The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-15

The Holland Torpedo Boat Company is
preparing for series of exhibition trips
OF the submarine boat. the first of which
will take place in few days.
Regarding the Plunger, Mr.. Creeey, the
Washington representative of the com
pany. said to a reporter for The Times
that the Government had ordered the
construction of the boat four. years ago.
and that it was being built at the Co
lumbar Iron Works. in Baltimore, and
was So per cent finished. After launch
ing. however. it was found that the use
of steam was impracticable on account
of its generation of excessive heat The
steam engines will be displaced by gaso
line consumers, the change being made
at the expense Of the Holland Company.
The steam difficulty is no new one with
submarine boats, the French inventors
having experienced it, and IL is likely
that the use of some other motive power
will be adopted for all the boats of the
French Government
The French Government has now I'M
der construction eight submarine boats,
but Mr.. Creecy claims that the three
already built. in addition to the eight
are far inferior in every respect TO the
American invention. This is admitted
by the French experts who have inspected
the Holland. and reported the fact to
their government He said that the
Plunger is much larger boat than the
Holland. but experts state that their eX-
perience with the latter shows that a
boat of its size can be operated with
is therefore preferable for war purposes
Mr.. Frost. the general secretary of the
company. said concerning submarine navi-
cation that it could not be carried on sue
cessfully at a greater depth than 300 feet
No boat he argues could be built strong
enough 20 Withstand the pressure of the
water at a depth greater than $50 feet
and no man is able to work under water
at a greater depth than $50 feet.
Submarine boats can be used to COM
mercial advantage" continued Mr.. Frost,
"as in pearl and sponge fishing and sub
marine construction work. The perfecting
of 4 boat which can stay and work under
water for a considerable length of time
Will greatly simplify the building OF bridge
and lighthouse foundations. The topog
raphy of land under water can much more
easily be established and surveyed by its
use. Inc conformation OF the rOltOm oil
the sea by means of automatic registers as
the boat moves along is assured. In timez
Of war. when the feet enters strange
waters. this is of incalculable Importance.
Submarine ferryboats, which would be alb
solutely free from collisions. could be built
They would not be exposed to storms or
heavy seas"
Speaking of the construction OF subma-
rine boats, he said:
I'VE have found that the successful sub
marine boat should be as near as possible
TO the specific weight OF water. The Hol-
lands weight is about $50 pounds less than
an equal bulk OF salt water. which causes
the boat at once to come TO the surface
whenever the machinery gets out of order.
Necessary fresh air Is supplied by the uni
form release through reducing valves OF
thirty cubic feet of compressed air which
the boat carries Before being discharged
entirely, this air is turned into first
and second chamber, so that finally it be-
comes OF normal pressure. The power
which can be put into these submarine
boats regulates their speed. The electric
storage battery has made submarine navi-
CATION possible for practical purposes. as
ii greatly increases the radius of action
1t will not be very many years" Mr. Frost
concluded. before these boats will be used
by all countries for all sorts of purposes"