The evening times., 1900-01-08
THE HOLLAND boat TRIAL
Officials Say 1t Will Take Place
When the River Clears.
What Has Already Been Accomplish
ed by the Invention-Praised by
Naval Ofiicers-FOreign Govern
ments Seeking the Patent Rights.
Demands of the United states.

"As soon as the Potomac is clear of al
the ice," said Mr. c. E. Creecy. the Wash
ington representative of the Holland Sub
marine Boat Company today, I'VE will give
a series OF exhibition trips with the Hol-
land These will be mainly for the bene'
fit of the Congressional Naval Committees
and for officers of the navy as we'll as OF
the army. The requirements of the Navy
Department, which were as follows, have
been fulfilled by us on the trial trips made
under supervision of the officials of the
| Navy Department The requirement were
as follows:
THE ability of the Holland to run awash
at good speed; ability to dive and rise
readily and with certainty; ability to run
under water at depths from ten to thirty
five feet at speed of about six knots per
hour, holding a reasonably steady course,
both in the vertical and horizontal planes
| during said runs of not less than ten min
utes in deviation; to turn both to star
board and to port with reasonable quick
ness and certainty, managing the steering
| gear without too much effort and conveying
| readily and with certainty the movements
| of the steering wheel to the rudder; eff
| cient and satisfactory mechanism for con-
| trolling the driving apparatus; efficiency
! and certainty of the mechanism in its ac-
| tion for raising and lowering the boat in
| the water and for altering her trim;
reasonably simple apparatus as well as GER
tain and efficient in its action for insurine
steady course during the run, both above
and below water, strong construction of the
boat, the material and workmanship of all
parts the best of their kind; efficiency of
the torpedo discharge apparatus by one OF
more discharges of torpedoes adopted to
each kind of tube, mounted on board, and
their explosion with certainty at the prop
er time; discharging successfully and eff
ciently through the tube provided for the
purpose of Whitehead torpedoes furnished
by the department means of supplying air
inside during the whole time that she may
be used to effect submarine operation IN
war
I'VE have demonstrated TO the entire
satisfaction of the Navy Department the
practicability of the Holland" said Mr..
Creecy. "and the following named officers
of the navy have voluntarily gone aboard
the Holland, and have taken surface and
submerged runs in her: Capt, John Lowe,
Commander William II. Emory, Lieuten-
ant Commander 7. J. Henderson. Naval
Constructor W. L. Capps, Lieut.. Nathan
Sargent Naval Constructor W. H. Varney,
Lieut.. Francis j. Haesler, Lieut.. Dewitt
c. Redgrave. Gunner A. L. Mackenzie
Commander W. W. kimball, Lieut.. A p
Niblack. Lieut. W j. Sears. Chief Engin-
eer Zane, Naval Cadet Frank T. Evans.
Chief Engineer John r. Edwards, Naval
Cadet H. j. Edison, and Lieut. Ridley Nc |
Lean. |
The Holland was designed and built |
by Lewis Nixon at the Crescent Shipyard. |
Elizabeth, \. ]. Mr.. Nixon also designed |
the plans for the battleships Indiana and |
Massachusetts. he was a lieutenant in the |
navy, but resigned his position in order to |
supervise the building of the Holland. 1t |
cost the Holland Submarine Boat Company |
between 5000 600 and $500. 900 to build the
boat. The invention has been patented in
all countries, and the company will build
submarine boats for any nation that may
order them. We are willing 10 sell the
atents for the different countries and
have already received some flattering Of
fers which to consider thoroughly we
have not as yet found sufficient time"
Mr.. Creecy said the Navy Department. as
a rule does not look with favor upon any
innovation which is suggested TO them by
any person who Is not connected with the
Navy Department. This is a bad practice,
ne said. and is not very encouraging 20 in
yentive genius. But the strong points Of
the Holland were so many that the Navy
could not very well AFFORD TO
them.
Continuing Mr.. Creecy said: The idea
Of submarine boats is not a new one. as
Fulton in 1S0O1S01 built a diving boat
which was propelled by two parallel screws.
1t was made to descend and ascend by
means of screws which worked vertically.
The experiments were first made at ROuen.
hen at Havre. From Havre, Fulton went
10 Brest. During that journey he greatly
disturbed the Canoneers Of the coast bat
cries, who saw him suddenly disappear un- I
Ter the water and reappear a few moments
ater on the surface.
Soon afterward he built at Paris second {
,oat and gave it the name Nautilus. Fin !
shed in June, 1901, the Nautilus was tried !
IN the Seine ,
by direction of a government commits :
ion. a small vessel was provided and Full !
on instructed to destroy il. He placed un-
Ter the vessel. by means of the Nautilus,
torpedo. which blew it into fragments.
this success, the French
government did not think it ought any
onger to encourage submarine navigation.
BESIDES, Napoleon grew tired of waiting for
he accomplishment of certain improve
1ents, which were judged necessary, and L
le. Eight years later a committee said: b
" There is no longer any doubt that sub r
larine navigation may be established very V
xpeGitiously and at little cost This re- 2
ort bears the date of April II, 1S10.'
Being asked whether the United States h
overnment had made any effort yet to ex- h
lusively possess all the patents, Mr.. Y
reecy answered in the negative, but
miled significantly and said that the &
rench Government appeared to be taking a
more than ordinary interest in the inven- g
on, and had detailed special officer from .
rance to investigate the boat. The report -
, his government is of very much satis- q
.ction and encouragement to u.s. n
The Electric Boat Company and the Hol- o
md Submarine Boat Company occupy a
lite of rooms in the Corcoran Building. n
Ir. c. E. Creecy is their Washington rep n
and Mr.. E. B. Frost the gen. 4
ral secretary of the company, has made p,
his headquarters, as has also the chief