The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-24

ton. built the famous Turtle which
proved Impractical. Many other at
! tempts have been made. The sub
marine of tho Civil War was marked
with tragedy and admirable courage
one OF tho frs. submarines
:.as Confederate I'll l. Hunlcy."
named after Its inventor She
was cigar shaped vessel about
thirty-five feet long. and could dive"
and be propelled under water, and
also rise to the surface under her
| own power On the sides were two
fms, and Mt the stern was propeller.
The motive power was furnished by
| the crew turning n crank connect cd
with the propeller shaft. From the
! nose OF the craft thirty-foot SPAR
with torpedo. could be projected and
!; controlled from the inside when the
| vessel was submerged.
Trial Trips OF Weasel Under water.
The trial trips took place in Mobile
\ Bay. and her actions showed that at
last submarine had been constructed.
one day the crew Of seven took her
| for another trial. She gracefully
sank from sight but failod to reappear
/. for many hours. When she was raised
the crow was found huddled under tho
hutch-dead.
The horror of this catastrophe did
| not prevent Lieutenant John A. PAYNE
from volunteering to attack the Fed.
! eral blockade with the submarine. He
easily found crew. On the way out
OF the harbor the swell from passing
steamer swamped tho vessel and all
I We're drowned but Payne. Still an
| other attempt ended disastrously, tho
vessel ainking prematurely
| The South was beginning 10 lose
faith In the submarine when the in
ventor came and took nor In hand
| Under the control of its creator the
boat made several spectacular dives
and manoeuvres while on the way ont
| to the blockade.
On ono OF her dives sho remained
below water, for ten minutes, and
| only reappeared when the spectat tors
began to think she was lost Conse-
! quently. when she next dived and did
not appear within ten minutes the
sightseers believed all was well. But
when an hour had passed and the III
| l. Hunley" still remained on the sea
bottom. they gave her up MS lost This
time they were right. for the vessel
and the body OF it's inventor werb not
| recovered until week later. AS In
the previous cases, the dead men
| were found huddled around the matches
or manholes.
But the fate OF tho inventor and his
i u
Few volunteers. They set out again,
but ran aforl OF an anchor chain on a
| receiving chip and went to the bottom
| like plummet They. too, were added
to the toll of tragedies.
Great Tragedies of Grent Inventions.
Lieutenant George 2, Dixon, of Ala :
| bama, saw the folly of his prcdeces-
| sors and determined to go straight to
the task instead OF disporting in
! the harbor for the benent of specta-
! tors. On the night OF February IL,
1864, Dixon and his crew entered the
snbmnr me. and the vessel moved ST.
lently out to sea. without mishap she
| crept close TO the side OF the Federal
| ship Housatanio. Tho ships crew saw
her too late. In the shock of the ex-
ploslon tho tidal wavo sank the sub
marine, and the Housatanic soon fol-
lowed The submarine was never seen
again. for she rested on the bottom
beside her great victim Forty mon
had given their lives to prove that q
Lsuomarine was practical and effective.
The war was over before another
submarine was crea ted. but the III l..
Hundley" had given another terror
to warfare-one that could creep un-
seen upon the most yigiiant vessel
and could snd 1t to the bottom
The modern torpedo boat is but the
perfected spar torpedo boat OF the
Civil War. The only essential differ
cnce Is that the torpedo of the mod :.
ern vessels is propelled through tubes
and explodes u mile or moro from
the vessel. while the Civil War torpedo
boat had thirty-foot spar, at the
end of which the torpedo was fastened,
and exploded by concussion as the
little craft rammed the victim.
| First Demonstration of Another Terror
of the Sen.
49,.
made its appearance late in Scptem-
Der. 1868. in Charleston harbor. She
looked very much like the modern yes
\ sci. only that she was but fifty feet
long and five feet wide Mt the centre.
She was plated with iron. In the
centre of the low-lying deck rose the
turret. or cabin. which was about ten
feet long and three feet wide the
roof rose above the side OF the vessel
about two feet. y small smokcstack
rose above the turrct for four feet.
| Four men usually comprised the crew,
and their quarters were in the narrow
little turret From the bow extended
the thirty-foot spar with the torpedo
affixed.
Some cynic drew mental picture
I of the little torpedo boat arraycd
against the lnonstrous lighting ships.
and dubbed the vessel a David" hav-
Ing in mind the biblical proverb OF the
battle between David and Goliath
On the night of October 5. 1863.
the first demonstration of this new
terror of the seas occurred. Under tho
cover of darkness the David" slipped
from her moorngs and crept out OF
the harbor toward the lights OF the
Federal blockade, which glimmered
over the waters. She lay so close to
the sea that the lookouts did not spy
her approach until too late. Stimuli
taneously with the firing OF musket
balls from the giant New Ironsides''
| against the "Davld's" iron sides oc-
Cured the explosion of the torpedo.
Daring Adventures of the Expert
nleutcrs.
But the torpedo had not been
charged with enough powder to do
much HARM for the New Ironsdes'
simply carcened under the blow and
] amickly recovered. The torpedo did