The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-30

and a commission appointed to examine
them made favorable report. The Minis
ter Of the Marine, however, was inflexibly
opposed to the innovation. Fulton then
made q model Of his submarine, which
again was received with favor by the COM
mission chosen to report upon it. Never
theless, Fultons proposal was again re-
Jected, and the same i'll luck awaited him
Mt the hands of the Dutch Government.
undiscouraged by these rebuffs, he APP
piled in 1900 to Bonaparte. then First Con-
sui, who, after due consideration, appointed
three eminent men, lapaoe, Monge and
Volney, to examine Fulton's plans, and also
gave the inventor 10000 francs to carry
out experiments, BY May, 1901, Fulton
! had completed a submarine boat, which he
called the Nautilus. first trial took place
in the Seine, opposite the Invalides. We
should note that the Nautilus was
cigar-shaped boat, about 81 feet 7 inches
| long and 7 feet in diameter The hull
as in the case of the Turtle was of cop
per, but supported by iron ribs. novel
feature was a collapsible mast and sail, for
use on the surface, which, when submerged,
folded compactly and fitted into the deck
! At the forward end Of the boat rejected
small coming tower. in which the occu-
pant kept watch and steercd. The steer
! ing was effected by rudder and the pro-
pulsion, when the boat was submerged
by wheel fixed in the centre of the ellipti-
Cally shaped stern. This wheel was ro-
tated by a handwinch. A small anchor
was suspended from the bows, and a keel,
for aiding the stability Of the vessel, ran
the whole length of the hull. On the first
trial Of the Nautilus, Fulton and one
sailor formed the crew, and with Moth
ing but a candle to light the interior they
remained submerged twenty minutes. On
coming to the surface they found that the
current had carried them a considerable
distance down the river; SO, again sinking
beneath the surface, Fulton steered his
vessel to the point of departure, Having
made some alterations in his boat, among
them being the insertion into the hull of
sheet of plateglass for tho purpose Of getting
a little light from without. the inventor,
accompanied by three other persons, de-
scended on June 3, 1901, at Brest, whittier
the submarine had been conveyed, Having
arrived at a depth of twenty-five feet, he
accomplished various evoutions, remain
ing submerged for over an hour,
On June 20 he sailed out of the harbor
and then suddenly lowered his mast and
disappeared from view, giving a proof
of the despatch with which the feat could
be accomplished. On the same day he
succeeded in blowing up an old hulk placed
at his disposal by the French Government.
On Aug I, having introduced air at high
int l., L,tlf - ts.a.l
under water five hours without suffer
ing the slightest Inconvenience, just as
his efforts, however, were crowned with
all the success he had hoped for the French
authorities ceased to take much interest
in his projaft and declined to adopt it,
Our author points out that all that Fulton
asked was reward for each vessel that
he destroyed; the reimbursement Of the
cost Of his boat. that is to say, $500,
one-quarter Of which had been ad~
vanced by the Minister of the Marine.
and lastly, patent giving himself and
his crew the quality Of hcligerents, so that,
if they were captured. they would not Toe
hanged az pirates Curiously enough, it
was the question Of a patent that raised
the most difficulty In letter of the Min
lister Of the Marine, the opinion was ex-
pressed that it was impossible to serve a
commission for bellgerency to men who
should employ such method of destroying
the fleets Of the enemy. Catfareli, Mari
time Prefet al Brest, took the same ground:
"A very strong reason" he said, has de-
cided the Admiral and myself 10 refuse
TO let Fulton operate against an English
frigate; il is that this type of warfare carries
with it the objection that those who under
take II and those against whom il is made
will all be lost. This cannot he called
gallant death" Whatever the cause, Full
ton was definitely rebuffed, and an in
vention that might have rendered possible
an invasion of England by Bonaparte was
brushed aside Even after his return to
the United States. Fulton did not entirely
renounce the study of submarine boats.
but in 1914 produced the Mute, n huge
vessel capable of holding hundred men.
The Mute was 80 feet inches long, q
feet wide and IA feet deep. This submarine
was armorcd on the top with iron cleatS,
beneath which was q wood lining almost
u foot in thickness. The name Mute
was given TO the vessel on account Of the
silent engine which propelled it, The
trials of the craft were moi completed when
Fulton died.
In 1901 an Englishman named HodEman
is saiu to have made experiments with sub
marine bout; and. six years later, klinger,
or Klngert, a German, tried n vessel Of his
invention, hut the results of these tests
are unknown. The German submarine
resembled a gigantic diving bell, weighted
at the lower end, and fitted with hy,irOs-
tatic piston worked by a screw and winch,
In 1909 two brothers, Coues-in by name,
presented project for submarine boat
to Napoleon. Az they hrd already acquired
some d stnction IA meChAniCiaus Tlle En-
peror took lively interest in their designs.
and gave ain order for submarine boat 10
be constructed. This vessel, which was
called ale Nauile. had much in common
with Futon's Mute. 1t was % feet long
and shaped something like Gn cnormous
barrel. The hull was of wood tremendous
thickness, and bound with iror The ends
of tits barrel-like body were prolonged into
cones, which served ms INNER sion rcscr-
voirs. The Couessins supplied their vessel
with two modes OF propulsion; Il triangular
folding sail on II collapsiblc mast, fixed on
the deck for surface sailing, and oars for
use when the boat should bc s'..,merpcd.
A fresh supply Of air was obtained from the
surface by two supple leather pipes, kept
on the surface by buoyant floats. The
official trials of this vessel took place N
hntn