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ON A SHIP BE MADE
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S It possible to make a ship unslnk-
able? At least, can't a craft be made
far less likely to founder than under
present Bystems of construction and
yet be fit for the service for which
she is designed? The sinking of the
Titanic brought these questions be-
fore the public some months ago
Since then the skill of one man has
developed a method which bids fair
to add greatly to the margin of safe-
ty to any steel ship which may suf-
fer serious damage below the water
line. The invention is a new application of prln
ciples which have been employed for other pur-
poses for many years.
In 1908 the cruiser Yankee lilt the Hen and
Chickens reef, just outside of Newport. Various
■well-known salvage companies tackled the wreck
but abandoned the work, declaring that it was
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Gown of Exquisite Design
Product of American Talent
quite impossible to refloat the cruiser. Then two
young engineers, W. W. Wotherspoon and R~ O.
King, attacked the task along new lines, obtaining
the financial assistance of the late John Arbuckle.
These enthusiasts—for such was the spirit in
which they approached what others had pro-
nounced hopeless—broke away from traditional
practice and resorted to the use of compressed air
as a medium for salving the Yankee.
The ship had landed high on the reef, and the
jagged rocks had torn her bottom plating in many
places, making It impossible to pump her out In
the usual way. These innovators sealed up the
hatchways leading to the various holds. Then
they pumped compressed air into the compart-
ments, and the sea was driven out again through
the rents by which It had entered. The ship was
thus made buoyant enough to be dragged from
the rocks. Unfortunately she was run into and
sunk while being towed to harbor.
An entirely new problem then presented itself.
Instead of making use of cumbersome pontoons
and other external buoyant auxiliaries, Messrs.
Wotherspoon and King settled upon the plan of
turning the Yankee into her own salvage appara-
tus. In other words, it was decided to utilize ^he
ship's own compartments as buoyancy chambers
by draining them of the very water which had
carried the craft to the bottom.
You will probably declare offhand that there is
nothing original in this; anybody knows that a
foundered vessel would rise if you could get the
water out of her. But don't be too hasty in your
conclusions. The difficulty lies in the danger
that when the air has forced the water out, the
pressure of the overlying water will crush the
hull. How, then, did these young engineers guard
against this danger?
They did not try to pump out the cruiser in the
literal sense of the word; they drove the water
out under the impulse of compressed air and they
balanced the contending forces so nicely that the
ship's structure was substantially a neutral divi-
sion between them, the air pressure being just
a trifle in excess of the pressure of the water
which it forced outward from the buoyancy com-
partments. Do you realize the engineering cun-
ning involved here? The compressed air actually
constituted a stronger support for the burdened
deck than the water which had previously filled
the underlying space! As the cruiser rose to
the surface the pressure was progressively re-
duced so that it Just maintained an excess of
force against the exterior water.
This method of floating the Yankee suggested
to Mr. Wotherspoon a medium by which the
structure of a vessel not yet sunk could be utiliz-
ed to keep her afloat when otherwise inrushlng
water would certainly carry her to the bottom.
Mr. Wotherspoon's flrst adaptation of this sys-
tem was for naval purposes, to provide means by
which an injured ship of war could survive the
under water attack of either torpedoes or sub-
marine mines, and probably be kept on an even
keel so that she could still flre her guns effec-
tively against an enemy.
From the keel of a fighting ship up to a height
of several feet above the water line it is the prac-
tice to subdivide her as far as possible into a
large number of separate water-tight compart-
ments, the idea, of course, being to confine the
area of injury. Ry making use of these compart-
ments Mr. Wotherspoon's invention has robbed
the under water weapons of much of their terror;
it has reduced the dangers incident to hitting an
uncharted rock; and it furnishes the commanding
officer of a battle craft with a means by which
he can assure himself at any time that his ship
Is structurally sound.
The naval constructor is a miser when It comes
to apportioning pounds of a ship's displacement
for auxiliary features. This attitude is really ex-
cusable, because stray pounds here and stray
pounds there very soon reach the aggregate dig-
nity of tons. When Mr. Wotherspoon submitted
his proposition to the navy department the offi-
cials there grudgingly allowed him a very small
total weight within which he was to make his
system applicable to two-thirds of the 1.200 water-
tight compartments of one of our armored cruis-
ers.
On the face of it the prospect did not look en-
couraging, but it was right here that Mr. Wother-
spoon's ingenuity met the difficulty. He chose to
make use of existing facilities already provided
for other purposes. This resourcefulness on his
part enabled him, when his work of Installation
was finished, to surrender to the navy depart-
ment a large percentage of the weight allowance
originally granted him.
Take an empty tumbler, turn it bottom upward
and press it down Into a basin of water. The
further you submerge it the smaller grows the air
space, the air becoming more and more com-
pressed. If you could slightly Increase the pres-
sure of the confined air the encroaching water
would be driven outward. If the bottom of the
tumbler were pierced, on the other hand, the
air would escape and the water would rise and fill
the space. Substitute a pipe Instead of a free
opening in the bottom of the glass and lead this
pipe to a reservoir of compressed air. When this
compressed air Is poured Into the tumbler the
water will be driven out or the glass will rise and
free itself of water. In either case then the space
will be filled with air.
This Is substantially what Mr. Wotherspoon
has planned shall happen when a ship's compart-
ment or compartments are flooded through under
water damage of any sort. Air will displace the
water due to leakage and make the craft float
well nigh as If she had not been injured. Of
course this is upon the assumption that the
wound has occurred at the bottom and not the
top of a watertight subdivision; otherwise the
chamber will remain flooded.
But It takes a good deal of air to fill most of
the big divisions of a fighting ship, and there
must be piping to carry the air to these hundreds
of separate chambers. How did Mr. Wother-
spoon provide for all these and yet not exceed the
weight allowed him by the naval officials? He
did it by making use of facilities actually already
provdied for other services.
Toul air, gases and heat beyond a fixed degree
must be guarded against in a man-of-war within
the various under water compartments. To ac-
complish this end two pip*s lead to each of these
chambers, one to carry fresh air and the other
to drain ofT the foul. Also every fighting ship is
furnished with air compressors and there are a
number of tanks in which this air is stored at
a very high pressure. Normally this air is for the
charging of the torpedoes, for some kind of me-
chanical work and for blowing the residual gases
and bits of smoldering remnants of the powder
bags out of the big guns before the breeches
are opened for reloading. The very fundamentals
of Mr. Wotherspoon's system were thus already
installed and a few inexpensive connections alone
were needful to complete his requirements. All
that was necessary was to tap the air supply sys-
tem by flexible hose and join the connection to
the supply duct leading to any desired compart-
ment, at the same time closing the exhaust vent.
Thus compressed air under perfect control could
be led into the flooded chamber and the water
quickly expelled.
That is not all; the system makes it possible
to enter the injured subdivision through a neigh-
boring intact com-
partment for the
purpose of effect-
ing repairs. The
workmen go into
the c o n n e c ting
chamber, close it,
and air is then ad-
mitted until the
pressure equals that
of the flanking dam
aged one. This
done, the dividing
door is opened aud
the workmen can
proceed with their
task.
Theoretically all
the compartments
of a fighting ship
are supposed to be
water-tight; practi-
cally some are not
bo. Here Is where
the safety system
which Mr. Wother
spoon provides has
another field of usefulness Compressed air is
very searching, much more so than water, and it
has the added advantage of sounding an alarm
wherever it manages to work its way through,
even in a small measure. Dry air, unlike water,
is not destructive, and a compartment full of
stores, electrical apparatus of any other things
sensitive to water could be flooded with com-
pressed air for test without doing the least harm
to the contents.
The value of this has already been proved In
a number of Instances recently and upon one
occasion the draining of a leaking comparement
and the charging with air of the surrounding
compartments filled with stores resulted in the
saving of probably $12,000 or $14,000 worth of
property. In a few moments after the automatic
alarm gave warning of the flooding the compress-
ed air was In Bervlce and the water driven over-
board again.
Perhaps the most striking example of the effec-
tiveness of this system for keeping an Injured
ship afloat and making it possible for her to pro-
ceed to port was that of the U. S. S. collier Nero.
The vessel struck Brenton's Reef. Rhode Island,
in July of 1909. Ordinary salvage operations
failed to dislodge her from the rocks, and it was
not until certain of her decks were sealed her-
metically and a number of the intervening spaces
turned into closed compartments and compressed
air pumped into her that she was released and
floated. She reached the Brooklyn navy yard.
Difficult.
Representative Dudley M. Hughes of Georgia
is called a farmer statesman and devotes much
of his time to the agricultural interests of his
district.
He has requests for many new kinds of seeds,
and a time ago received this letter:
"Dear Dud:—Sam Yopp's been tellln' me of «
new seedless tomatter the Guvment Is growln';
I'm writing to you in hopes you will send me
some of the seeds."—Saturday Evening Post.
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juinmnmui
To demonstrate their ability at designing gowus excelling the Importa-
tions from Prance, American dressmakers have given their beet effort and
talent to the most beautiful gowns shown in this country Tho photograph
demonstrates more ably than words the result of their efforts. Tho gown
is a Grecian gown of white chiffon with rhlneatone trimmings, with a Gre-
cian key design and rhinestone girdle.
BLOUSE CUT IN ONE PIECE BLACK SATIN HAT RETAINED
One of Tulle Valenciennes Is Made
With Neither Trimming Nor
Fullness.
The newest cream white blouses are
more plain than ever. The prettiest
are tulle Valenciennes, or a kind of
soft point d'esprlt with figures like
those lu the valencleunes design. One
blouse of this material has not the
slightest trimming or fullness except
in the back, where there Is a tiny bit
to cover the opening and make it look
like a narrow plait. The entire thing
Is made in one piece, the sole garnish
being little button studs of black vel-
vet In two rows at the throat, both
back and froi t, and on the wrists
The neck is cut low and round, with
cording of the lace In three rows.
A noticeable feature of this blouse,
which was designed In a house In the
Place Vendome and Intended for the
Riviera, is the sleeves made all in one
piece, with no extensions whatever. It
is as though the entire thing had been
molded together. No doubt the styles
for the coming season will adopt Ideas
seen in this blouse. We have arrived
at a period when cuts and finishes are
at their cresendo of plainness. Noth-
ing further is possible because effects
could not possibly be any more rigid
or simple.
STYLISH SPRING DRESS
An Exception.
"How did you find the roads up around Jlngle-
ville Coiners?" asked Biilkins of Slathersberry,
who had just returned from a motor trip.
"Oh, I wasn't particularly stuck on them," said
Slatherberry.
"Really?" said Biilkins. "Well, I guess you're
the only man that wasn't. I was stuck on 'em for
a whole day last year."—Harper's Weekly.
All Needed Vacation.
Said Jones to the deacon: "I see you are go-
ing to give your minister a three-months vaca-
tion."
"We are," said the deacon to Jones.
"Isn't that a long time?"
"Maybe. But wo need a rest, just as much as
the preacher does."—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Under Coat of London Soot
America was discovered all over again in Lon-
don recently, says the Washington Star's corre-
spondent. At least a long-hidden statue Of Amer-
ica was. It is really no use putting up a statue
or any other kind of memorial in London, for In
a year or two unless seen to right along, it will
be practically enveloped in a pitch black cloak
of London soot, some 6.000 tons of which, accord-
ing to an engineer's recent estimate, is always
hanging In the atmosphere of this metropolis.
The statue of "America" which has just been
discovered adorns the front of the Cannon street
hotel, which adjoins one of the biggest of Lon-
don's railway stations and is a favorite place tor
big political and other gatherings. It was put
up In 1866, since when its walls have not been
cleaned, hence for forty years or more all of the
rather elaborate decorations which cover them
have been hidden from sight as completely as if
they never had existed. The pall of mingled soot
and grime which covers them several inches deep
In places, but !t fall off almost at a touch, and
after what Is known as "wire brushing" the sur-
face becomes fairly clean.
Four statues, It appears, representing the four
continents, besides some balustrading and arch-
ing with decorative panels, compose the long-
shrouded facade of the Cannon Street hotel. Of
these statues, two, Europe and ABia, have now
been brought completely to light, America haa
Just been located and partly unveiled, and Africa,
appropriately enough. Is still the "dark" conti-
nent. Hearing of the discovery of America In
Cannon street, the writer hastened to the spot,
and after mounting to dizzy heights, by means of
a ladder, and crawling along a stone ledge some
eighty feet above the level of the ground, was
rewarded with a sight of the partly exhumed
statue, which stands some fifteen or sixteen feet
high
Remembering that this efllgy of "America" was
designated in the mid-Victorian period, it was no
surprise to find It lacking in any special beauty.
It is the figure of a woman—possibly a militant
suffragette—holding in one hand a gun and in
the other some ears of corn. On the ground is
something which may represent either a toma-
hawk or the ax of the pioneer, and underneath.
In letters that once were gilt, appears the word
"America."
A
Though White Seems to Be Coming
Favorite Color, Yet Thle Style
la Alwaya 8mart.
While colors are to be rampant this
year and spread themselves over the
world like a gorgeous sunset or a rain-
bow, yet the tiny black aatln hat Is to
be very smart Indeed. The womaa
who la In doubt what to chuoae when
she la bewildered by the sulphur, pur-
ple. bronze and red shadea offered
would do well to rapidly retreat to-
ward conservatism aud choose a bat
of black satin that has little trimming
and owes Its beauty to Its shape.
Such hata are not what they used
to be. They are distinctly of this sea-
son. The shape Is rather stiff, with a
low crown and a twolnch brim which
rolls slightly back at the edges; over
this the satin la stretched and finished
at the Beams with a cord or a piping.
There are no folds or bows or full
crown bands; all Is aB smooth and da-
mure as a man's silk hat. The trim*
mlng is placed flat on the brim and la
made up of any kind of feather that
has spirals and looks straggling ard
careless.
The best known choice Is a feather
called numldie and which 1b more or
less expensive and very fashionable.
The peacock feathers are on this or.
der and that Is one of the reason*
why they have returned to favor.
Straw and wheat are also used, and
whatever does not He flat on the brim
stands Insolently erect In the mldlls
of tho front or back.
Beaded Bags.
Beaded bags refuse to be ousted.
The smartest are of Jet oblonga.
pierced and applied to the net alter-
nately with beads of silver or gold, or
sot solidly together and bordered with
Bllver, gold or white disks. Equally
alluring are the bags made of steel
mingling with colored beads and
those which show the same curious
shaded effects that distinguish shot
silks. Some of these latter are made
In the fashionable pannier shape first
brought out in walrus or seal bags,
and all contain a change purse and
card case of satin matching the lining
of the chief receptacle.
To Wash Cretonne Draperies.
Boll one pound of rice in one gallon
of water until rice is soft, then strain
off one quart of the milky water and
add a piece of gum arabic the size of
an egg. Set this aside for starching.
Take the remainder of the water
and rice, add enough warm water to
wash the curtains. Rub on a handful
of the boiled rice and souse up and
down many times, then rinse in clear
water.
Starch in the water as prepared
above. Iron with a medium hot Iron
when partly dry. The cretonne will
look like new.
Add Ammonia.
White frocks and blouses or undev
clothing that have a bail color should
be flrst soaked In cold water to which
a little ammonia has been added and
then given a lemon bleach; that is, a
large lemon should be cut into slices,
and rind and all boiled up in the boil-
ing pan or small copper. When at full
boiling point put In the linens and
muslins and boil for twenty minutes
Sprlne dress of Royal blue broad-
cloth with draped skirt and yoke of
accordion pleated silk. The walet Is
made almoat entirely of silk with
lapels and accordion pleated short
•leevea
Garments In Turn.
A useful thing to remember in p
ting clean clothes away is to pla'ja
the freshly laundered pieces at the
bottom of their respective piles. Then,
by using the topmost, you always tain
the garments In rotation and eac*
garment thus has less frequent w«M
and 1U Ufa la lengthened.