The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-04-23
SUBMARINE VESSELS.
Inventor OF the Holland Tells Of Sub
merged Navigation.

New York, April 23.-John d. Holland,
the inventor of the submarine torpedo
boat Holland. proclaimed his view in a
lecture at the Carnegie Lyceum last
night that in the course of a few years
submarine vessels would supplant sur
face craft for short journeys by water
He also said that the submarine t0rpe-
do boat would be so formula bic an M
strument of war that the only solution
Of the problem of avoiding its destruc-
tive effects would be for nations with
seaport towns never to go war at all
As soon as men overcome their Tears
and learn to 60 down beneath the wa
ter as they now skim its surface the
prograss of the submarine vessel in
commerce will be rapid said Mr. Hol-
land Within the next ten years we
shall have made more progress in sub
merged navigation than has been made
in the three hundred years that have
just passed Within that period I ex-
pect to see submarine boats engaged il
regular passenger traffic
For transatlantic travel submarine
boats viii never be possible CONNER
cialIy. For short trips the submarine
offers commercial advantages that viii
render it a dangerous rival of the sur
face sailing vessels. II. indeed. it does
not drive the latter entirely out of com
petition in certain waters. Take for
example the trip across the British
channel. No other water journey causes
an equal amount of suffering. The most
hardened traveller becomes seasick
there. Fogs and heavy traffic are con
stantly causing collisions storms toss
the smallest boats about like cookie
shells The submarine boat will remove
all these objections.
There will be no seasickness, because
in a submerged boat there is no per-
ceptible motion. There viii be no smells
70 create nausea. for the boats will be
propelled from electric power taken
from storage batteries There viii be
no collisions. because the boats viii
travel going and coming at different
depths. say one at forty and the other
at sixty feet. The water above may he
crowded with small craft, but the SUB
marine viii have free. unobstructed
course She viii be kept absolutely true
to this course by means of cables rum
ming from shore to shore On these Ca
bies viii be run automatic steering gear
attached to the submarine. Storms and
fogs will have no existence for the trav-
eler for weather has little effect upon
the water at the depth at which she
moves.
Tomorrow if we had a fleet Of sub
marines big enough they could protect
New York harbor against any attack
by the combined fleets Of the world. But
our shipping and our city would be az
the mercy of the enemy if they had only
one submarine manned by q fearless
crew of experts. You could not mine
against her, for she could countermine.
You could not close the harbor against
her even with a network of torpedocs
and chains stretched across the mar
rows. reaching from the surface 10 the
bottom of the channel From a safe
distance she could send a torpedo
against the network that would blow il
to pieces giving her all the passageway
she wanted to go in and out. You could
not chase her with a fleet of your own
submarines because you could not find
her under water
How the menace OF the submarine
is 10 be met nobody has at this time
been able to say. The genius of scores
Of inventors IS cropping with the prob
lem. but SO far without result. All are
agreed. however. that in one direction
at least she will forever remain uncon-
guerra Bile. She will make a close block
AIDE in noSSfbla