The age-herald., 1898-05-22
VERY EXCITING
 SUBMARINE TRIP
On Her First Trip the Holland Stuck in the Mud Fathoms
 Under the Water.
From the Philadelphia Times.

From the Philadelphia Times.
 Captain Hollands first trip in his sub marine craft was attended with an acei- dent which proved very exciting for few minutes to the people on board. After her lines were cast off she was headed for Robbins Reef Lighthouse. about mile away. When about midway between it and the Jersey shore Captain Holland said: Hold fastl I'm going to dive down to the bottom" As he said this he opened the valves, allowing the water to enter her submerging tanks, and properly deflected her stem fins or side rudders, so that they threw her stern up and her nose down..
 Down, down, she went for a minute or more" relates a man who was aboard her, land presently her nose stuck in the mud at the bottom and sine came to a full stop with a suddenness which would have thrown us down had we not been holding fast to our supports. The instant Cap tain Holland felt the vessel stop he said: Well, here we are Then he stopped the engine, and, reversing it, prepared to back out. As he did this I therw over the rud- der, first port and then to starboard, just as I would If we were on the surface, in order to wiggle wagle her stern and help release her. This maneuver I kept up for prODdDly two minutes, put the podt uio not budge one inch Then 1 remembered and so did Hollandh that the mud bank in which we yere fast was of a particu- larly stick, pasty, clayey and adhesive character. He stopped the propeller engine a minute and then set the pumps to work to expel the water from her tanks in or der to Tighten her up and make her as buoyant as possible
 Tt took several minutes to empty the tanks, and then he reversed the engine and set the propeller going again, hoping that noy she would back out of her slimy em- brace with ease. She did not, however. but remained as firmly fixed in the grasp of the mud as though she was clamped in an iron vice
 "The boat contained tanks of fresh air, but both myself and Captain Holland knew that there was only sufficiency or Ito maintain our lives for few hours.
 "We had been fast in the mud probably three minutes when Holland said: 1T will try the pneumatic gum This gun formed the rear of tube in the bow of the boat through which torpedo could be dis charged. He charged 1t as high as it would bear with compressed air and then touched it off. In a second I knew that we were free, for the instant the boats nose was released from the grasp of the sticky mud 1t became so light through the fact that the water tanks in 1t were empty that it rose far above an even keel. We breathed freely in more than the literal sense
 "Captain Holland, now assured that we were rising to the surface, applied full force ahead to the propeller. In less time than can tell you we reached the surface of the water, and through the coming tower l saw that we had come up very close, to a man who was fishing from a skiff. He evidently had not heard of the Holland submrine boat, and thought we were an aquaeous monster of some fearful character, for, letting his line go, he sprang to his oars and pulled for the shore with a speed which would have excited the admiration of Ned Hanlan himself.
 "I headed our boat for Bayonne, and in ten minutes we were again safe in our dock. When the cap of the coming tower was removed I scrambled up on deck and then made the best of my way to the wharf. As did turned and looked at what had come so near being my iron coffin, and I saw that its nose had been thrust fully fifteen feet into the mud and then marvelled that was alive"