The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-08-22


marine
when miIder weather came
had ready a diving dress Of my
own devfsing For helmet ut[
- Iized a framework Of light iron
rods covered with painted can
vas and made it fit snugly over
nv shoulders and strap under
~ my arms. For a face plate used
the glass headlight from the air
port of an abandoned sloop. and
to help to submerge tied
sash weights to my legs Common
garden hose wound with wire
served carry my air supply
from the surface In this fashion reached the Ar
gonaut, Jr. closed her and put In pipes to pump
her out In my anxiety to succeed 1 toiled under
water for several hours. and in consequence spent
the better part Of week In bed afterward In that
brief time lost 40 pounds in weight. but didn't
mind that because the boat was aioat again
The Argonaut, Jr, not designed to submerge
deeper than 20 feet and my main object in building
her was to show how craft Of that nature could
be made to travel around the bottom and, by
means OF the diving compartment, make it possible
to recover things lying upon the waterbed- To make
a long story short, my performances were so sue
cessful that I obtained money and We organized
company in November Of 1895. But we did not
have funds enough to build the big boat 1 had
planned. and accordingly had to curtaiI our am
biton and confne efforts to a smaller craft for
the purpose of demonstration and induce
ment to additional capital Fortunately won the
confidence Of the late William T. Master OF Bal
, tmore, then president Of the Columbian Iron
works and afterward mayor Of the town
, steel, 36 feet long and feet Of beam, and was
fitted with so h. p. gasoline engine, dynamo.
- air compressor, searchlight, water ballast
pumps-the apparatus necessary for successful
submarine navigation. She had accommodations
inside her for OF five, and during 1898
cruise Of than 1000 miles was made In the
Chesapeake bay and the Atlantic coast, travel
ing both on the surface and submerged, and over
all kinds Of bottom That boat, designed for
mercial purposes the pioneer of larger
military underwater craft which built In
Bridgeport ter
"As far back 1901 I offered our navy depart
ment boat that could carry guns In addition to
torpedoes- I generally laughed at, as I
for my bOttomtrGveling wheels As you know.
most CT the big British submarines carry
guns and other nations prof1ting by those ex-
amples. The big boats built by in Russia for
the cars navy we're designed to have this very
feature
In view of the actual advances and knowing
the increasing destructive might OF the torpedo,
md no dinculty in subscribing to Admiral Sir
Percy SCOTS prediction. Yes. of course the idea
is Of revolutionary portent, but with the gun TO
batter her above water and the torpedo to do
greater damage below, what chance OF surviving
has the accepted order OF dreadnaughts2
THE Proctor the first underwater craft to
provide comfortable quarters for her crew and to
be equipped with cooking facilities in that
they might live aboard OF her Even so, the ruling
spirit Of naval board of inspection in 1903
pooh-pOohed this provision. declaring that moth
er ship would always be necessary and that the
men would live aboard the larger craft How far
that mistaken authority erred be gathered
from the performance OF sister boat
After that little vessel became part OF the
cars fleet she made from Kronstadt TO
Libau in October OF 1905. The official report of
the commander Of the vessel best tells the story:
This trip confirms once more the good sea
going qualities OF boats Of this particular type as
several times out in cold weather and
posed to high winds and heavy seas, yet notwith-
standing these conditions, the submersible stood
the weather every time quite easily. At tine.
for "A hours by OF the violence Of the wind
and the nature Of the sea- It not possible TO
. pass food from the conveying vessel During that
period the deck swept by heavy seas and the
able to take the air only on top OF the
coming tower; but notwithstanding this when
proposed TO them the next day that they might go
over TO the convoy If they liked they again asked
permission to remain the submersible-'
Yes. the underwater craft coming into their
own"