Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-21

once sheers off with the ten knots of her
electric engines, puts out her fires and be-
gins sinking. what will happen? At tho
end of five minutes the destroyer will have
gained mile on her, and the submergioie
will have disappeared. And during the
last two minutes 1t viii have offered out
a minute mark for the destroyer. bedng
already three-fifths under waterl
In Brest they call It whale-hunting-with
all the advantage in favor OF the whale.
Between tho Pointe de PArmorique and
Pon-ar-vir and away to the east there II
a lost bay running into a sparsely inhab-
tied land-perfectly adapted to secret evo-
lutions.
In these waters they play whale hunt
ing. The dispatch boats take positions
in hiding, afar of. round one of the many
points. Destroyers dance about them to
protect them-for the dispatch boats repre-
sent expensive warships
Then, stealing up come the whales. say
three or four submergibles furnished with
the admiralty's secret appliance. They
navigate the surface. sneaking in and out
of little bays concealing themselves be-
hind rock-islands
The supposed uarshps are in their po-
sitions The destr-oyers wait all ready. at
varying distances from them. They watch
for an almost invisible object that is to
rise out of the waves. Where? 1t may
be over there. IL may be just opposite.
They watch to see thin gray tube APP
preaching al eight or ten knots per hour.
They know 1t viii sink into the water and
ceived. Where shah they look for n +? How
much of 1t Will be sticking out of the
water?' Perhaps IL IS already near. Per-
haps the play OF light and shadow on the
water hides 1t.
Interesting Whale Hunting"
There she spouts!" they cry. 1t may be
a false alarm, when eyes tire from watch
ing intently. In Brest rude sea-dogs laugh
and pound their glasses on the table
one such incident recalls another. This
destroyer attacked spar sticking out of
sandbank. This other let the whale
spout behind It while chasing a CLINT OF
sunlight on a floating tin can.
'4There she spouts" They see her too
late. The submersible has pulled In its
tube. For five minutes 1t had been navi-
eating with fun view OF all surroundings.
1t knows the positions and distances OF
destroyers and warships-one of which Will
be it's prey.
Now comes the exciting part They are
guessing In the dark How Will the sub
mergible act2 1t may have stopped suH
when 1t pulled in its tube. The destroyer
will chase far beyond it toward the
ship. And the submergible will then stick
up its tube again and approach i've min
utes Observation-Disclosures the destroyer
toward the warShip.
Or the submergfble may be all the time
skurrying beneath the surface straight
upon the warship.
Or II may be approaching the warshlp
diagonaily.
There she spoutsw lookout thinks
he sees the tip of the tube. When they
come nearer there is nothing.
There she spoutsr' IL is too late. Tho
submergible has passed far Inside the pro-
tecting circle of destroyers. II Is within
$50 yards of the doomed warship Bouf
I'VE are torpedoed." And the submergibls
rises in triumph. 1t signals: You are a
dead one! So the game is played and
won
Game in Favor of Submergible.
Here in Brest they say that single sub
mergibles have this new eye the game is
in their favor six times out of ten, even
when there are two even three Destroy
ers against each submergibe.
Now and then a submergible Is techni-
cally destroyed. Oftener it fails TO get
within striking distance. 1t coufesses it,
self beaten by disappearing-to rise far
away out Of sight. But such a victory Is
be nothing but a feint to occupy the de-
stroyers while another whale" steals up
and destroys the expensive warshIp.
I have been telling of submergibles, not
submarines. These latter, less than fifty
feet in length, actioned entirely by electric
engines are to have a no less sensational
destiny They are TO be carried very much
on cruisers and other warshlps for often
siye and defensive operations. Thus the
French navy counts on Transforming swift
transa tl4ntic liners into new and very dam
gerShs war craft
STERLING HELLO.