The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-28
RECALLS FIRST SUBMARINE TRIP
 OF 19 YEARS AGO.
Philadelphia Newspaper mans Recollections of
 Undersea Journey.
TRIP MADE FROM
 BALTIMORE DOCK
Great Strides of Submarine Navigation Emphasized by
 Interesting Story.

I
 face of the water by others than those
 interested in submarine navigation is
 given by James M. Bennett, in the
 Philadelphia Ledger. =
 This trip taken in the Argonaut,
 how thing of the past, but the first l even keel, buoyant superstructure
 craft designed. is particularly inter- esting at this time, because it shows
 the utter fearlessness of Simon Lake
 and the great change in submarine
 conveniences. and advance in the op-
 eration of undersea craft.
 | Where the Argonaut, launched in
 August, 1897, burned gasoline (pe-
 troD and was incident to all the dan gers of escaping gas since eliminated, and there was intense ringing in the
 ears, the modern submarine is able
 time, there is little noise from outside,
 no sweating and temperature
 changes are offset by electrical de-
 vices.
 One feature indicated in this ar-
 ticle stands out most prominently,
 however, as it points to improve
 ment so far ahead of the age that | even to this date Simon Lake and possibly the German government are | the only ones to adopt it generally in their boats--the submarine diving compartment.
 l. As far as Is known no specified
 tions of the United States. English, or other governments have included this l feature except in boats built upon pri- | vate design and accepted by them. The Argonaut as originally built was but 36 feet long and feet in diameter. She was the first subma-
 rine to be fitted with internal com bustion engines. She had two-toothed driving wheels forward which were revolved by suitable gearing when navigating on the waterbed, or they could be disconnected from this gear ing and permitted to revolve freely, propulsion being effected by the screw propeller. Storage batteries were carried only for lighting purposes. Air was taken into the boat by means of pipe masts at depths up to 50 feet. Bennett tells his experiences of 19 years ago as follows:
 Don't. come to the office tomor- row; go to Spring Gardens, You are going down in a submarine boat" When the city editor of newspaper published in Baltimore gave me this order almost 19 years ago he tor pedoed'' me, without warning. I was sailing along. under full canvas, ig- Snorant and happy as a 'cub'' reporter, when received the assignment to explore the depths in an undersea boat.
 The vessel was the Argonaut, in- vention of Simon Lake. who received the greater part of his education in Philadelphia. Lake and his boat had ben something of joke among newspaper folk. but time was destin- ed to show that 1t was the forerunner, probably, of the same type as the giant German submersible Deutsch- land, which was recently moored in Baltimore almost within a. stones throw of the shipyard of the Colum- bian Iron Works & Drydock Co.,, where Lakes boat was built. And now, after the years have flown, comes the product of German ingenuity and daring to recall to me the risk I assumed when nodded calmly to my city editor as received the assignment to Ego down in the submarine"
 Scare That Still Hngers.
 went. I've never forgotten it, and I'll confess frankly that I was fright ened. What did I, a landsman, know of a boat that had been built to sink at the nanipulator's will, crawl along the bottom of the sea if the man in | charge thought it necessary, open a | hole in the bottom and permit a | diver to leave and do other stunts to 1 which Jules Verne's widest flights of | never scared?
 What assurance had I that the boat | would return to the surface? None. Yet, down I went and received a scare that has fingered with me, although I | was badly .olted when 2 German sub- marine stopped Dutch ship on which was crossing the North Sea from Rotteram to London last year.
 Spring Gardens, an arm of the Pat apsco, was being swept by cold wind on Decf Is, 1897, when I had my first glimpse of Lakes boat as it lay alongside the dock
 It was real Tow, rakish craft" Little of the boat was visible above the surface. She war only 36 feet. long. g feet beam, this pioneer among submarine boats, the design of which was afterward adopted by several 6A S0e DOWcEb. oIlc ttdo d f 30-horse power engine. a dynamo, an air compressor, searchlight and other apparatus necessary for the of submarine.
 Thousands of persons lined the dock and the banks of the river. They gazed in wonder at the queer looking craft.
 Welcomed by Lake.
 Simon Lake, bronzed. bright-eyed, alert and eager. welcomed me aboard.
 Well go down in a few minutes" he said. Really, I wasn't in a hurry. felt somewhat like a patient being prepared for an operating table.
 In a few minutes another news paper man and a woman writer from a New York publication came aboard.
 That's all," said MT. Lake, as he waved toward a bo.ier-shaped tower, which was the entrance to the in- terior of the craft. I took one long, loving, lingering glance at Baltimore, thought of my creditors also of some things I had heard in Sunday school in the long ago before began news paper work, and I was ready to go where Simon Lake led me.
 He had given me confidence by his air of simplicity, his strength and evident determination to win success