Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-03
SON TELLS HOW
Il SUBMARINE WAS
. BUILT By. FATHER

Charles w Merrill, father OF
Charles +, Merrill OF the Star. Bulletin
staff, is said to be the man who built
the first submarine OH the Pacific
coast, The sen tells about this early
under-se craft as follows:
About the year 1869 my father was
Il boatbuilder employed In the boat
shop belonging 10 Martin Vice. one OF
the pioneer boat builders OF the PA.
chic coast. One day a FrenChman.
named SOffrenau. came into the boat
shop and, displaying a roll of draw
ings. asked Martin Vice il he could
build the boat as called for in the
drawings, Vice was a man who never
took any stock in any crazy subma.
rine craft and told the Frenchman so,
but at the same time appealed to my
father if it was possible to construct
such an odd craft as the Frenchman
desired. My father replied that he
thought he could follow pretty close
to the drawings furnished, which
statement highly pleased the invent
or, price was set so high that
there was no likelihood OF the firm
losing any money on the venture. A.
back room Of the shop was selected
as the fitting place for the secret con.
struction OF the queer craft, and II
certainly was queer.
After a couple of weeks the hull Of
the submarine was In such an advanc.
ed state that the inventor" could
work on the inside, placing his ma
chinery. A turret Of heavy glass rose
from the huh about mid-ships. This
was covered with an air-tight lid that
fastened from the inside, and when.
ever the inventor was at work there
he kept the lid tight down so that no
one might see him. AS the boat was
but IA feet long, the machinery on
the inside was to be worked by hand
power and there were some weird
and strange noises came from the
bowels of that first submarine after a
few days of budding with connectors.
chains, rods and valves by the French-
man.
Each time that he came from the in
side of the boat after an afternoon OF
fussing with the gear and wheels, he
seemed to be in highly excited state
Of mind
AT last the submarine vas finished
and the trial trip was to be held at the
foot Of the Howard street wharf on
the following Sunday morning. The
trial was kept as secret as possible.
but such happening as the, test OF
real submarine in those early days
leaked out in spite of all and there
was quite crowd at the pier to wit.
ness the browning act OF genius.
Davis were employed to place the
submarine In the water, but II was
found that she would not stay on an
even keel. and lot OF railroad iron
was fastened to her keel, which had
the desired effect AS precautionary
measure couple Of heavy lines were
kept fastened to the submarine and
when all was ready the word was Civ.
en- and the Frenchman commenced 10
work his machinery. That much We
could see through the glass Of the
turret. The boat moved ahead for a
few feet. the men holding the safety
lines following slowly.
"A submarine must go under the
water and rise again to prove that she
is a submarine, and that Is just what
this one started to do. The inventor
opened up something and the boat
to sink, slowly at first,
and then with plunge she disappear.
ed beneath the surface. While there
we're lines from the outside OF the sub
marine to the wharf there had been
none connected from the inside. where
the inventor was mastering the intfi.
cacies Of the machinery.
After the submarine had been on
the bottom for some time somebody
that they had better pull
the thing up and see what was going
On. Well, they did It just in time. for
when the submarine came to the sur
face the Frenchman smashed one OF
the heavy glasses Of the turret and
commenced to yell for help. SoEle
strong falls were made fast to the
boat and it was hauled out Of the
water and landed on the dock When
the Frenchman was taken from the
inside of the craft he was as crazy ag
a bed bug, and there was a question
as to his sanity before he made the
attempt to navigate beneath the sur
face.
The submarine was taken to the
then famous Woodward's Gardens at
Mission and Fourteenth streets, and
located at one side Of the big fish
pond, where 1t remained for years as
one of the curiosities Of that wonder
full collection from all parts OF the
world"