The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-24

Appalling 10 contemplate
Cooped Up in These Steel CyIin-
ders, the Combntants Would Go
to Their Graves Heneath the
waves and the Details of the
Death Fight Never BE known.
CORRESPONDENCE The st. Paul Globe.
WASHINGTON. April 21 - Those
who talk so lightly of war;" remarked
q sage veteran of the United States
navy. who had spent good deal of
bis time cooped up in the narrow con-
fines of a torpedo boats interior, can
know little of the terrors. expected and
impossible to foreSee, that await the
naval men in a future war;" Prob
ably this veteran had in mind the sub
marine terrors that are going to t1g-
IRE in the next naval contest Certain
ii Is that the experts of the European
navies are fully alive to the fact that
their boosted steel protected, torpedo
equipped floating forts are of little
avail against the boat that steals up
beneath the waves and, while hidden
out of sight, sends a bolt into the VI
tails of the battleship or cruiser, ana
sinks her without those aboard know
ing the nature of the enemy before
whose attack they go down.
Spain at least is concerned about the
presence of the Holland and Plunger
among the fighting vessels that she
would have to grapple within the event
of a war with this country. 1t is re-
ported that Spain is seeking to ac-
quire possession of the Russian sub
marine destroyer invented by Sergius
Rokosfpky, and now lying somewhere
in the waters of the cars domlniOnS,
with the most particular care taken to
guard her against the pryng eyes of
foreign spies, for fear that this trump
card of the Russian navy be rendered
less effective when the time comes for
its use, by the fact that there are
others Of a like nature in existence.
Should Spain acquire this boat, the
dream Of Jules Verne will be improved
upon in a terrible manner, for the next
naval war may witness a fight beneath
the waves, in which the combatants
will be the submarine destroyers of the
hostile nations. 1t would certainly be
the strangest battle Of the century, and
almost impossible to invest with more
terrors than the mere fact of the fight
ing being all carried on beneath the
waves can give it.
Destructive Fighting Monsters.
The submarine boats will be the most
destructive fighting monsters that ever
invaded Father Neptunes territory
The Russian boat that Spain is report
ed TO be after has proved a successful
traveller beneath the waves, and rather
more is known about her by the naval
experts of foreign nations than the
Russian government would like to ad-
nit.
= 1t is known that the Russian boat is
about fifty feet long and that the in
terror is taken up almost entirely with
the operating mechanism. The only
portion of the boat above the water
when she travels will be the small con-
ming tower, in which the commander
stands. The means of propulsion is a
naptha or gasoline engine, operating an
ordinary small screw propeller When
in motion vertical rudders will effect
the lateral direction of the craft. On
each side of the center line and for
ward of the propeller are two horizon
tai rudders These rudders are pivoted
and regulate the depth of the rising
and diving of the boat. When it is de-
sired that the vessel shall dive, the
rear edges of the rudders are pushed
downward. This causes the stern to
move upward and the bow downward.
and the diving follows.
1t is understood that the armament
of the submarine boat is as follows:
One tornedo boat, which will eject
Whitehead torpedoes by means Of
either compressed air or gunpowder;
- two submarine projectile tubes or guns.
each OF which carries a projectile in the
form or thin shell charged with gun
cotton TO the extent of eighty pounds.
Ihls latter is a new method of offence
ana great things are expected of it in
action.
How the naval war of the future.
Fought with such strange craft as these
submarine boats, will be managed. and
what the outcome will be, are questions
that the men who make study of such
matters find it difficult to come TO a
conclusion upon. The more they study
the problem, the more the naval ex-
perts are convinced that the submarine
beats will bring the millennium nearer
Tor they cannot see how it will be pos
slbie to wage war under such remark
able conditions as will obtain when
battles are fought under the water in
stead of in the water.
Location Hard Nut.
The first difficulty encountered bv
those who study the subject is how on
earth, or rather on sea. it will be pos
sible to locate boat that travels I'M
der water Even though the vessel that
seeks to find her with hostile intent.
Is able herself to sink beneath the
waves, how can the great depth of the
ocean be searched successfully for such
tiny thing as a fifty-foot boat that
may be fathoms deep, or may be with
In few feet of the one that seeks her
without either knowing of the close
proximity. Warf O. e under such a state
OF things would Seem to be almost an
lmpossibility, but some think the DAYS
OF ocean fighting will not die with the
construction of submarine navies.
According to the builder of the Hol-
land submarine boat, John P Holland
1t is possible by the use of a water
telescope, and instrument devised to
correct the refracting power of water
that prevents the human eye from see
ing anything except in a very limited
range, for the occupants of the submar-
Inc boats to make out an enemy when
so far away as to leave a chance for
them to find each other when the crews
OF these boats are cropping for a fight
If 1t is possible to do this it makes sub
marine lighting probability, and it
is in order to discuss the outcome of
battle that would be fought under
these conditions. The thought is suffi-
GENTLY appalling to make the nerviest
hesitate before embarking on such a
trip,
When Encounters Are Fatal.
One features of such encounters. aw.
full to contemplate, is that no inkling