Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-06-05
SUBMARINE CRAFT
They Surpass All Warships In
Concentrated Deadly Power.
A DIVE UNDER THE SURFACE.
Tho Terrifying Sensation and the
Agony Of Roaring Noises That Be-
wilder the Novice as the Vessel Goes
Down Into tho Depths of the Sea.

Down Into tho Depths of the Sea.
In waters where the United States
maintains a naval station you may
happen to see a tall staff cutting
through the water as though borne by
some unseen hand beneath the sur
face. On the top of the staff is q
slight bent hood pointed in the direc-
ton OF motion This is the eye OF a
submarine.
From the lens in the front Of the
hood Il picture of the whole seascape
is carried down by a succession of
mirrors In the hollow staff until it is
thrown on prismatic lens at the bot
tom. Here the navigator Of the sub
marine watches a moving picture of
what Is going on above the surface of
the water and guides his boat accord
ingly.
We said boat advisedly, because 1t Is
really vessel for the transportation
of human beings at sea. 1t is, more
over. more than a floating craft, swim
ming on the surface like a swan. 1t
is also a diver, darting down into the
depths like fish.
Let yourself be shut up In It and
dive with it and 1t seems more like a
tightly corked bottle. Your first SEN
sation as the boat starts downward is
that you have foolishly allowed your
self to be shut up In death trap
from which there is no escape. Your
heart sinks faster than the boat
And then something happens to make
you forget everything but that this
craft is a hellsh contrivance for de-
stroying your hearing. AS the subma.
rine dips under the surface and all
outlet for sound is cut off by the seal.
ing waters the rush of the seh around |
the steel walls becomes the rattle of
spring hail on tin roof. You remem
Der that old and painful swimming
hole experiment when you held your
head under water and let playmate
strike two stones together. But here
the assault on your eardrums is as
though a million stones were striking
together. A pebble falling through the
waters on the steel hull sets the inside
changing like a Chinese temple full Of
jangling gongs. You must shout to
be heard.
Through the roar from the vibrations
of the steel shell come the insistent
cracking hum of electric motors, the
rattling fire Of gasoline engines, the
whlr Of machinery and the barking
cough Of exhausts. Your craft seems
TO be nothing but an elliptica mass of
noise sinking through the
sea. You fear that it will blow up
rom its own vibrations.
When you have in measure con
rolled your protesting ears you look
lround and see wonderful array OF
ngines, machinery. deadly torpedoes
ashed together In pairs and the steel
ubes from which they are projected
With compressed air all slowed away .
q the least possible space.
The double walls surrounding you
re themselves huge ballast tanks, ,
Which can be filed with water through .
alves opening into the sea outside or ,
an be emptied by the force Of COM
ressed air from within. As these
anks are filled the hull of the sub
larine sinks until only the periscope. /,
be elevated eye of the vessel, shows n
bove the water. When the water is +
orced out OF them the boat becomes a
ght and rises to the surface until its q
onning tower. superstructure and the a
pper part Of the hull are exposed. ii
hen the craft is navigated like any
ther boat. y
When the vessel is submerged the .
avigator ut the lower end of the R
eriscope has far more intricate task
han the steering OF an ordinary boat
he periscope, Of course, brings him
limited view of the sea about Then n
e must steer in two planes instead III
I one. His craft turns not only to r,
he right or left, but also up or down. cl
To enable the vessel to stay under Of
ne water n longer time than usual of
If
air. This emergency supply is COM 1G
ressed in steel tlask under the enor-
lous pressure of 1000 pounds to the hi
luare inch Should the flask burst ri
lie explosion would wreck the boat ve
erhaps u better idea of the tremen- T.,
Gus concentration implied by this 81,
ressure may be gained from the Jo
atement that If this storage cylinder
ere punctured with a hole no big.
er than a needle and II the tiny let
escaping air were to strike a man ee
would pierce him through and 90
rough like bullet and even drive a le,
BE through an inch thick board be- wi
nd him. IN,
For ordinary purposes the air sup tn
y used under water is carried in or. St
nary cylinders at much smaller pres
res Unusual precautions have to
taken TO prevent the contamination
the air supply by gases from the pil
Drage batteries and from the gasoline :
DtOrs. nj,
epitomizes the subma- .
he. Its energies and utilities are 70,
cked in like the parts OF a puzzle. NJ
d in the concentration Of deadly
wer It surpasses any other weapon
man.-San Francisco Chronicle. ,