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Show LIGHT UNDER WATER. Illuminating the Bultom of the Sea. CREATURES NEVER BEFORE SEEK BT Mil! Eiperiineutiug With the Electric Libt A Search for Fish. When it was iliscnveivd th:il au artinciai liht that very cli.itk.-ly resembles the uatura) l'ht ot day could bo procured from electricity, electric-ity, and that it could be so easily provided as to take, in a great measure, the place of gas for lighting purposes, everybody was naturally astonished and thought that the electricians were the greatest men on earth. Tbe new system was hardly old enough to be an ussured success before a lot of wise men began considering the advisability of devoting devot-ing this light to a greater purpose than that of merely lighting up the humdrum affair of every day life, t As on experiment a small incandescent I tight was thrust beneath tho water in a fountain. foun-tain. The effect was superb while it lasted. ) but the water managed to work its way into I tho globe, and tho light was extinguished. This irave tho electricians something to think about, and they began immediately to rack their brains for a means of keeping the water away from the source of light. A coating of rubber was fhially placed over the joint where the glass globe joins tho brass holder, and over this was drawn a rubber bag that fitted tightly over tho top of the globe and around the pipe through which tho wiro is passed. This promised to be successful, but a brief experiment showed that the glass was not strong enough to stand the pressure of water, and, after being exposed to it for a short time, would collapse. A globe was then made of plate gloss that proved able to stand thetrain. SEAncn Fon nsu. For some time this was only used in lighting light-ing up fountains by way of an ornament. Then it occurred to Professor Baird, of the 1 United States lish commission, that if a light 1 could be used under water it would prove of I great advantage to him in his search for fish that nover allowed themselves to be caught I by any of tho old fashioned methods. He j , believed that there existed ut a great depth 1 in the ocean various kinds of fish that had nover been seen. Every boy who has ever lived near tho water knows that a favorite method of catching eels Is to lure them within spearing distance by n bright light placed in the bow of a boat. Light not only attracts eels, but nearly everything else that lives in tho water, and the professor was sure that if a light could bo made to live at a great depth in the water the reward would be great. The steamer Albatross of the commission was provided with an engine and a dynamo. A liberal supply of heavy gloss globes that would hold a light equal to the lighting power of 100 candles was placed on board, and, equipped with other necessary articles, such as a lot of insulated wire, a large quantity quan-tity of light, strong rope, and a number of heavy weights to serve as sinkers, tho steamer started out. The fn-st attempt was unsuccessful, unsuccess-ful, for at a depth of 1,000 fathoms tho pressure pres-sure was so great upon tho globe thnt it broke. Another triiU was speedily mado with heavier globes, and they were found able to stand the pressure of any depth to which they could bo sunk. But tho most wonderful part of this trial trip, which took place something liko fchrco years ngo, was related re-lated to Secretary Frank S. Hastings, of the Edison Electric Light company, by Professor Baird. At n point near tho Bahamas, according to the professor, the light was dropped overboard over-board aud sunk by moans of heavy weights to nearly 1,000 fathoms below the surface. Oa tho deck of the vessel ktood tho crew with nets ready to drop them under the fish that wero lured from their homes in tho great depth. The light was allowed to remain in the water for some time, and then it was Blowly raised. It looked like the reflection of a star in the water at first, and its ravs were j seen, and in them wero visible tho forms of darting fish. The light soon lit up the water for twenty feet around, and a weird assortment assort-ment of. tl.sh that had never before been heard of was seen. Wbon near the surface tho entrails en-trails of some of these fish burst from their mouths. "Tho professor ascribed this'anid Mr. Hastings, "to tho inward pressure. Nature Na-ture had mado thorn so that they could livo in the great depths in which they were found, ami when this pressure of the deep water was removed thero was a counteracting force that lulled them." RARE A. NO CURIOUS SPECIMENS. Tho dead fish wero just as useful for tho purpose for which tho professor wanted them as live ones, and he gathered in a great many rare and curious specimens without much trouble. The light was also used to good purpose for discovering tho various depths in which different kinds of fish lived. Tho cost of fitting up a steamer with tho necessary apparatus to produce electric light is about $l,5u0, but this first cost would be counterbalanced by tho cheapness of tho light it would produce. The cost of light, roughly estimated, would not be within one-sixth one-sixth as much as the cost of the usual method of lighting. Tho United States torpedo station at Newport New-port is experiinenting with electricity in order to expose by its rays any obstruction that might Ho in tho path of a vessel. The experiments havo reached that point where it is certain that the water can bo readily illuminated for a space sufficiently great to show a passage for a vessel. The difficulty is in regard to the propelling of this light at a distance sufficiently far ahead to enable a vessel to swerve from its course or come to a full stop before striking a revealed obstruction. obstruc-tion. The dea of these experiments is to show, in times of war, explosives that he beneath tho water. In tho West Indies and tho Bahamas, where valuable shells and spouges lie deep in tho water, tho searchers after these articles have a box with a glass bottom. The top is open. In tho box is placed a lamp, and then tho glass bottom is pressed down in the water until it is slightly bolow tho surface. The water directly below the box is perfectly smooth, and it is possible to see through tho water for nearly ninety feot M"". Hastings tmuuB that this same system couaa neaaopieu with the electric light, which would throw a stream of light much stronger than could bo obtained by any other means. A boy was recently drowned at Winchendon, Moss. Two days later bis body was discovered by means of an electric light that was thrust under water by a pole. In tho clearing and raising of wrecks the electric light, it is thought, will be of groat value, New York Sun. |