Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-04
If 1t Proves a success 1t win Be the
Greatest Invention of
the Age.
TFrom the Pal Mali Gazette /

the Pail Nal Gazette called upon him. NJ.
Apostoloff is tall and dark, his face be-
speaks energy and great determination.
He is Extraordinarily.
as it true" asked our representative,
"that you expect to perform the voyage
from here to Algiers in four hours?"
Certainly" replied NJ. Apostoloff. aMy
boat viii travel 100 knots an hour, that is
to say, five times quicker than the fastest
steamer have applied to navigation the
spiral principle, that is ALL"
1But what Is the spiral principle ?"
at is somewhat ditficult to put into
words. You know it takes longer to ham
mer nail into the wall than. to screw it
in. Again, in old days the ball from
gun went thus straight at its object
and hit perhaps at hundred yards Now
the ball is twisted out and goes immensely
quicker and much further. Still another
illustration: Why does a man swim
Because he agitates his arms and legs, you
reply. Very good. But why does a ser
pent swim ?" and NJ. Apostolof smiled
triumphantly "You do not know? Per-
haps YOU did not even know that he who
tempted our first mother swan at all. Yet
a serpent once in the water goes quicker
along than the fastest fish /"
"What suggested this idea to you?"
"When | was quite a young fellow my
regiment was ordered to Samara, where 2
bridge was being built over the river The
country is singularly bereft of stones, and as
they were absolutely necessary in making
the foundations of the bridge, the moujiks
extracted them from the bed of the cur
rent itself. And how? BY means of an
ingenious invent IN of their own. A rope
was coiled several times around the trunk
OF a large tree to the other dangled an
iron claw named koschka, which signifies
little cats claw. At touch from the
hand the beam turned round in the water,
the rope, unwinding itself with the rapidity
of lightning, descended and the claw
clutched hold of anything it found in the
bed of the river and at a reverse touch the
beam brought it up to the surface. Some
times very large stones were brought up in
this manner. This struck me greatly.
How intelligent of these poor peasants to
have discovered the spiral principle for
themselves. Simply dropping the rope
into the water would not have been Of any
good. If You doubt this, try it for yourself
with pencil and bit OF thread"
"Then suppose you began trying ex-
periments?'
Gust so. / tried many experiments,
| wishing also to discover some new motor
| to drive my boat along. Bet the great
| principle of the thing lay in the spiral
idea"
"But how can you apply the pencil and
thread plan to boat?"
"Thus: Ny boat to look at it is not IN
like long, rather pointed, egg in shape,
an egg round which has been twisted a
piece Of string 1t win reyolve rapidly in
| fact, the difference between the speed Of
my boat and the modern steamer will be
to quote myself again-the difference be-
! tween a blunt nail driven into the wall
and nail screwed in. You are wonder
ing where the passengers will go. Well
inside, for this egg-shaped form is only an
outside shell. Inside, fastened securely to
the beam running through it, is an inner
| shell, cabin, etc, which remains absolutely
steady as if on land You will note that
| the rudder is both perpendicular and hori-
zontal. This enables the steerer to direct
the boat up or down under the water, q
thing the usual torpedo boat cannot do
This is, roughly speaking, a torpedo boat
half In and half out of the water. My
Bateau Plongeur will remain habitually
| under water"
"Of what material will your Plongem
be made?"
'Of the strongest steel, to enable it tc
resist the great pressure of the water
| above it. On theother hand, the boat will
be very light, so light indeed that ii
case of any injury to the machinery, etc,
there will be no danger, for it will of itsel
rise to the surface of the water"
GLOW will the inhabitants of your little
craft breathe?"
every thirty-eight hours it must come
up for long, deep BREATH" answered NJ
Apostoloff, smiling. practically, the only
danger we have to fear is the outer shell
or corps tournant getting smashed, either
by running on to rock or encountering {
whale. Still, powerful electric light vii
shine through the belt of thick glass run
ming around the boat and will illuminate
the water depths above, below, and for &
hundred yards all round as"
"And will the Plongeur always remain
under waterw
'No, not necessarily so; but if it is hal
out of the water the speed of the corp:
tournant will be reduced by nearly half
the boat will proceed at a rate of eighty
knots an hour, instead of scuttling along
at 120 knots an hour"
"Your invention will be chiefly usefu
for the purposes of maritime warfare%
~ wish more to utilize my discovery fol
the purposes of commerce, but, of course
as torpedo-boat, it will be irresistible"
"Have you ever actually tried it your
self in water?"
| AYes. Some time ago in Russia on tn
! Volga. l was not rich, so l built my boa
| of tin, rather a foolhardy proceeding. I
steamer containing party of my friend
started to race me. In few minutes
had rushed far beyond it, and in fact dis
appeared entirely from their sight. Alas
cried they. Poor Apostolof has gone t
the bottom But after some time the
came up to me. l was resting comfortabl
on the bank Great, as you may suppos:
was their Joy and relief But the extrem
rapidity with which my boat had gon
causeu the TN, Vi WHICH IL was SOinposee
to smash up"
Sand when viii you have your era
in working order?''
'sBy January. 1t will be twenty eigh
metres long and about one half metre
through the thickest part. There viii b
room for twenty-five persons. My fir;
voyage will be to Toulon and back in 6ft
minutes; my next trip will be an attemE
to go to Algiers and back in eight hour
l now have fifty applications from peopl
anxious to go on the trial trip"
"Now, Mr.. Apostolof, We come to wha
! is Of course. an important item. Wher
does your motive force come from?"
"Ah, that is my secret. ! have Dis
covered new electric motor which canno
unluckiIy, be patented; that is why al
, keeping it to myself as long as / car