The sun., 1919-08-02

| or finishing up her trousseau or some-
thing. for she didn't go on yesterdays
trip. % %
| Even the Flag Ia Submerged.
Well, at last the photographers were
induced to desist and the trips to the
| floor Of Long Island Sound began. The
salvaging submarine is a queer looking
thing, like a fiat backed iron turtle, and
Is pushed along In front OF the mother
| ship, the Argonaut. connected with II by
long. round, steel contrIvance. hollow
and ri6ged inside. When ready to sub
merge the sailors work some mysterious
ropes and windlasses and things on the
Argonaut and the Argosy disappears
from sight lower and lower, till tho lad
der arrangement that sticks from the top
of 1t like periscope and IL marked with
numbers at regular intervals to indicate
the depth to which the submarine was
gone Is entirely below the water and only
the small American nag on its top shows
Conmander Simon even submerged the
nag yesterday, and when his guests pro-
tested that this was unpatriotic he re-
| torted:
"Oughtn't the American flag to be SUI
preme below as we'll as above the scar
A queer open chimney effect rises
! from the deck of the mother ship, and
hoisted up by the strong arms of the men
the Modern Mermaid wriggled down the
yawning mouth of this. landed on the
dizzy ladder that leads below. and
worked around the turn below that led
her into the bowels of the hollow tube
From that point bent almost double, she
crept along to a round door into the
compressed air compartment of the sub
marine. Commander Simon and a re-
porter norman accompanied her. Chief
Engineer Harry Something -or-other was
/ working the do-dad that lots compressed
air down from the tank above on the
mother ship.
Now" ordered Commander Simon,
hold your noses and blow! Open your
| mouths and swallow! That way you'll
| get used to the pressure"
Everybody blew and swallowed, pinch
ing their nasal extremities, and wincing
more or less at the pain I'm their ear
drums. till they got used to the pres
sure. and then Commander Simon opened
another round door, and there was the
trap door to the bottom of the sea
1t was gloriously exciting, because II
the compressed, air that was keeping the
| water down should be cut OF the water
would rise and fill everything. True,
Commander Simon said the air couldn't
be shut of, and II II did the submarine
WNAAN aSS oioot Dut aHynOW his kueStb
felt tLct there were deliciously creepy
possibilities.
Mermaiden Ruth was the only one
who had overallR The other three went
In their skirts, and take Il from one
| OF them. skirts are no garb for mer-
maiden who wants to get around with
out stumbling as no graceful mermaiden
should.
Commander Simon, by the way, got the
| first inspiration for his submarine from
Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues
1 Under the Sea-" when he was q lad Of
10 years. 1t was then that he drew his
| first plans. All his long life he has
dreamed and invented. and when the
United States Government would take
no notice of his submarine he went
abroad. He built several for the Ger
mans, ami then they. after possessing
themselves of his ideas, turned their
backs on him. When they-invoived the
world in war and sent their submarines
| out to sink the ships of other nations
Commander Simon Lake knew that this
people. treacherous from the first, had
taken the submarine he meant for peace
full commercial and salvaging purposes
| and developed 1t to use as their most
cruel and wicked instrument of death.
But in his opinion the submarines
career as dealer of death Is ended, and
| Its long and useful life' as the efficient
big brother OF the salvaging diver is 1ust
| be gun.