Show CAPTAIN BOTTOMS EXPLANATION A Scientific Experiment TIe is Willing Will-Ing to Kepeat ou the Canada The charge thafctho recent experiment Captain Paul Bpyton attaching a tprpedo case to the British sloopofwar Garnet was nothing more than a joke has offended Captain Cap-tain Bpyton and meeting a Herald reporter last night he repudiated the charge most emphatically He said The general impression that prevailsre gaiding my torpedo experiment on H M S Garnet is enoneous it was no joke on my part It was simply an illustration whatl promised the English Admiralty to do nine years ago I then made the assertion that I could go in my suit alongside of one of their largest and best equipped ironclads and attach at-tach to it a torpedo sufficiently powerful blow her out of existence They said my idea was preposterous i Many persons charge you with having performed the feat as an advertisement S I want it distinctly understood that lam not an advertising agent for any rubber suit or for any rubber company i have no interest not ever had one dollarinterest in any suit sold or put on the market In making mak-ing the experiment the other day my only idea was to convince the old fossils in the English Admiralty that what I said nine years ago was true But Captain do you not consider the proof thus offeied and under the circumstances circum-stances surrounding the ship in a friendly port an act of discourtesy I assure you I meant no discourtesy That idea was the furthest from my thoughts What leads you to think you were not seen from on board the Garnet during the progress pf your experiments The nonsensical idea of my being seen and not hailed The first ihing that would be done if any sentry had seen such a suspicious sus-picious body in the water acting as I did would be to hail arid if there was no response re-sponse to fire at once I realized the danger I lan and the risk only proves more conclusively con-clusively my success Until I made my presence pres-ence known nothing of the kind was dreamed of on board the ship Do you think that in cuse of hostilities such a thing could be actually accomplished when everyone is alert and looking for such foe foeMost assuredly and to convince the officers offi-cers of the Canada I Will issue them a challenge But first I do not intend ifr a an act of discourtesy nor do I want an in tei national question made of it Neithe do I wish to cause them any troubl with their own authorities But if they will allow me to repeat the experiment I will consent to let them shoot me if thev canthe responsibilityshall all be mine My challenge is this That at any time within any named seven days I will if allowed as a scientific experiment attach a torpedo shell to the Canada in spite of all the apparatus they may use to prevent it or the strictest watch they may keep on board I to select the night and hour for the experiment ex-periment If they see me they are at liberty to treat me as an enemy and kill me if they canNcmo York Herald |