The Alaska daily empire., 1914-09-03
JOHN P. HOLLAND:
 AN APPRECIATION

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 On August 17th John Philip Holland the inventor of the submarine was bpried from St. Joseph's Church, Phil. adelphia. Paradoxical as 1t may seem, MT. Holland was a man of peace It was his belief, however, that world. peace could be brought about only by bringing the instruments of war to the highest possible efficiency, and his invention of the submarine may prove during the present war the folly of sauandering millions on dread naughts."
 Inventor Holland was born 72 years ago at Liscanor, County Clare, Ireland, Educated at Limerick, he became a school teacher before he was out of his teens. He remained an Irish schoolmaster for fifteen years. and 1t was while a teacher in Cork that he read of the battle between the Moni- tor and the Merrimac, He foresaw that the future warships were to be armored and he gave much thought how to best combat them. He drew plans for a boat to go beneath the water and attack ironclads from be- low, where they would be most vulner- able. When he tried to get money to build such a boat he was considered a fanatic.
 He came to America, and while in Boston slipped on an icy pavement and broke his leg. During his con valescence he improved his subma- rlne invention plans. The first en. couragement he received for his in vention came to him in Paterson from Rev. Isaac Whelan, a priest, the son of Captain J. Whelan a hero of the Civil War From this priests en. couragement Mir. Holland resolved to persevere and soon got financial back. ing from resident of France. It was in 1875 that Mir. Holland first submit ted plans and urged the idea of sub marine to the United States Navy De- partment, only to have them rejected. By 1877 he had completed, largely from his own savings, his first boat to be propelled under water with a petro leum engine. The boat proved too small, so he sank it out of sight in the Passaic river. This first sub. marine is to be raised from It's bed of mud and sent to the Panama Ex. position and later on to the Smithon- ian Institute at Washington as a mem- orial of the inventor. The trials and disappointments of Mir. Holland in his endeayor to get the United States Navy Department to see the value of his underwater boat in naval warfare would have broken the spirit and health of any human other than this indomitable Irish school master. Mir Holland struggled on. His persistency finally awakened the United States Government to investigate at least the possibilities of the submarine, so in 1893 the Navy Department opened a competition for submarine plans and MT. Holland won. On the strength of this "The Holland Torpedo Boat Co" was organized,
 The Japanese Government was the first to give Mir. Holland any real en. couragement. They ordered two of his boats which were used afterwards in the Japan-Russian war, but with what success they would never di- vulge. They would however be quick to complain if the boats were not entirely satisfactory
 About twenty submarines are now in the United States Navy, and every nation with navy considers them most important part of the service. Their supreme test is taking place in the present war just as the inventor is being laid to rest.
 Mir. Holland was patriot who loved his adopted country and strove hard to have her protected by these sub marine battleships Though other countries have taken advantage of his work John Holland, the Irish school master, will always be known as the father of the submarine.