Evening star., 1921-05-06
100000 SCHEMES SUBMITTED
TO PUT QUICK FINISH TO WAR
Daniels Tells of ''Porcupine Boat" and
Cotton Batting Armor' ''-Hair-Brained
Inventions and Useful Devices.

to investigate. The fellow did not
look like a spy or a plotter, and the
Navy man asked him what his con-
traption was.
It's 'porcupine boat" he said:
the submarines are firing"
1t was a model of a boat, its wood
en- sides thickly studded with long
spikes.
whats the idea ?" he was asked.
We'll, you see, the torpedoes can't
sink a ship unless they hit her" he
explained. "and if you put these long
spikes all along the side. they can't
get to her. The spikes will Stop 'em !;
the torpedoes are stuck before they
hit the boat-and there you are"
1t was a great idea; certainly no
one else had thought of it. But as
the spikes would have to be about
does. and each ship would have to
have three or four thousand of them,
we could not very we'll adopt the in
vention.
Wrnp Ship in Cotton.
A southern inventor brought forth
a plan that would have thrilled the
sunny south with joy if it could have
ships with an armor of thick cotton
batting. He evidently got his in
spiration from the battle of New Or
leans. where doughty old Andrew
Jackson erected a barricade of cot
ton bales which the British shells
later this Jacksonian figured that a
ship swathed in cotton would be i'm
mune from shell or torpedoes. The
Germans could fire away. and do no
more harm than if they were throw
ing rocks at mattress.
Any new use for cotton in unlimited
quantities naturally appealed to me,
as l come from cotton-raising sec
tion. but unfortunately the naval ex-
perts seemed to have their doubts
armor, preferring to stick to steel.
There were a lot of inventions, OF
course, and even some Of those that
were not practicable embodied ideas
that were worth considering. Though
we never did succeed in building a
to the subject and the experiments
made were not without their value.
Increasing the buoyancy of vessels is
one of the things that all naval con-
structors are studying, and we believe
that ours have made as much prog
ress in this direction as those of any
other country.
Protection Against TOrpedoes.
Our capital ships are being built %
that one torpedo will not disable them,
and it might take two or three to sink
tueHI 1HlS HicluOu may III llHic, Uc
adapted to transports and all large
vessels used in war service.
The development Of devices for de-
tecting submarines; Of the radio COM
pass. which tells a ship it's position
at sea; of the monricochet shell,
which is not detected when it hits
the water; Of small guns for aero
planes; of star shells that are a great
aid in night-firing. throwing blaze
of light over enemy vessels. while not
revealing the positions of our own
ships-these are only few Of the in
ventions that came out of.the war.
Beginning as a crude affair carry
ing fifty pounds of explosive, the
depth charge was developed into a
huge bomb. carrying 500 pounds of
INT; timed to explode at any depth
a reliable weapon that was the terror
of the U-boats.
The paravane, an English invention,
proved Of the greatest value in pro-
tecting ships from mines. Like two
huge wings spread out in the water,
| it picked up mines. and its wires bore
them away from the ships where they
could be exploded without danger to
the vessel.
Mines played a big part in naval
warfare. The Germans sowed the
seas with them. and II the allied
mine-sweepers had not been so ener-
getic and skillful in removing them
tney might nave DeSu as obstructive
to shipping as the U-boats were. The
new mine our navy developed in 1917
Vas regarded as decidedly superior
to any of its predecessors, and this
was the type used in the North sea
mine barrage. 80 per cent Of which
was composed Of American mines,
laid by American vessels.
Detect Approach Of "sub."
At lasts after considerable expert
ment. American genius devised a
i listening" apparatus that would dis
close the presence of a submarine
miles away, If 1t was in motion It
enabled the operators. by the sound
of the propellers and other noises.
| to tell whether the ship heard was a
liner, warship or a Sub" This
| was the most efficient device of the
kind perfected during the war, and
| was adopted by other nations.
Better guns for aeroplanes was a
vital need. Our ordnance officers
| vastly improved the machine guns
| in use. But for anti-submarine war
: fare we needed a large-caliber gun
I SPECIAL NOTICES. !