The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-11
FRENCH SUBMARINE RoATs

| FRENCH SUBMARINE BOATS.
The submarine navigation question
has become one of the topics of the
hour in France, and the experiments
which have been carried out with the
Gustave-Zede have provoked an enor-
nous amount Of interest and contro-
versy In the mind Of the average
Frenchman, his country now possesses
a weapon before which great ironcads
Will be powerless, and which will ena Bile
France to overcome her direct enemy
with ease Whether the new boat will
prove as effective as It's supporters
fondly imagine and hope remains to be
seen. Meanwhile, the Partisan press
daily devotes columns to a discussion of
the possibilities of this addition to
modern war appliances. The Matin,
whose subscription for presenting one
| of these vessels, to be called lie Fran
! Gals, to the state, has reached a total
of, 17S.501 francs publishes long in
terview with a prominent naval officer
attached to the Ministery of Marine,
entitled, what Would Have Hap
pened?" in which the officer endeavored
to show that with one vessel of the
Gustave-Zede type the Spaniards could
have forced the United States to raise
the blockade of Havana, and would also
have been the means of forcing the
American fleet to withdraw from Sant-
ago, and-so have allowed Admiral Ger
vera's fleet to escape.
This officer, who took part in the re-
cent experiments with the Gustave-
Zede, admits that, while in his mind
the problem of submarine navigation
is solved, there Is yet room for much
Improvement. For instance, he thinks
that the present vessel is too long, and
that If it were reduced some thirty-six
feet, leaving it's length just over 10
feet, it would be much easier for the
men who form it's crew to handle. But.
with these reserves, he is as enthusiasts
tic as the rest Of the general public over
the invention. The local papers in all
parts of France are opening branch
subscriptions to the Mathis fund, and
several large engineering firms have
gone so far as to offer to construct
parts of the vessel, or it's machinery,
free of cost. or for the out-of-pocket
expenses. The Echo de Paris, which is
essentially a service organ, severely
takes NJ. Lockroy to task for refusing
to support M. Paschal Grousset's pro-
position in the Chamber relative to the
immediate construction of a number Of
these vessels 1t forsees a campaign
against the submarine torpedo-boat
similar to that which greeted the dis
covery Of the torpedo many years since;
and accuses M. Lockroy Of supporting
the promoters of such a movement.
BY this movement, I presume, is
meant the expression Of a calm opinion,
such as that given to-day by Vice Adj
miral Dupont, who as an Old ana eX-
perienced naval officer warns his
countrymen against rashly jumping to
conclusions concerning the possibilities
of the Gustave-Zede class of vessels.
Writing in the Gaulois, Admiral Du-
pont says:
1.-THE recent trials of the Gustave-
Zede, the presence of the Minister of
Marine at these trials, and especially
the note, in certain sense official,
which gave forth to the world the sue
cess obtained, seems to me to have
somewhat excited public opinion, which,
always ready to overshoot the mark,
will conclude, if care is not taken, by
attributing to the submarine boat qauli-
ties which it cannot possess, and con-
dition of perfection which has not yet
been reached. From this point to attrib-