TRADE FLEET

Grey River Argus, 6 December 1938, Page 9

TRADE FLEET

TO TRAVEL UNDER SEA. An amazing scheme now being drawn up by a 72-years-old man may change the history of sea-borne trade. Simon Lake, inventor of the modern submarine, is sitting in his New York office, planning to gather' harvests from the sea-bed and employ submarines instead of cargo-boats. When he invented the submarine, he became richer than he had ever dreamed he would be. . But he has never been happy about this success. For one thing, his submarine invention was developed along lines that were not in his mind at all when he gave it to the world. ’ Lake never intended to invent a new war weapon. He wanted the submarine developed so that it would bring prosperity and greater happiness .to his fellow men. He sees no reason why there should not be regular sailings of submarine liners between American, European, and even Far Eastern ports. Each ship could be operated bya crew of not more than a dozen men far fewer than those required to operate an ordinary surface-boat. But Lake’s plans are far « more startling than’ more regular transAtlantic crossings. His submarine liners, instead of going through the Suez Canal on the way, say to Yokohama from Liverpool’, would travel right under the ice of Northern Russia and Siberia. In other directions, he considers the time has arrived when real productive use should be made of the submarines. He sees no reason, for instance, why the mineral wealth of the sea bed should not be mined from submarine craft. ? . What he would do is to drive vertical tunnels into the sea bed at points where oil, iron, silver, or copper have been located. ; .. As for sea bed market gardening, Lake sees no reason at all*"why the rich crops of vegetation at present, growing beneath the waters could not be turned to everyday account. > /