AN INGENIOUS DEPTH-FINDER.

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 133, 2 December 1922, Page 14

AN INGENIOUS DEPTH-FINDER.

An ingenious invention . his been brought out in England by means of which the depth of water underneath a ship can be ascertained promptly and accurately. The idea underlying the device IB to form a right-angled triangle' beneath the ship's bottom by means of a beam of light"-.-thrown down'in a vertical line which is fixed in an ordinary sluice valve, which can be closed wfifen necessary for gleaning, etc The angle-finder is-on the theodolite principle. There is i ■ workable tube adjusted inside a gun-metal case, which is worked by means', of _ a. lever; the angle-finder is also fitted with a graduated scale to enable the Observer .to determine the angle the moment he obtains a. junction with the end of the beam of light on the sea bottom. This is done through, a small. observation, giassi window fixed to the depth-finder. The valve and. anglefinder are fixed inside and at the bot? torn of the ship at a distance of, say, 100 ft apart. This would be a suitable distance, as it would give 95 fathoms, which is sufficient for ordinary purposes at sea for navigation and safety. Of course, the greater the distance' tfo valve through which .the light is shown and the angle-finder are apart, the greater depth could be "sounded with the same angles. The depth can be determined by .the most inexperienced person with ': practically mathematical precision at any, speed with the same ease as though the ship were stopped, and in any kind of weather.' - ;". :