The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-04
NO SAFE PLACES IN \ SEN iiTJiiiiisi i.
lA1h1hAAn L..n.nu L~.lnlrnn-

lattlV rs ~ tllt Si!tNl >l''t ~ i HlN't
.rn man.of war in It. SEA ii-ht. 1t has
been asserted thai, men below IN the
engine ana fire rooms aud in the bunk
ors are l,uui to have the best Of it,
mot only because their duties keep
mosr nr them below the watcrlinc, and
therefore nIt Of the way Of the raking
Of rapid fire batteries. but also be
calSc they are shielded above by pro
%tcctiyc decks and all around by boiler
an! machinery protecting arlnor. The
mon who hold to this view forget all
about the matter Of %torpcdocs. Some
other amateur sea fighters Of the
land, landly, take the view tLqt the
men on deck have Il better show in Il
naval engagement, for the reason that
they have IA ch'ucc to swim for it, and
he picked ur By the enemy as prison
crs Of war. if their vessel is sunk.
they ASSUME. If course. that the en-
"my i in the habit Of picking up the
c%astaway members Of Il defeated and
Submerged ships crew. Thi~ is by no
ucan- 4 >aic assumption. The nciny
ma often rescued aud held rs prison
err oi war The members Of the crew Of
a hcatnn >hil', but Just as often lia,
permitted them to keel, righi vn
SWIMMING. 70 long a period ha,
elapsed since there have been naval
fight, between entirely civilized Pow
crs that the two countries that next
cneagc in battles 1T sea will have the
responsibility Of creating new rules of
warfare. and one Of the rules ought to
cover this point.
In any event. speculation n to
whether the deck force ur the Gang
below will have the better of the bar
gain in a pitched sea fight must be
based almost wholly OF theory. Capt.
McGinin, the lion-hcartcd American
naval officer, whose observations on
the sen fight Of the Yalu form about
the only practical basis for considcra-
tions about battles between modern
ships, should surely have known
something about the safe spot on
board a naval vessel. He was on the
deck Of his ship, the best of the Chi
ncsc fleet, during the entire action on
the Ialu. The writer asked him,
soon after his return from China, if
there were not moments during the
fight in which he felt like making a
run for it.
Run wl.crc?' was Mct;inin's in
quiry. "I,can't truthfully say that |
felt like boiling for it at all during
that mix. | didn't have time to think
Of anything like that. There vas too
much going on on deck, anyhow, and
l didn't want to miss anything. The
most covardly man becomes quite for
gctful Of danger in a sea fight, rs a
rule. We had three mcn-lubbcrly
coolics-who were found hiding away
up forward on the berth deck when
the fight was finished. The men who
found them nearly sat them to death.
a very great feeling Of curiosity AMI
mates all hands in Il battle ut sea.
Cinnamon arc about the least curious
men in the world; yet the deck Off
GERS on my ship had great trouble in
keeping the members Of the black
gang. the tircmcn and coal passcrs and
ever the macliinists. down below dur
in~ the action. They kept pnking
their heads above the main deck, lift
ing of the matches for the purpose, to
sec how We were making out. On the
whole. think the men below arc more
nervous during fight than the men
on deck. They arc a bit afraid Of
what they cant sec. It's just like
the fear OF Il man lying in bed in d
dark room when he knows there is a
burglar within a few feet Of him. The
men on deck can see the whole game,
and the smoke and the roar infusc the
devil Of battle into them, and they
tAP " L CdtC WACCtlCE Vic SulD
remains on top or goes down. They
literally enjoy the fun. A lot Of our
gunners were positively hysterical
with delight. Some Of them laughed
like wild men. They muttered to
themselves and howlcd like drunkards.
Indeed, half the ships company look
ed to me as if they were three parts
drunk after the fight. yet there was
no grog. They rccled about, with
silly, drunken expressions on their
faces, although they knew We were
licked.
"But as for running, where would
a man with any sense run during an
action, even if lie felt that afines
Of the ship wouldn't shoot him down
for cowardicc? There is no sweet
berth when your ship is cleared for &C.
49, a. l-l