The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-18
Yn.L pra-A

New IOfS SEeSS
John P. Holland. inventor Of the
submarine. celebrated mis- seventy-frss
birthday yesterday. Living quietly in
Newark, y. j.. where he has been a
resident for fifteen years. the man
"aess genius gave TO the navies of the
world their fleets of these little fight
ing vessels is little heard Of today. Yet
II Tas not SO long ago-1291-that the
nrst American submarine was amaz-
ing the people by her feats above and
peloW the surface OF the Hudson.
Mr.. Holland says h is not interest
e1 n the submarine fighter OF today.
some years ago he severed his coanec
l!on with the company tina has sup
Piled foreign countries as we'll as
America With thAir submarines, which
are all Of tie Holland type: but he still
1oVes to tell the story Of how he came
to conceive the idea Of a boat which
takes Mr.. Holland back fifty years to
the day ot the battle OF the Monitor
and MerriHaac. when he vas a teacher
in the Finoentiaas college in Cork.
Tn account OF that battle. as given
ii the Cork Examiner. impressed me
very. very deeply" Mr.. Holland said.
because it showed NE that the power
ioEed least on earth probably would,
despite America's growth, continue TO
~ "a -CfhS dTkNttl
that. even though in this Hampton
Road. case a little bit Of an armored
snip gained a victory over a vasseI sev.
e!at times her size. thus proving that
Eagland's dependence on her wood
en- walls was the SAME as depending
on a. nroEen reed, yet England had the
means OF building iron ships; and I
hnew that she would so so without de-
lay 1t seemed clear the nation Which
could afford the greatest fleet Of IRON
c!adz would con be ~invincible on the
seas.
1t occurred TO me that it was most
importan. 70 design some kind Of a
vessel which could De quilt for Less
money than the great armorel war
ship. Yet by nea OF which a smaller
nation might be able to dispute their
supremacy. AS my mind dweIt on the
problem the idea of the submarine. Of
a little boat which could steal upon
ner giant adversary under cover Of the
water r destroy her because unseen
came TO me. I knew nothing Of sub
marines then. had read how Van
Drebbel. a Eollander. operated a sub
marine boat called the King James on
the names early in the severteenth
century, but OF the design and con-
%stsuction of this I knew nothing. Bur
from that day he subject Interested
me deeply. and in my spare minutes I
studied the problem Of making an iron
boat which would run under water"
To many it will be a matter OF won
der that a young sc~hoolteacher. with
no previous experience with shops or
training in nautical matters, could
work out in his mind and set down
Upon paper the plan Of a vessel which
atterward proved entirely correct in
destgn and principle. Mr.. Holland.
however. sees nothing remarkable in
the feat.
Natural science always came easy
80 me-" he said. and it was not hard
for me TO think Out the physical dif-
EcuitIes, such as the pressure of the
water at varying depths. which had to
De overcome. l made extensive notes
and minute descriptions of my plan.
but when these were finished I could
go no further. and was obliged to put
them away for years. Then, in 1879,
l came to this country, and my old de-
sire TO build a submarine returned.
one day. when in Boston. I went TO
the pubic library to see if I could get
any enlightenment on the subject. I
found that nothing had been PUBLISH
ed on submarines and on my way
back l slipped on an icy pavement and
oroke my ieg-an accident which laid
me up for three months.
Time hung heavily on my hands
during my convalescence, and one day
| Wen. to my trunk and drew out the
I'D envelope which contained the
plans OF the submarine 1 had design
ed years before. Ny first impulse was
to open 1t, but then I said: Wait: let
me- do IL again. and see what will be
the difference between the submarine
~ou build today and the one I
thought out SO long ago. SO / studied
the whole thing out again, and made
another set OF plans. And when 1
compared the two. though I had for
gotten the first one entirely, I found
they were identical III almost every
Particular. That convinced me that
my idea was q correct one, for. study
ing out the various problems at wide
" separated times. I had reached the
same conclusion in almost every in
stance.
Il put ny second plan away for a
few years, but the idea of building a
submarine never left my mind after
that: and when Mr.. Robson vas Sec
rotary OF the United states navy / SEN.
the plan to him, and made my first at
tempt to induce the government 70
add a submarine to its wal fleets. I
vas unsuccessful in his. Later come
friends put up money. and in 1879 I
was able TO start the building nj my
first submarine. In a shop at the foot
OF West Thirteenth street. in this city.
\ good many foreigners. among them
naval officers. watched her in prog
ress Of construction, and two Turks,
high up In the Sultan's court. asked
me to design a submarine for their
government: but at that time I was