Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-05-30
SU BMARiNE BEARING DREAD
NOUGHTS.
New ContriVances Carrying Powerful
Anesthetics TO Make War.

at the very entrance of hostile harbors
thousands OF miles away from their.
home ports constitute the backbone of
q new scheme of war.or, rather. of
war against war-on which an Apleri-
can has been working steadily for the
past fifteen years. He IL Carl NJ
Wheaton of Newtonyille. Mass several
of whose inventions along other lines
are Mt the present time in successful.
use.
In ADDITION to the "maFsupial battle
ship feature of his scheme-that Isl
what he calls his misunderstanding
dreadnousht--Mr. Wheafon's scheme
for warning against war includes thing
which WILL he feels confident. make
war so deadly that it viii be impossi-
bic. These are a gun that will fire a
powerful! anesthetic and render the
crews of hostile ships unconscious. and
"staudge" which, enveloping their
ships. win prevent the gunners on
board from seeing their opponents. and.
consequently, cause their fire to he to-
tally ineffective.
Mr.. Wheaton arrived in New York
the other day. and while there did ac-
/ tive work in the furtheranee Of his pro-
| ieet Already it has received the COM
| mendation Of several experts, among
| them Admiral Wilde, late commandment
| of the Boston navy yard
Like many Inventors, Mr. Wheaton Isl
ayerse to going into too much detail re-
garding what he las evolved But. in
| q general way. the housing of his sub
marines under the battleships and their
| release when they are sufficiently close
-, tla.
holds would be accomplished as fol-
| lows:
| i-Gder the vessel there win be con
| strueted sort Of tunnel so designed
| that the submarines will fit neatly INTO
| its varions compartments. When the
| time comes for them to sally forth they
| viii do 50 BY means Of locks.
| These locks opening beneath the wa
| terline, Will disgerge the submarines
one at a time. As the vessel viii be
made up CT compartments. and each one
| VIII be arranged to accommodate one
| submarine. there viii be no ieopardiz-
! ing the safety of the battlesliip by the
| sudden influx of water when the lock IS
| opened.
| The opening of the lock would FUR
| nish the necessary impetus for propel-
| ling the submarine out Of it's eompart-
| nlent and into the surrounding water.
| there to act independently Of the bat
| tleship until such time as il must once
| more dive beneath the surface and
crawl into its compartment. Once clear
/ of the battleship, the submarine, Mr.
| Wheaton points out, would clap on it's
| own power and go forth unaided to the
| accomplishment of its missoii-either
| the torpedoing of the enemy or the dis
| charge into its midst of dose of the
| anesthetic that would make him an
| easy prey.
| The inventor attaches particular i'm
| portaHee to the humane side of his
| seheme-the putting "out Of business
| of all enemy by means of his anesthe-
| tic.
| The main features of the Wheaton
| system were described some time ago
| in an issue of the Technical World
Magazine under the caption ITO Chlor-
| oform BattIeship." in the following
| not too technical language:
| "Drugging EN- to death, Sending to
| the side of a ship shell that is load
| ed with powerful anesthetic, putting
| the men who run the engines of the
| Warship to sleep and rendering the gil
ant citadel the veriest pygny for cap
| ture,
'Rosh. YOU say, as you shake with
| mirth at what you regard as the comi-
cally ridiculous.
Let us reflect. however They
| laughed at the idea of the Monitor war
ship. Nevertheless that tiny, twisting
| tui1et thing revolutionizel the mode OF
naval warfare,
! 1T was the same with the machine
| gun and Hollands submarine A for
| eigh power had first to buy and try it
| in order that the United States might
| trail along ana finally believe in aud
| build the war contrvanee of one of it's
own citizens. Sneering and laughter
have little to do with determining the
merit of the invention"
| After giving some details about Mr.
| Wheaton, the writer of the article adds .
| Wheaton proposes building subma-
| rines in groups of six, each OF the ves-
sells costing 100000. Each carries a
J tank capable Of standing a pressure of
| 500 pounds to the square inch, fitted
| with tubes and convenienees for rapid
| heating. and connected with the pune
| turing tube or anesthetc shell. This
| 'puneturing gum as Wheaton calls it.
| Is of peculiar construction, carrying a
| tube which has Il bore of three-quarters
| of an inch ana an outside diameter Of
one and half inches. With a larger
| portion to fit Ahe bore Of the gun The
tube is about Eve feet long,
| "A bomb is carried In the interior Of
| the submarine. and only placed in the
! discharging tube at the moment pre-
| ceding its use. 1t is forced out of the
| tube by piston operating from the in
side, and the piston rises to the top of
! the tube where it remains until the cap
| of the tube is returned to its place,
! thereby practically excluding all the
water which would otherwise enter
| ''The bomb is attached to a strong
flexible cord, twenty to thirty feet long,
coiled in pararIin on its top, the other
! end being attached to a ring which is
placed in recess in the muzzle of the
. gun, through which the pointed end OF