The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-06

in range and give to their tingling
nerves the elf-forgetfulness of activ-
ity and din, while the crews of the
lighter pieces are mustered handily he
hind the nearest protection till closer
quarters may call them into service
and the open exposure of the tops and
superstruCture.
About each gun a number of rounds
of ammunition has been gathered, and
quick-footed bearers bring the fixed
ammunition from the passages to the
stations of the waiting guns.
ALI Is SILENCE
Silence reigns on all sidee, save for
the quiet commands Of the divisional
officer, the rush of the water without,
the steady rumble of the driving en-
Rines and the pulsng sound of the
running pumps.
Up on their bridges the men at the
range finders keep them bearing on
the approaching foe, whom we near
at the rate of thirty knots an hour,
and down I'm the coming tower, the tur-
rets. and before the principal gun sta
tuns, the dials register the distance
of the coming ships.
Way below the protection deck the
men stand ready at the ammunition
hCsts, the shell whips and the pass.
| ing-rOOms. The shellrOoms and mag
| #1inCg are manned by nimble naked
| footed crews, and by the toI~eNdo tubes
| the men stand ready to launch their
| burdens fraught with such irresistible
! force
! In the engine rooms the steady roar
! of the machinery fills the ears, and the
! air reeks with the hot smell of oil
| and escaping steam. At the throttles
! stand the engineers and at every iourn-
| al and crank a watchrui assistant.
Shining piston rods, long steel arms
Hnd iiggering levers fly back and forth
in and out, with dazzling speed The
! journals and bearings foam like the
bits of Champing war horses. The air
| pumps pant and wheeze. The floor
swims with oil and water spattered
from the moving parts, and but for
the laundering life OF the ponderous
engines one might almost think the at
tendants ghosts as their long shadows
glide through that steaming mist back
ed by the ghastly glow of the electric
lights. Such are the conditions in each
of the enginerooms.
IN THE FIREROOMS.
Forward. through a water-tight bulk
head. closing the door behind us. we
| stand in one Of the four great fire.
! rooms Above us tower the cum brOuS
! boilers, and before us glare the glow -
ing CRATES Of the roaring furnaces. In
the half-light Of the swinging globes
the firemen and Stokers rush back and
forth, bringing coal, tending valves and
watching tho pressure in the shiverng
gauges. With aVerted heads, painting
breasts and blistered eyes they goad
those seething beds Of flames or throw
into those faring throats the coal that
must satisfy their greed and keep the
boilers pulsng with mighty pressure
The air, hot, dry, and of a hundred
and thirty degrees, is laden with dust
and CRIME as it rushes into the flaming
pits backed by the impulse Of great
blowers and eagerly sucked upward by
the draught of those great smoke
stacks towering a hundred feet above
TORMENT FAR BELOW.
\ great cloud Of smoke and a thir
wreath of escaping steam way up al
| those tunnels tops tell the story of the
torment far below, shut down below
the protective deck, ignorant of the tide
of battle, and almost sure of certair
death in case Of p blow from either tor
pedo or ram.
With the first flash and a momentar!
veil of smoke from the bow guns of tn,
enemy, still quite two miles away, tn,
game is opened. and as the sharp cut
ting splash flies inbOard through th
open ports of the i-lncn guns our owl
l2-inch rifles belch a more telling re
Sponse. From that time till the clos
! found us victorious, though badly shat,
tered everywhere but about the tw,
big turrets. the enemys shot tore grea
masses of our lighter armor from thei
, | fastenings and hurled them inboard il
. tangled heaps Of dismounted guns
bleeding bodies and mazes Of twistet
! plating. Old Glory still waved, hll
, ! only over modest part of the me-
, , that carried the ship into action.