Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-10
RICHMOND TIMES DIsPATCH: MONDAY, JULY 10, 1916.

naval submarine is concealed. or, to
oe accurate, protected, for the hum
mock prevented any real coucealment.
inc moro modern German submarines
arc provided with three half
men guns. such as the German de-
s'roEers use, and these are kept well
under cover below matches that are
,nush WIN the deck. But this boat has
no such gun, nor any ram on which il
could be raised to position or any com
pressed air apparatus that could do
| the work Of raising.
IN the interior you also miss tho
mechanism and tackle used for firing
!orpeuoes, thee brecch blocks for load
ing. the reservoirs Of compressed air,
"nich gives the torpedOcS their send
OH, ana wheels which control them.
| You also look i'm vain for the mag
HH'ne with reserve supply of turpctlocs
Ihc most recent type of submarine
'heS had when ! left Germany Il few
months ago WAS able to carry twenty
reserve torpcdocs without too much
uifiiculty. But here the spaces that
would have been occupied by those
swift and fatal mechanical fishes with
their deadly cargo of trnitrotolucnc.
auectionately known as '"r y. T.,'' are
filled with dyes to gladden. the hearts
OF thosc who promenade Fifth Avenue,
and put back into American life the
l..
LACK or SPACE
CHIEF INCONVENIENCE
The men who serve under this mod
ern discovery of Captain Kairig did
not mutiny as those others did four
centuries ago. Yet in some ways they
mad more trying time than their
forcrunncrs of the days before DIESEL
engines were invented. Lack OF space
was the chief Inconvenience Every
used for the cargo. But this was large
iy offset by the fact that tho boat
ran above water much of the way.
And even under the water they did not
suncr from that worst Inconvenience
OF bad air According to those inter
cstcd IN the project, particular efforts
were made in the construction Of these
merchant boats to insure the very best
possible air supply. y stay of two
fufl days beneath the surface does
not Inconvenience tho lungs or heart
of the crew I'm the slightest. Ger
niany'S chemists have been called on
to do anything and everything i'm this
war. from supplying substitutes for
dynamite TO supplying substitutes for
hrcad.
The builders OF the transatlantic
submarine asked them for !, submu-
rine for air. And they supplied it
that il to say, they showed how tho
stored by means of chemicals And as
to the hot. fctid air, which the engine
room carries down with it, when the
boat dives below the surface. this is
lea out through pipes, put through :,
cooling and purifying process and led
back again "as good as new"
ROOD QUESTION GIVES
VERY LITTLE TROUBLE;
The food question gave the men
even less worry than the matter OF
air. Because OF the British blockade,
all Germany to-day is living on food
that comes out Of tubes ana cans food
which iS nearly the real thing but
not quite. And these mon. the FIRST
merchant scamcn to break that block
adc in this new way were quite willing
10 l'Fc on the same sort of things
Water had TO be drunk little spar
ingly. since there was no apparatus on
board for distilling fresh water from
salt water. but there was plenty of
hot food. And the mems minds were
set at rest by tho knowledge that there
was enough food To last them some
three months--and then enough more
among the emergency rations to last
them good while longer. But they
are not the worrying kind. these sailors
under the sea. When you point to tho
little rescue kits which are allotted
to each of them and ask them how
they would feel if they had to use them
they merely smile al you-a little
Erimly. They are not much given to
conversation. They act as though in
those hours of danger and excitement
and particularly in those hours when
they lay stationary under the water
III a perfect silence they had learned
some new wisdom not accessible 10
those who live under tho blue dome of
the sky rather than under the CORFU
gated green roof of the sea That
silence, as they all agree is a strange
ana weird thing: il is as If time had
stopped and the world had stopped
and they were working out an infinite
penancc i'm "a private and particular
purgatory all their own.
READY TO MAKE DASH
FOR EMERGENCY KITS
Had their purgatoIy suddenly been
turned into a hell Of terror by Il sud
den thrush of water from leak, or
Il tearing of the hull, they were all
ready to make dash for their cmcr-
gency kits. You put them on the way
YOU do Il coat and fastcn a rcspira tor
u fairly complicated apparatus. which
is connected with 1t breathing bag car
ried OH the back-ovcr tho mouth and
nose. II YOU succeed in getting out.
tho buoyancE Of tile swimming coat
carries YOU TO tho surface. and YOU are
able to take off the mouth and nose
piece and breathe the fresh air OF the
sea- and shout for help. il help Is
within hailing distance.
One of the reasons for tho choice
of the Chesapeake as the port OF land
ing for the submarine is the absence
of any swift current. The rise and
fall of the tides is matter Of bare
~ two feet, practically nothing COM
pared with the tides around New
York. The Importance Of still water
can hardly be oVcrcstimatcd. The
swift current in the Marmora Chan
mel cost England two Of her best sub
marines. They were stranded in the
channel of the Sea OF ATarmora.
When =. G.. l.. Hilken. the American
manager OF the new merchant subma-
rinc company, got the news that the
deutschland was sighted. he jumped
about for Joy like a scvcn-ycar-old
boy: "Didn't | tell YOU that she'd
come in Tonight" he cried. Didn't
| tell YOU" AS Il matter of fact. he
did. He had a hunch. 1t was moth
ing more than that For he swcars
OH his honor that neither he nor any
one else connected with the subma-
rine has had any wireless messages