Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-04-08
|, Vice-president OF The Lake
ht Company and Father
kntor, Talks Plainly TO
affairs Colnlnittee===In=
# Here in Outcome
OF the Matter,

A trip aboard one of the little sub
marines gives one new conception
OF mans Ingenuity AMI Of his ability
to overcome what ordinarily would
seem insupcrablc Obstacles Tho little
craft lying ON Tic bottom of Il dry
dock seems little larger than a hogs
head AMI It's main compartment only
a few times longer. Yet there are
the engines, the liying-room, witt.
hunks FOR ten men tho culinary
arrangements. the storage batteries
which furnish power for the electric
rlant, tho layaory and all OF the
ronvcnicnccS and lnx,!::=., necessary
1" make life under water as pleasant
as possible.
In the for"ard end is found one
Of tn most marvellous features of the
craft the diving chamber. Here by
the Introduction Of compressed air,
it is possible to open up sea door
at the bottom of the submarine
and ono may step through This an
crturc out upon the bed of tho ocean.
The compressed air, OF course. keeps
the water out Of the chambcr-slm-
pie as a, i, C.--such things always
are after so2lc long-hcadcd man has
spent years in figuring them out.
Better and More Powerful.
The new submarine at the ship.
yard here. which soon will be ready
for tests. is an advance over the
Protector" and the "Simon Lake "
boats. being longer and larger and
having torpedo tubes which will carry
the long Whitehead torpedo the most
powerful and destructive Implement
OF destruction known in modern naval
warfare. 1t also has separate quar-
tiers for the officers and ample sleep
ing quarters for the crew.
On March II, the Army and Navy
Journal. in connection with the dis
patch from st. Petersburg announc,
ing the triumph Of the Lake boat in
the competitive tests at I-ibau, print
cd the following report made by a
subdircctor Of tie Norwegian Navy
Department 10 his government:
Opinion Of an Expert
the boat was easily kept on an
even keel the whole Of the time and
without great variation Mt the depth
desired That the crew freely moved
nhout the Ct did not seem TO cxer.
else any noticeable influ- ncc on tho
trim Of the boat As an example with
what facility the boat was stcercd in
the vertical plane can be mentioned
that Captain Lake, who managed tho
hydroplancs and the horizontal ruddcr,
once left these for awhile and went
down 10 put something to rights in the
boat.
Worked by inexperienced Men.
AS was said. th,re were only two
men. Captain Lake ana one Of the
crew. that had practiccd in the hand
ling Of tho submarine boat The rest
of the crew consisted Of mechanics
from the ,lock ware. T he snbmcrg
cnces and cmcrgcnc- :; were therefore
practical with great facility and
speed AS All example Of the siabil-
~ Of tho boat in fore and aft dircc-
ton, hn following experiment was
givcn: The boat was laid quiet with
only the top OF the lighting nstru.
ment above the surface Of the water.
three men weighing 500 pounds then
went from stem 10 Tho alcrn n dist
aEcc of forty fcct, and thereby caused
q change tile direction Of the fore
land aft Staff Of . pcr cent. After
Having run for awhile under The wa
ter and also along the sea bottom. as
in+n'ionod before, we rose to the sur
lace ana tie passengers embarked On
a steam launch. frrm where CAPTAIN
Latte was Observed making various
tiial mancnycrs, with suhmcrging aud
cmergins and propulsion with the
decks ON Il level with the surface Of
The water The beat made these ma.
ncnvcrs with speed and precision
ana especially was 1t observed that
the boat was kept remarkably hori.
znntal the whole time.
once, al Hampton roads. the boat
WAS submerged 10 the sea bottom
when running forward. so that she
rested on her wheels. During this no
blow was observed.
Propulsion on Sea Bottom.
"Thc electric motors were then put
Into forward motion and the boat roll
cd along the sea bottom which as
far as could be understood. she slight
y touched with the foremost wheel:
u could ! seen that til,cr, which is
In connection with Tie hydraulic
plnnacr which regulat s the position
Of the roller, went Up anu down after
the nnevenncss o.: the sea ha,tom.
Also when the boat was hrl re
was driven on her whsSzsT1
boat one could not I'm