Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-29

to navigation.
Such secrecy Is
maintained regarding the vessels of this
kind which have been newly constructed
abroad that up to date nothing very def
mite has been made public about them.
The submarine boat as II actually swims
today, Is like a huge fish. $50 feet or more
in length-a fish with a single great eye for
surveying the ocean all around, while the
creature itself Is under water. and with
lungs capable Of holding enormous quanti-
ties Of compressed air.
The fish has fins-pectoral fns-on the
sides not Tar from the nose They are hogt-
zontal rudders. for driving. The tall Is
formed by two similar rudders. to help in
the same movement
screws driving the boat Though batteries
take up a good deal Of room, they make no
smoke require no fuel. and need no supply
Of air. The captain has only to touch
button and the craft responds.
The interior Of the vessel lighted by
electricity, Is almost wholly occupied by
machinery. There Is no room for oficers
or crew to sleep or eat, II they want shsn 1000;
sandwiches The boat is built FOR business
and not for pleasure.
Cruises are very short, because at brief
intervals the craft must return to port to
have her storage batteries filed with cleo
tricity. She can run under water for four
teen hours, at the rate of ten knots an
hour. before exhausting her supply OF
power.
An Indicator shows the depth at which
she is running. 1t Is not desirable to travel
far beneath the surface on account OF the
feet down. would crush the boat; besides.
there Is no object in doing SO.
Seeing and Yet Not Seen.
As for speed. ten knots an hour IL quite
"a fast as one could wish to travel under
water. To go more rapidly would greatly
increase the danger. 1t should be remem-
bered that the fish moves In a liquid gloom
and sometimes In complete darkness.
How navigate. then?
It is simple enough.
The fish has an eye. and very wonderful
organ OF vision II is
Let us suppose that the boat Is maneu-
vering under water In the neighborhood OF
q hostile fleet. The captain wishes to take
q view Of his surroundings. He rises to
Presently q metal tube q foot In diameter
shoots up from the top Of the vessel high
enough for Its upper extremity 70 emerge
The tube contains telescope lenses and IL
provided with a reflector. The lower end Of
1t descends into the steering room. where
there is piyoted circular table covered
the device Is q camera obscura. By shift
ing the table the captain can see for miles
all around. Every sail on the ocean--every
as IL he stood on the deck of a ship with q
good glass in the open air above.
1t is the eye Of a lobster improved.
Perhaps the crab serves better for the
purpose Of similituda The crustacean, de-
sirous OF hiding from an enemy, covers IT
self with sand completely, leaving only its
eyes. each OF which 10 on q long stalk. pro-
5ecting out 1t sees everything while itself
invisible. tr-.
Having ascertained his location and sur
roundings, the captain takes in his metal
tube and steers by compass. That instru-
ment in a boat Of steel would be thrown
out OF all accuracy. and on this account the
craft Is built OF bronze, save for some small
parts that must be Of the harder metal
Bronze Ia but slightly magnetic.
Breathing Under Water.
Such q submarine boat carries two officers.
q couple OF machirists and eight men,
These twelve persons must breathe, and the
air which they require Il taken aboard
like SO much fuel. II Is forced into metal
walled compartments under such great
pressure that q supply takes up but little
room.
The bronze fish does not have to 60 to
its shore station in order to have fresh air
pumped into its lungs. It can do that for
itself. rising to the surface for the purpose.
However. even this IL not necessary. The
fish may take breath while under the water
atmosphere
the boat has become vttiated after several
hours of submarine travel. She ascends to
within q few feet Of the surface and rests
there while three metal tubes shoot I'D from
her high enough for the upper ends OF them
to emerge out Of the water. Through these
windpipes she sucks In all the fresh air she
wants and stores II away under pressure In
her compartments.
There Is another very important use for
the compressed air. The boat, let us say,
Is at the surface Of the water. The captain
wishes to descend. He touches the button
that acutates the mechanism which lets
for the purpose. This 10 continued until
enough water has entered the vessel to all
but overcome her buoyancy. Then-the
boat having headway-the fin-like rudders
dicator shows the desired depth. she re-
sumes the horizontal
After a time the captain desires to return
to the surface All he has to do is to open
communication, by touching O button, be-
tween the compressed air compartments
and the water-filled compartments. The ex-
panding air rushes into the latter. driving
the water out. The vessel regains her
buoyancy and rises.
The French Boat.
Nothing has been said yet as to the ire
mendous weapons with which the subma-
rine boat Is provided. From her nose pro-
ject two eighteen-inch torpedo tubes. one
stroy a great ship. Struck by such a pro-
jectile which explodes on impact, the most
powerful armored vessel ever built will
sink at once. The proud battle ship-a fioat-
ing mass of machinery that has cost five
millions OF dollars to construct-is trans
formed. In moment, into an iron coffin.
carrying officers and crew to the bottom.
The mighty fish glides away, to come up
presently to breathe and look around upon
the scene Of the destruction she has caused
herself at the same time invisible and
safe from pursuit.
No better subn arine boat now exists than
the Gustave Zede, property OF the republic
OF France. 1t IL q cigar-shaped vessel
cylindrical In section, 100 feet long. twelve
feet In diameter. and weighing 30 tons. II
has battery for each horse-power-that Is
to say, 720 batteries in all for motive power
To insulate so much electricity Is difficult
Only the other day 100 of the Zede's bat
teries blew up. causing a damage Of per-
haps $4,000.
Experiments with the Zede In the Medi-
terrarean have been highly successful. Con-
ditions there are rather exceptionally favor
able, and so. for the sake of getting more
points on the problem, a smaller boat on
the same pattern, about half the size-of the
Zede, is now being built on the English
channel at Cherbourg. II will be called the