Wonderful Discoveries.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1908, 29 November 1886, Page 4

Wonderful Discoveries.

two Bucmc BOATS. Ktct since the greet expansion of electrical •ogineaing which has been the chief aeientU fic feature of the last ten years, the world has bean eagerly looking for some practical application of electricity to the navigation of the sea. The notion of a boat in which, without any of the tiresome work of production, the motive power shall lie ready for use at a moment's notice ; of force which, like the spirits that obey an enchanter, shall be able, with no more trouble than the taming of a handle, to give that greatest proof of man’s victory over matter—the phenomena of tegular expression. It really seems Um discovery had at last been made, and as if the problem of a practical application of 6*6*rioty to navigation bad been solved. The Volta, a steel bailt screw launch, crossed end reeroMed the Channel between Dover and Calais, propelled solely by electricity stored in the batteries which she carried with n«. The Volta is 37ft long, and with a breadth of beam of nearly 7ft. Bhe is fitted with an eleethe battery of sixty one cells, wbieh, before her voyage, was charged by a dynamo on shore at Dover. Her motors are ■o arranged that she can be propelled at a •low, • moiiara, or a fast psce, at will. Thaae differences of speed, the stsirtiog, and the stopping, and the backing of the vessel are all regulated with one switch. When the accumulators are once charged, the man who contnda this switch can, without other aid, and without the harden of fuel, or dangers of fire, so long as the energy lasts, make the boat take him where he wills. The aetoal voyage showed that the vessel scold fnlfit her eonstraetor’s almost expectations. So smoothily and so noiselessly did the Volta move, that a seagull sleep upon the wafer did wot perceive her approach, and one of her crew was actually able to stretch oat bis hand ••d seise the bird as the boat stole by on its ■lent way. The pace made on the journey to Calais does not seem to have been very gnat; but on coming homeward, a speed of fourteen miles was at one time attained, the •new at that time making one thousand revolutions a minute. Even after the fifty ■ilea’ voyage, made in eight hoars and a quarter, and with a crew of ten persons, a oonsidermble amount of motive power still remained unexhausted.

Tet, 101 l of food for the imagination aa ia the cruise of the Volta, the interest of her Performance ia entirely eclipsed by the extraordinary record of a marine invention that has reached na from New York. The wontotal dream of Jules Verne, of a ship that "would aail beneath the sea with men inside, and navigate in secret the unknown depths of the ocean, has actually been realised. A boot has '.been constructed at New York which has, remaining submerged for half an boor, explored the bed of the Hudson. And she has dons more than merely sink like a diving bell; she has made her way beneath the waves, and plunging below at one spot, has appeared at a mile's distance. This wonderful little veseel, bearing the sinister name of the Peacemaker, is intended primarly as a torpedo boat. It may, bow* ever, be safely predicted that commerce, aeieoee, and pleasure will soon claim their share in the marvellous invention. The Peacemaker is 30ft long, has 7*ft depth of bold and'Sfft breadth of beam. Those who remember the description of the Nautilus in dole* Verne’s romance, will seem to recognise old friends in the dome for the pilot, which protrudes above the Jtop of the boat, and the turret hatchway by which the interior is reached. In addition to an ordinary rudder for Internal guidance, there ore on the sides, near the stern, horizontal rudders which enable the pilot to steer upwards or downwards at will, and for the same purpose there are also water tanka that can be filled and emptied to raise or sink the vessel. A gauge ia ingeniously devised for indicating the depth reached, while an incandescent electric lamp tarnishes the necessary light. Compressed air is stored “in 6in pipes running round the interior,” and it is asserted that by a chemical device the air in the hold can be purified in such a way that the crew could exist lor some time without a fresh supply. This all sounds very like the craft commanded by Captain Nemo; but it is the account given by the reporters of the New York Herald and the New York Times, who each, but on different days, witnessed the performance of the boat, the former actually being on board during a submarine trip, the latter watching from the shore. The Herald reporter tells ns that his sensations when beneeth the sea for nineteen minutes were nothing different from those experienced in the engineer room of an ordinary steamer, and that a alight pitch forward was the only indication that the Peacemaker was making her dive to five fathoms below the surface of the Hudson. The reporter of the New York Tunes watched the boat from the shore. He saw the strange, low-lying vessel, with its pilot’s dome’and turret entrance just emerging from the water, east off from the quay, “ drift rapidly up the river for a few hundred yards, and then suddenly disappear beneath the waves.’’ htrange to say, the troubling of the waters which msrked the disappearance of the boat soon subsided, and there was in a ■bent time nothing to show the direction in which the Peacemaker was silently stealing beneath the water. To show that the boat is notfso dangerous a eraft aa might be expected, and that even if anything were to go wiong in the machinery eo as to prevent her upward movement when she had once sank below the surface, her mew recently took her fifty feet down, aud then came to the surface without her. leav« ing the host to be afterwards •• raised ly a derrick. What the motive power is by which this terrible little vessel goes on her deadly errands nuder the seas has been kept a complete secret—s secret, however, which we may suppose will soon be offered for sale to the English Government, as the Power likely to give most for an engine of naval warfare.

Tbe possibilities of extra destruction of life and property in lime of war are by no means so wonderful or so interesting to contemplate as are the opportunities of discovery that most follow if submarine navigation has really been accomplished. It is not stated whether the Peacemaker has a window in her sides as had tbe Nautilus; but it may be assumed that if abe bad not, one cau easily be made. Through that window, how vast and how new a world will be visible! Fancy the great sharks, tbe huge entile fish, and all the monsters ot tbe deeper sea tint will some to stare io, and flatten their snouts ■gainst the gits*, attracted by the blaze o< the electric light from within ! How euclmutting tbe sight for tbe voyager who first visits the deepe where the Spanish treasure fleets are rank, and where the galleoin-, as they break np, throw their freight of gold ingots on the ocean floor ! How weird a vision to navigate the clear, gray-green nnfathomed abysses of the Italian lakes ; to see what strange things lurk beneath the 3000 ft of water that lie below the surface of Como, or to cleave (he sapphire waters of the Geneva lake ! How enchanting to steer through tbe coral groves of the Pacific , to trace tbe course of continents long submerged; to float amid the palaces of cities overwhelmed, or by those diowned churche.wbete the tides still ting the bells to service ; to explore the beds of the Thames, the Tiber ot of the Rhine, or any marine inlet—we may find i’hatoab's chariots yet and note how they have worn their oouisss through the rock, and what trace of ancient races and forgotten kings tbs imperial streams yet secretly retain 1 To do all this sounds like romance; but nnleea two New York tenorlets have combined to contrive tbe biggest hosx the world has seen for many a year this and mote than this will sums day—perhaps ■ day very little distant— be possible for tho«e who are rich raough to owu a suhmanoe yacht.—P peels tor.