The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-03
voRKING THE GUNS ON A SHIP.
,ow BATTLE IS FOUGHT on A
NAN-OF-WAR.

,,on RcIovv the steel Deck I'm
"a Tell How "a Battle Is Going
recent as Word Is sent TO Them
Fron the Outside.
e.,,iaqo. July 1O.-"Capt. Cook keep
,r men below the protective deck IN
:,,re5 Of any advantage we may gain,
"a, commodore Schley. and speaking
10 overcome the noise Of the
[..I,f,l guns, the gallant captain of the
rr,oklvn said with smile 4 always
s,|t5at sir. I consider it necessary for
- ssnri+ de corps" and stepping into
.o,nirr tower he called down the
d. Tell the men below that the
,r,r,s Teresa is running ashore" At the
time executive officer Mason rushes
+bs firing turrets and calls in 10 the
n, tbe same joyful news. 1t was the
on Of Iulv and the excitement of the
an 70 battle had hardly subsided
=, rhe big cruiser Brooklyn when the
staeo,ng incident occurred Commo-
sgbiev stood upon a small temporary
,,45ea running about the coming tower,
-rb1o Cant. Cook spent his time between
,,s interior Of the tower, where he d.
rsted the machinery, or the platform,
,bare he could see the enemy.
rtcbtine for the honor of America, three
hitter prepared, and more heavily armor-
Oh ships of Spain, this splendid type OF
the American navy was one mass of flame
INA smoke as she spit out defiance, tnged
{y,fb death. with machine-like regularity,
ard vet but one-third of the entire crew
bopld see the enemy or any part of the
kobt In the big turrets half-naked men
worked behind the steel walls with no
knowledge of how the battle went until
4bev were informed by Mr.. Mason, and
Selow The protective deck fully 300 or more
Anen worked under the glare of electric
atgbt. keeping this great engine of de-
struction mechanically and rapidly at
work. The big turret S-inch guns could
not have done their deadly shooting even
with the trained eyes guiding them, had
not the men below sent up the ammuni-
ton. and the Brooklyn could not have
kept side by side had it not been for the
engineer and fire room force working be-
low the deck like fiends.
The n>en in the turrets of five-inch steel
see as little as the men below deck, ex-
cept that once in while they get a glimpse
of the object fired at. When the ships of
Spain were sighted coming out on this
eventful morning the and 5-inch guns
were all loaded and in each turret within
two minutes after the summons, eleven
men stood half-naked awaiting the word
to FIRE. The chief of the turret, lleuten-
ant is in the hood, his eye TO the teles-
cope, gets the line of his gun, on the har-
Dor and awaits the signal. Five thou
sand yards" sings out an orderly in the
turret opening and the gun goes up to the
proper elevation as the lieutenant in the
hood orders the eleVating gear turned. The
number one man at the guns connects the
electric wire to the primer with the hoods
hand firing apparatus and all is waiting.
Commence firing" comes the order and
quickly the answer comes. The turret lieu
tenants hand closes on the electric appa-
ratus and the gun jumps back a foot or
more as 10 pounds of exploding powder
drives a 80 pound shell from the muzzle
OF the great piece at a rate of 2 ESQ feet per
second Then before the roar has ceased
the hand of the man in charge of that tur-
ret touched the electric lever and the great
100 tons of steel moved quickly and almost
noisily around until the mother gun of the
twins was in the same position as the first
one had been. Slowly the muzzle comes up
70 the right elevation, once more the nerV-
Gus fingers close on the electric handle and
another 30 pounds of steel shoot away on
Its death errand. Then if you could have
looked in this particular turret on that
memorable and glorious morning of July g.
you would have seen a picture of activity
that would have amazed you. Hardly had
gun number one belched forth its defiance
to the group of Spanish ships
than the five men behind it, until this
minute statues of inactivity, sprang into
life. No. and No. opened the breach,
washed off the mushroom and gas check
With a sponge, oils the breech plug. ex
tracts the exploded primer, and sees the
vent clear. No. seiZeS the long bristle
sponge wet with water and assisted by No.
sponses the gun, lays aside the sponge
ana selzes the hammer ready to drive home
the new charge.
While they have been working there has
appeared at the top of the ammunition
noise new shells and new ammunition. ana
load"
NO raises the ammunition corner of the
MOIST and with the assistance of 40. 3 Of
Ci'e other gun grasps The handles upon the
carriage and swings it 10 the rear of the
gun Inc projectile is first on the left. and
NO adjusts the primer while No 4. as
projectne. -'' P00''''
men in quick succession No. 5. No. 4
ana NO ram in the two charges Of pow
ueI IN packages of 55 pounds, each done
~ III serge or muslin and in grains weigh
iis an ounce ana a quarter each. No. ?
ol1ses me Dreech, No. l again connects the
VIE ana the gun is ready to fire All this
lI taheh Just four minutes and with two
S s,, lne big turret is shooting once every
TWO minutes
,hut Where are the mysterious hands
tIdI send up these death-dealing charges
~ .ne guns in such ghost-like way? Down
~" the water line of the ship. beneath
t'e protective deck that in to many bat
- nave proved the lid TO the steel coffin
W ilundreds of brave men, is a naked.
fSpliihs crowd of heroes, their eyes eff
tt.uaIy closed to the changing scene OF
~ put their senses keenly alive to
tiIlaCt mat torpedo or shen below. or
til'loush the armor belt may mean death.
, 80 men work with an energy that
tt.o'os their patriotism and devotion to
NV nas' On this day they sent up to
Nafious turrets and guns over 10000
d,'t OF ammunition. taking it carefully
M Vl the big magazines without accident.
ne iueN detailed i'm tha bapdT;p.r ,oor,s