The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-18

else was considered long ago snd dis
carded.
Admiral Griffin has a text book on
propellers, published nifty years ago.
in which is a description and picture
OF every kind Of propeller that has
been offered 10 his bureau in the last
year. Even the amateur inventor IA
not only staggered but also convinced
when shown his very idea worked out
in n book Of half a century ago.
Naval officers say that the difficulty
with inventors of this type is that
hey are not familiar with ships. guns.
n the navy. do not know what Is being
done with them. and consequently are
constantly mistaking a well known
idea for a brand new one. In fact.
1t has been said that these inventors
seem TO regard a ship as merely a hol-
low thing. TO be filled with inventions
Of their devising.
Similarly. from unfr -liliarlty with
the navy and its conditions, these men
overlook the act that nearly every
thing In a ship or a gun Is a COM
promise. For example. IL is easy to
Increase the size of guns, but by 80
doing one increases At a high ratio
the weight OF the gun. and heavier
guns mean either fewer OF them or
bigger ships. Also, II IL easy to tn
crease the pressure in a u and thus
give a higher velocity TO a shell, but
this necessitates either an objection
able increase in the size Of the gun
or the discovery Of a tougher metal
which will not burst under the in
creased pressure. by building battle
ships OF narrower beam. one could in
crease their speed, but to do so would
reduce the coal capacity and thus
lessen their steaming radius.
From these examples it is easy TO
understand why so little help Is re-
ceived from the casual inventor, and
why most of the navy's inventions
come from within. The men OF the
navy understand all the complicated
conditions which must be met, and
know that "A change In one detail OF
gun or ship mechanism or design is
likely TO AFFECT all other details and
that constant compromise Is the ulti-
mate necessity. The average inventor
does not appreciate this state OF ar
fairs.
NdNdl oiIlttIS DtIlpNe II1dI tUe tHlcl
need In the field Of really new de-
partures of to-day Is some effective
defence against submarines. While the
service does not subscribe to Mr..
Daniels's theory hat the war in Eu-
rope Is going to revolutionize all ele-
ments OF naval warfare. II does agree
that the submarine has been made
much more efficient than ever before
and that new devices are needed 10 of
set It.
Aviation experts Of the navy regard
the seroplane as the natural enemy OF
the submarine. and the present devel-
opment in the United States navy 10
IN that theory.
Similarly. II Is believed that the next
great step as a result Of the war will
be the improved adaptation OF III air
craft as an auxiliary of the battle
ship: in other words. the adaptation
of naval warfare to what r. A. Fes-
sender described in THE Sun az the
transition Of naval warfare from BIZ
dimenstOnal to tr~i-dimensional con-
ditions.
American naval officers seem 10 he
lievc. however. that the principles Of
naval warfare will remain unaffected
by h war in Europe; that II Is only
tho auXiliaries II the modes of using
them which will be found TO have been
changed, And there Ia Tire Arm con-
viction that. Just as in the past, the
need will always bring forth the thing
desired, either from within the navy
itself. or from the industrial world,
or from the civilian inventor.
Al ,La. l., ~. .-. $500 49,
Mr., Daniels's proposed board Is re-
garded as a good thing: it will serve
to advertise the navy's new needs and
direct the attention Of the ablest brains
TO the task OF meeting them.