June 1. 1915. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



481 



irritate the lungs and the mucous membrane of the nose 

 and throat. In order to arrest the arid particles the vents in 

 the cell t<>ps now contain pieces ol sponge rubber, and these 

 devious passages catch the misty electrolyte, condense it. 

 and cause it to fall back into the accumulator instead ol pass 

 hi" upward into the boal 



But the hydrogen is disposed of in another way. I hii ■ 

 is no longer allowed to escape into the battery compartment 

 to be drawn ofl thence l>,\ ventilating fans and forced out 

 ward through suitable conduits. It has been found that the 

 so-called air-tight deck and rubber cloth arc not sufficientlj 

 impervious as they are laid, and therefore a more effectual 

 system is employed by which every cell is dealt with sepa 

 rately. In a 300-ton submarine of the German U type there 

 are probablj quite a hundred and twenty individual accumu 

 lators, and these are distributed equally in two battery com 

 partments. \i Hagen, Germany, is manufactured the well 

 known Tudor batterj for submarines, and a typical cell should 

 be oi interest to the india rubber trade 



To begin with, the containing jars arc made of hard rubber. 

 This must be of excellent quality and thick enough to stand 

 up under the service strains encountered in a sea going craft 



of the submarine order. Each jar will average about -10 inches 

 high with a horizontal cross section ol something like 14 \ 

 JO inches. The sides are 7/16 of an inch thick while the 

 bottoms arc ' _■ inch thick and provided with footings of semi- 

 hard rubber. Each cell holds -'•' plates — 11 positives and \2 

 negatives -and these lead elements are separated one from 

 another by two corrugated hard rubber separators But this 

 docs not end the hard rubber parts. 



Each jar has a hard rubber cover which fits so snugly upon 

 the top "i tin' cell that it is gas-tight, and in this top there 

 is an inlet vent and an outlet trap which serve to prevent the 

 spilling of the electrolyte when the submarine rolls, provided 

 it docs not held over more than IS degrees from the vertical 

 nor with a rhythmic Frequencj of more than 5 seconds tor a 

 complete Swing from side to side. It is said that an occa- 

 sional roll of 30 de- 

 grees will not 

 cause the electro- 

 lyte to spill. Of 

 CO i c. these hard 

 rubber covers are 

 i rinov able. But in 

 order to take care 

 of the escaping 

 hydrogen a flexible 

 rubber hose con- 

 duit is attached to 

 each jar, and, in 

 turn, connected to 

 the ventilating 

 main operated by 

 foi ced draught. In 

 this manner, and 

 by dealing with the 

 jars separately, the 



explosive hydrogen 

 i- drawn off as it 

 gathers and ex- 

 pelled before it can 

 accumulate and do 

 harm. 



Now the reason 

 for water-tightness in a submarine's storage batteries is to 

 prevent, if possible, the generation of chlorine gas. which 

 uniformly follows when sulphuric acid and sea water com 

 mingle. Chlorine gas is destructive to life, and a gallon of 

 this in the free- space inside of an average-si/cd under-sea 

 boat would suffice to intoxicate and then to asphyxiate the 



Tin I'.uil vTiitxi. and I ii i 'v \i Appa- 

 ratus vviiii Which the Chews of 



I ,1 l; VI V N Si IIM VR] M \l(l I'lJi'V IIIKI). 



'eriscope of \ German Under-sea 



Bo VT. 



men pent up in such a craft. Its generation, once tin acid 

 and the sea watei meet, is verv rapid, and this probabl) ti 

 count I any disasters in boats ,,f this sort despite certain 



safetj Features. The men were stupefied before the) could 



act fi ,r then i >w n security 



It is to oi,v iate 

 nisi this dangi r that 

 the United St 



n. iv v will sin ii 1 I v 



install Edison bal 

 tcrics aboard on< 

 of the newest sub 



marines, now build 

 ing. But even so, 



this will not elimi- 

 nate the scrv i 



rubber as an in 

 sulat oi bet ■■■ een the 

 plates. The jars or 

 C o n t a i n e r s are 

 m a d e of m rial, 

 while the electro 



lyte is an alkaline 

 solution instead oi 

 sulphuric acid. In 

 one oi the Edison 

 pamphlets tins cau- 

 tion a p p e a r s : 

 "Never bring a 

 lighted match or 

 other open flame 

 near hatter y." 

 Therefore, while 

 this form of ac- 

 cumulator disposes of the danger of chlorine it apparently 

 docs not do awav with gassing, and we shall probably find 



thai the 1 same system of rubber tubing for ventilation will 

 be required lor these batteries when installed in submarines 

 These additional details about the new storage battery ap- 

 pear in one oi the pamphlets issued by the Edison company. 

 "The terminal posts are effectually insulated from the cover 

 by means of hard rubber washers and bushings. A soft rub- 

 ber washer, used for packing to prevent solution from creep- 

 ing, also serves as an insulator. This packing washer is held 

 down by a heavy hard rubber bushing threaded into a 

 pocket on the cell cover. The rubber bushing at the positive- 

 pole is red in color while that at the negative pole is 

 black." 



Besides operating the motors for submarine propulsion, 

 electricity is the motive energy for certain of the pumps — 

 especially for those that must operate in draining the ballast 

 tanks to obtain buoyancy should the boat go to the bottom 

 in _'(Hl feet of water. The steering gear and the diving rud- 

 ders are functioned by electricity, and so, too, are the peri- 

 5i opes rotated. Electricity does the cooking, and. under some 

 circumstances, the general heating; and the storage batteries 

 supply the needful current for the incandescent lighting sys 

 teni ami the wireless. Rubber insulation is provided for all 

 of these conductors and hard rubber plays its part at the 

 switchboards and at points in the get-up of the various 

 motors. 



Up-to-date submarines arc now divided into a number of 

 water tight separate compartments, so that in case of injury 

 to the hull admitting water the damaged space can be isolated 

 and the crew seek safety ill the adjacent unharmed spaces. 

 This means that every one of these separating bulkheads 

 must have a door that can be swung to and scaled water-tight, 

 and to this end gaskets of india rubber arc indispensable. 

 \gain. access must be had. from time to time, into the various 

 ballast tanks and fuel space, si, that the inside surfaces of 



