Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-05-06

Continued From Page One)
are stuck before they hit the boat-and
there you are
1t was a great idea; certainly no one
else had thought Of II. But as the
spikes would have to be about fifty feet
long to hold of the torpedoes and each
ship would have to have three or four
thousand Of them. we could not very well
adopt the invention.
WRAP SHIP IN COTTON
Is SUGGESTED.
A southern inventor brought forth a
plan that would have thrilled the sunny
South with Joy If It could have been
adopted THIS was 10 sheathe all ships
with an armor OF thick cotton batting.
He evidently got his inspiration from
the battle Of New Orleans, where doughty
old Andrew Jackson erected a barricade
Of cotton bales which the British shells
could not penetrate. SO a century later
this Jacksonian figured that q ship
swathed IN cotton would be immune from
she'll or torpedoes. Tho Germans could
fire away, and do no more harm than II
they were throwing rocks at a mattress.
ANY new use for cotton in unlimited
quantities naturally appealed 10 me. as
come from IA cotton raising section, but
unfortunately the naval experts seemed
TO have their doubts about the efficacy
Of cotton batting armor, preferring to
stick to steel
There wero lot OF inventions, OF
course. ard even some OF those that
we're not practicable embodied ideas that
were worth considering Though we
never did succeed In building a nom
sinkable ship the thought given to the
rl nd h.
not without their value Increasing the
bUoy0ncy OF vessels is one Of the things
that all naval constructors are study
ing, and We believe that ours have made
as much progress In this direction as
those OF any other country.
PROTECTION AGAINST TORPEDOEs
BEING STUDIED.
Our capital ships are beng built so
that one torpedo VIII not disable them,
and It might take two or three TO sink
them. This method may, in time. be
adapted to transports and all large yes-
sells used IN war service.
The development Of devices for detect
ing submarines; Of the radio compass,
which tells a ship It's position At sea
Of the nonriochet shell. which is not
detected when II hits the water: Of small
cannon for aeroplanes Of star shells that
are great aid in night firing. throwing
n blaze Of light over enemy vessels while
not revealing the positions Of our own
ships-these are only n few Of the inven-
tions that came out OF the war Begin
ming as q crude affair carrying nifty
pounds OF explosive. the depth charge
was developed into a huge bomb, carry
ing 800 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 protect
ing ships from mines. Like two huge
wings spread out IN the water, II picked
up mines, and its wires bore them away
from the ships, where they could be ex-
ploded without danger to the vessel
Mines played n big part in naval war
fare. The Germans sowed the seas with
them, and II the allied mine sweepers
had not been so energetic and skillful
in removing them they might have been
as destructive to shipping as the U-boats
were. The new mine our Navy devel,
oped in 1917 was regarded rs decidedly
superior TO any of It's predecessors, and
this was the type used In the North sea
mine barrage, so per cent Of which was
composed of American mines, laid BY
American vessels.
APPARATUS TO DETECT
APPROACH OF SUB"
At last, after considerable experiment,
American genius devised a listening"
apparatus that would disclose the pres
ence of a submarine miles way, II It
was in motion. 1t enabled the operators.
by the sound Of the propellers and other
noises, to tell whether the ship heard
was liner. warshlr, or a Sub" This