LA NAVIGATION SOUS-MAEINE

Thème.

Jules Verne wrote his interesting book, Around the World in Eighty Days, about 1865. If he had then been told that thirty years later that journey could be accomplished in sixty and a few days, he would hâve been inclined to doubt the statement of his interlocutor ; yet an American journalist has done it.

What is still more extraordinary is that the fantastic idea of his Nautilus has almost been carried out.

As far back as 1863 experiments were made in France with submarine boats, but the first one that was built was a failure.

Later on, other boats were eonstructed, and proved successful.

In 1894 some French naval ofhcers experimented with two new ones, the Gustave-Zédé and the Morse.

Both of thèse vessels were built by the government, and

showed that they were possessed of the qualifies required by vessels of that kind. They were easily immersed, and brought back to the surface of the water.

They developed a speed of eight knots, and the problem of submarine navigation is now solved.

A naval war alone will show the practical value of thèse inventions.