Did you ever hear the story about Bert Swank and George Klay testing Triplett meters by submerging them in the Buckeye in the mid-1940s?

Here's an excerpt from the 1940-49 chapter of "A Good Place To Miss - Bluffton Stories 1900-1975."

Following are excerpts from The Tripletter, the Triplet Meter Company publication. The first is a front-page story from April 1945.

"Hermetically sealed Instrument Survives Dunking In Lake"
If you saw George Klay and Bert Swank tie three instruments to stout cords and lower them into the depths of Buckeye Lake a couple of weeks ago, they were not fishing and they had not lost their minds.

Their actions merely marked one phase of the final tests of a new line of weatherproof, waterproof hermetic sealed instruments in 1 1/2 inch, 2 1/2 inch and 3 1/2 inch case sizes, which are the latest addition to the Triplett line.

How well the hermetic sealed instruments serve their purpose was demonstrated in the test when instruments submerged in 30 feet of water for 24 hours were found perfectly dry inside and in excellent operating condition after their bath had ended.

Although developed to meet exacting demands of the armed services, this new line of instruments will find many uses in the post-war period.

These instruments withstand thermal shock and pressure tests and also are resistant to corrosion. They are fully protected against extreme tropical temperatures, high humidity, fungi growth, chemical fumes, etc., and conform to Signal Corps and American War Standards performance specifications.

The sealing is accomplished by means of a screw-on bezel, which compresses a molded electrometric Venality gasket into every crevice of
the threads, as pressure is applied. The solder terminals are sealed in
ceramic and windows are of strong, tempered glass.

To read more selections from the book click here.

Icon viewers: Please accept this invitation to our second anniversary and book launching party from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, at Common Grounds.

We'll provide the free Icon coffee and cookies. You may have a chance to go home with a piece of Bluffton history. Our book "A Good Place To Miss - Bluffton Stories 1900-1975," will be available.