The Lamar register., 1898-07-20

years ago . range szder for artomst-
icsily finding distances st sea 1t is
one oil tho most useful cnntrfvsnces on
afipboard and is worth an immense
sum to the navy. Another OF Lieut..
E'iske's invs=iions was the siadsueter
very clever modification os she sex
tant. BY which II Is possible TO measure
the distance OF ship from the height
OF It's mast or smoke stack Ssili snoth-
er was range indicaior-an clectricai
device Tor signaling from the coming
tower to the gan captain tho direc-
tion and distance OF the enemy. Th.s
is ntted on nearly all cur ships.
Captain sigShes of the st. Paul. Il an
inventor. The navy now uses a deep,
sea sounding apRaraius and parallel
raiers for navigation Of his invcnsson,
Lieutenant Dsshiell invented
hreech Iaaekanisn which was a great
Improvement on an that had preceded
It. Il vas adopted hy the navy depart
msnt in 1855. and was introduced on
many rspId-frr EH1s This device en-
ahled the man At The brefeh Of the gun
10 do with one motion shat had RiEays
taken two. In the aFeeeh mechanism
the plug had TO BE- turned with one
motion until Il unlocked. and then
Withdrawn with another nlotiaa. But
BY an arrangement OF c0gs I.seutspant
DNshieii made the pun o. lever turn
the plug uutii il was unlocked and
then withdraw f. The reverse mo-
tion Of the Ieser drove the plag home
and thea turned Il unIii Il locked The
Dashictl machRnism has been xuppiant.
ed by the Fletcher mechanism. bat Il
Is stiil to be found on some rapid. Ore
guns
Lieutenant W u. Drixgs and Lieu
tenant Ssaton Schroeder are the iavsn-
tors of a rspid-fre mechanism, whieh
Is Of the same class "a the ws1t-knawu
HOichkiss gun. Il Is applied TO one
poGnasr and six. pounder gunS This
Invention Is owned by a private cor
poration. unlike uest % the navy in-
ventionE. which helonK 10 the govern
meat.
Commodore John A. Howell r. the IN
scntor az ,hs automobile torpedo.
which bears his name. its mechanism.
consisted chiefly Of heavy cog Uasel
made 70 Tryaivs AZ hixh rate OF sped
before the torpedo - pat in she wA;er.
Cummoaore Howell sold thts inxcnilaa
TO the Ho;ehkiss company. and for
time drew a royalty on ST o; late 9
has been suppiantsd BY the white
head torpedo
Lieutenant Joseph Strauss Va the IN
ventrr Of Improvements in mounfinx
turres gun& He conceived the idea Of
the double tnrref. hAsias an eiEat-tarh
turret placed on tcp os a thiTtcen-tneh
tnrrc;. a. used on the battieshlrs
KesrAarse and Kentucky. which seTe
launched not long ago At NsSport
SeNs
Chief Constructor fshIiip Hiehoorn ia
vented the Franklin life buoy, and sald
Il 20 > epueern In Bath. Ne. Il y a self
lighting haoy Two small TIN cases at
tached TO It contain. phusphlde % cal
cinm- Shoppers to these cases are. al
tached 10 ths ship. 70 that when The
buoy i thrown into the watet the aaop-
pers are withdrawn. and when the buoy
strikes the WAter the combination Of
the chemical with the water makes a
hriEhi aame.
Lieutenant xegy. late IL the navy,
devised a set Il signals ~hieh arc now
IN use. not only in our hayfes hai in
ali the navies or the world Ltegten-
ant Harbet, o. Dann fnxanted stock
less anchor. which Is now IN use or
some naval sessels- Lisaienants Van
Duxef and Mason were she inventors
Of an ingenious electric steering gear
Lieutenant Fiske and Lieutenant La-
Glen Young are the joint inventors os
boat detaching apparatus Chief Engi-
neer Harry Webster invented a elmo
meter. used 10 determine thc angle roll
Of d ship. Chief Engineer Nathan p
Towne is the inventor OF an improved
boiler Lieuienants niehl and Gibson
are inventors OF compromising bin
nacie." designed to neutraiize the mag
netism Of steel ships hull. Passed
Assistant Engineer Tobin is the in
ventor OF the famous Tobin bronze.
much used for huils Of racing yachts
and for the shells OF torpedoes. and
Prof. E. c. Munroe. OF the navy. is
the inventor OF the high explosive
tjovite."
These are only samples Of the many
contributions to inventions which naval
offtrsrs have made Their inyentfys