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Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 47, 13 July 1908, Page 2

One thing “submariners " have to contend against is a highly poisonous* gas known as carbon monoxide. For this there is no chemical test, ihe only trustworthy barometer boincr a cage of white mice. These Hi tie animals are peculiarly susceptible to tho fumes, and when they begin to show signs of distress it is time for the submarine to be brought to the surface. A man can stand twenty times as much monoxido as a mouse, so there is no immediate hurry ; bv.t should the mice collapse suddenly the boat must be raised without loss of time, or disastrous consequences mov result. The monoxide, however, i* not always present, and cases are oc ) record of a vessel having remained i

submerged for twelve hours. Naturally, white mice are thought much of by the "submariners," and they figure conspicuously on a flag which has been designed for the service by Lieutenant Hervey, a submarine expert. The flag is in threo vertical sections—red, yellow, and blue. On the rod section is a black shield, two of the quarters containing a submarine and three torpedoes respectively, whilst on each of the other two quarters is borne a white mouM sitting on his haunches—or, as the herald® have it, “rampant"—with the tail in a perfectly upright and i:%» natural position. But, perhaps. * their ease on the submarine threw harmless protectors of the sailor may develop a "squirrel tai l "t “P.T.O" iUO*k