Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-17
LUNCHING ON OCEANS FLOOR
Trial of New Submarine Boat Proves
Truth of Jules Verne's
Fiction.

What follows was written by a European
naval officer, a member of a technical
board that tested submarine boat, 126 to
40 feet below the surface of the sea. Jules
Verne never dreamed anything more wildly
daring that this paragraph, taken bodily
from dry official report lying in "a govern
ment's secret archives. When such things
as this can be written in a technical and
impartial record a writer of romances is
driven to desperate lengths to maintain his
supremacy i'm the realms of fancy,
AN even-kecl submersible was taken out
into the Baltic, nine miles from shore
and there, in the presence of a tug, prep
arations were made for the sinking of the
craft-soundings were taken in the presence
OF the senior member of the imperial COM
mission, showing a depth of 126 feet 1t
was Friday, and thirteen persons were
aboard. Promptly at noon the hatchcover
in the coming tower closed. Four
minutes later the sunshine came in only
through the small headlights in the sight
lnE-hood on top of the coming tower-the
rest of the craft was already beneath the
waves. A moment later nothing could he
seen but the luminous green haze of the
surrounding water, save when one looked
into the sighting instrument-the top Of
which still rose above the water. few
seconds later this, too, closed beneath the
surface and one instinctively shut his
mouth, as II to keep out the water on
making dive. Down. down, it settled on
an even keel-all was silence, except for an
occasional low voice that called off the
fathoms as they gathered overhead. So
gradually did the craft sink that It was
six minutes from the time it started before
laa fIxy he hOt ON
being so perfect Even at that depth the
waters of the Baltic were so clear that one
could see through the headlights in the
coming tower for a distance of twenty
feet: and fish swan curiously to the ports
and gazed wide-eyed at the glow Of the
electricity lighted craft-mOre brightness
than those depths had ever known before.
Some tiny pinholes. through which the
water found its way and spurted in needle
like Jets, told the immensely of the pres
sure that crowded upon the craft from
without For half an hour the craft lay
there and during that time hearty lunch
con was served-the strangest feast that
man had ever eaten. At the end of thirty
minutes the operators took their stations
TO start the craft upwards There was a
muffied hiss of highly compressed air as ii
sang through the piping like the metallic
ring Of a gigantic soda fountain in dis
charge and one could almost seem to feel
that the lungs Of the air TASKS set them
selves with greater force to drive the water
out OF the submerging tank to release the
craft from that region of primordial life.
In two minutes and one half the submer-
sble reached the surfsce-having been held
at various stages in the rise, to show how
perfect was its control on an even keel at
any desired depth. II there was any anxiety
felt It was not with those aboard, but with
those, instead, who watched the submer-
sible sink and waited through long minutes
that were said to be filled with uncertainty
70 the people aboard the tug. The pre-
limlnary test OF this craft carried It TO
the depth of nearly $40 feet."-New York
Evening Post.