of the water fell, became a scene
of surging madness. The towering walls
of water which had stood up all around
the suddenly created aperture hurled
themselves back into the abyss, and down
into the great chasm at the bottom of
the bay, which had been made when the
motor sent its shock along the great rock
beds. Down upon, and into, this roar
ing, boiling tumult fell the tremendous
cataract from above, and the harbor be-
came one wild expanse of leaping, mad
dened waves, kissing their whirling
spray high into the air. =
During these few terrific moments
other things happened which passed I'M
noticed in the general CONSERVATION.
All along the shores of the bay and in
front of the city the waters seemed to
be sucked away, slowly returning as the
sea forced them to their level, and at
many points up and down the harbor
there were submarine detonations and
upheavals of the water.
These were caused by the explosion, by
Conclusion of every torpedo and subma-
zine battery in the harbor; and it was
v7ith this object in view that the instan-
famous motor bomb had been shot into
the mouth Of the bay.
The effects of the discharge of the mo-
ipr bomb astonished and even startled
those on board the repellers and the
the crabs. AT the instant of touching
the button hydraulic shock was felt on
Repeller No 1. This was supposed to be
occasioned by the discharge of the mo-
tor, but it was also felt on the other YES
Gels. 1t was the same shock that had
been felt on shore, but less in degree.
q few moments after there was a great
heaving swell of the sea, which tossed
and rolled the four vessels and lifted
the steel protecting net so high that for
IN instant parts of it showed themselves
;.bove the surface like glistening sea
ghosts.
Experiments with motor bombs had
lien made in unsettled mountainous dis
tficts, but this was the first one which
lad ever exerted its power under water.
On shore, in the forts, and in the city,
10 enc for an instant supposed that the
terrific phenomenon which had Just &C.
CURED WAS in any way due to the YES
GELS Of the syndicate. The repellers