THE SUBMARINE BOAT.

Dunstan Times, Issue 616, 6 February 1874, Page 3

THE SUBMARINE BOAT.

On Saturday the submarine boat, Platypns was shifted from where she h-s for a me time been m Hired, between the jettv an 1 Peliclict Bqy Baths, to undergo another fri d. At 2p in sho was tak'm in tow by then s. Result. There was quite a gale blowing at the time, .and only the tops of the pa’dlo boxa< dom“, or air-laeked chamber, weie" visible ;l’pve water,, the sea breaking over i* ns it would over a sunken rck New and again Iw> am hiMons In. king individuals were try be a. eu srn wbat msv be called the hnr ica"e deck, apparently qniti in t] eir element, and steering the Platypus to the at the • pne, so-called (lag-shin—the ees c e!Elipbnrgh—moored in the deepest part of the Upper Harbo- ( gaily d (water! with bunt’ng, a d fmmished by Host B nne’t with re f resh : ng beverages. The P' tvrws, lei 'g safely moored as'ern of tbo Edinburgh, awaitel the arrival of the Result, which made several trips to he r noth nasnengora from the Stnart.at,-e"t .fe’tv. an' ultimately sueere I'd in crowding the Fdivbur'. h’s deck -with a decide 1 menial population. Am< Peat

t’lws present wore Mcs'rs. F D. Main fdi’vman of Mi" B ard'. IT.irv'y. '-Va'd, end Baxter, directo's : TT S F>sb. jnn.. T. Bireh, and Robin, At abouti, half pa“t 3 o’clock, a orew of 'our ocerpi d the PlateP'i«. to-'ether with Mr. Villaino. fen . cantsi’i ; Villaino. jnn ; Mr. Darvcy ; an 1 Mr tV. R Don 'las, directors’ consulti 's eni'n 'er. Hie presence of the latter -tentie nan bein'; >»e -, esM”y as iu&ueoto of the wo k* oar'icularly as rcgaidcd air joints, flauces, Ac. The pumps having to be

<ork"d by band, in the absence of sufficient current to wo k Hie side wheels, invoke' llic pre-cnce of four ai--consuudh.r individuals, whose services would not hare heen required had Hie vessel Veen a' wo’k in the Molyneux, for which wo>k she was specially designed. The extia quantity of sir required for seven instead of three, and * slight leal: in the air-’oek door, present«i there being obtained sufficient i ressure to enable her to -ise to the urfaccas buoyon'ly ns on a former occasion ; and necessitate the involuntary imprisonment for four hours of ihe inmates. N'.t the least inconvenience, however, was experienced, bar proof was thereby given of what has h'-forc lieen frequently affirmed—that a shift <{ eight hours per mao can be male wi limit inconvenience.' In this case the half tim ■. tost was satisfactory, a ;d during •great, p irtio.i of the period that the Platypus was beneath the waves Messrs,, Harvey and Douglas wiled away the time by sans goo 1 play at dominoes, the director getting the bettered the contest.. < n ascending the P'atypus absolutely refused to rise the three i idles necessary to allow °f the opening of the d. or an 1, as by this tiino the i igbt was advancing, it was de nied advisable 1° remove the vessel to her mooring at Pelidict l ay. She vies consequently taken in tow y the steamer, and grounded off the jet y. The passengers were saf-ly landed, but ins of the ciew of the Platypus did not reach the shore .until, by accident, ho bad nearly disappeared beneath the water’s surface, but was soon rescued from what tnanv regarded a porous pocj'ion. ’ It is understood, 'from the tcpirfc’. of their'engineer, -that the Jlirectorf >ne ttoiv iftoh sanguine than ever as to Hdiwluesuof thu jiiucipio tedumtal

\withj the thins, spell as caulking a few faulty, joints -and rivets,’ amd additional force-pump of iipcased power for taking in, or forcing but, the water necessary to sink, pr raise her more rapidly, being required before sending her up country On the whole, however, the work has been ’most successfully executed, and is therefore highly credi able to those engaged in its completion, Tho : hull" was made by Messrs. Sparrow a d Thomas - the pumps and airlock by Messrs. Fraser, Wishart and Buchanan ; the fittings, stays sc., by Messrs, 'Vi son and Sparrow ; and the copper pipes by Messrs. A. and T. Burt. The Platypus will undoubtedly be well adapted fur extracting hidden golden treasures, and it has also been suggested that she might be rendered of service in connection with defence operations, in the laying, for instance, of torpedoes at the entrance to the harbor. The following is a brief description of the Platypus’;—Weight, about 20 tons ; length, overall, 35ft ; diameter,’ 7't. j a large dome and airlock. sft. by 3ft. Gin ; one paddle shaft, Sin. diameter, passing tbrouvh s' tilling boxes onmaeh, side of the vessel; and paddles, or two under current water wheels, k-y*d mi each side, and protooled by air tight boxes. The upper portions of the wheels revolve in air, an! tho lower in water, giving motion to fgur airpumps fitted inside worked by execntrios, and arran ;ed eo that C'ey can be connected or disconnected at p'easure. Then there areagreat number of air-va’ves. Next to the air pumps are the wa‘er force pumps for raising or lowering the vessel. A common plumber’s force pump for forcing water to private dwellings is used, an 1 i lar-e numbe"of valves an 1 tups are attached, leading to and • f'-om the pumps to the s' le of the vessel, b>sil s other contrivances of a character which present to the uninitiated a very complicated appearance.—Guardian.