The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-02-06
Placing his knowledge and consult


 likened the action of the United States in breaking with Germany to a second Declaration of Independence.
 In signed article in the New York Sun MT. Lake declares that if wal comes the United States may maintain it's commerce by undersea routes ana that he is prepared to aid in the con- struction of commercial submarlnes far superior to the Deutschland lie makes certain prophecies that Will pc interesting in view of the fact that ms prophecies hitherto have come true with what would seem an uncanny fre- qllentcy but for the fact that they were based on sound knowledge. His article follows:
 Believing that the seas are and should be free to all nations, great or small, as great international high way where passengers and commerce may be safely transported at all times without molestation from pl- rates, bullies or temporarily insane people, we hereby pledge tour lives our fortunes-and our sacred honor" to do everything within our power to maintain free seas and to prevent an augmentation of the present world s horrible war by trying to keep our own senses and apply logic, reason and due consideration before taking warlike action that is sure to bring untold additional sufferings on the innocent.
 The above might be declaration that all men in their, sober senses would agree to, but evidence is rap idly accommodating that we Americans descendant mostly from one or the other of the belligerent nations now engaged in the most titanic struggle of history, are beginning to take sloes and lose that neutrality which our great President in his desire to main tain peace has cautioned us to pre- serve. =,
 For years I have contended that the destiny of the submarine was to bring about a cessation of maTlt1me warfare: these views have been ex- pressed from time to time before the Nmost important scintif1c societies in both Europe and America and they have beepp ublished in some of the leading scientific jourials and Inaga- zines both in this country and abroad.
 Unfortunately for my theories and for the world people did not then comprehend and DO NOT NOW COMPREHEND, except to a small degree what the advent of the sub- marine means to the world. When one considers the makeup of the sub- marine 1t is not to be wondered at; 1t is a complex mechanism. which must be designed to- resist great external pressure;z designers and operators of submarines must have knowledge of hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical de- vices of various kinds, navigation, gunnery and many other things that have been developed especially to meet the needs of submarine nayiga- ton, such as periscopes. gyroscop1c compasses, under water wireless tele- phones, etc.
 I have been making predictions as to the work the submarine will do ever since the present war began; most of these predictions have come true and the others are on the way. A study of the files of daily news papers. magazines and discussions be- fore engineering and scientific soci- cites and publications, such as Cen
 
 International Marine Engineering, Popular Science Monthly, &c., and in the discussion before societies of naval architects electrical, mechani- cal and marine engineers, will prove this I do not think I am endowed with the spirit of prophecy in being able to predict what is likely to hap pen I have been able to predict these happenings almost in the order of their occurrence due purely to a knowledge of the possibilities of the submarines and the knowledge that the Germans have that same knowl- edge and are applying it as fast as their engineering ability will permit During the period I was construct ing submarines for Russia and Aus tria my technical offices were in Ber- lin and we employed many German draughtsmen and engineers. l was in those years called into consultation by Krupps. who then built the first German U-boats. I was also consult ed by the German Ministry of Marine and they are familiar with my. plans as developed /at that time. There is nothing fundamentally new that they have applied in the art of submarine construction since that time, as far as I am aware; they have simply im- proved details regarding machinery, increased the size and radius of action of their boats, etc.
 The Germans are, however, ahead of most other nations in their sub marines because they took their pos abilities seriously and have been con- sistent in their deve1oment and in the improvement of their operative ma- chinery.
 I we'll remember, an interview with Admiral von Tirpitz, who, after an inspection of two types of submarines of my design, which I submitted to him, I think in 1905, thought that the larger of the two, which I called a cruiser type submarine, was what Germany needed, as vessel of that type was good for offensive pur- poses" as distinguished from the smaller type submitted, which called the harbor and coast defence size. I was also called into consultation by the Ministers of Marine, or chief con- structors of most of the other bellig- erent nations, including England, Rus sia, Austria and Italy. s
 As early as April 9, 1897, applied for and took out a U. S. patent, No. 650,75S, for cargo carrying submarines, the object of which was stated in the patent as follows: This invention relates to a combined surface and submarine vessel and may be en- ployed either as torpedo boat or for freight and general cruising pur- poses. I tried years ago to interest