The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-25

10 The executive ontcsr. re goes niHsseA
20 TIE ccnssng tower ara 1ns "a, psf
A.s'foh u nsas- Ans az
0so"-
an sae soahiht 49, -. =.
sssArn " -. --s,,,,~
kon slA1. 70 .se -. ----,,
so t - - - go
go - - g en- ..s.g
-, 49,. ns,. - ,n.rk~ .ne annrozeh
:. rsa s,-.xo- ara sar an
..s~. - v,..sas., ,,,sssny a. a.rh 9TH
a. ,rna ar.,x rke I-nrla sans great
en.,rsn a. ..rsrpsxs Gar che fr5v ON
49, rr.,,,.s. The n,sn a. IN. rage find
srx s,yrsf IN .he CAPTAIN tne rao.aly de-
rrea.inr aIstauee. soon the fsrss blow
xs,T ne aimed Al The gun stations the or
aer ~v@rvwhsre ss the same.
..Siserrsf,,
4.. -. , .aa;r
) T.. ss.-s..,s ~..t.. a-,s,. &c s,,,..,.ea ~,
the wais,. MANY Of them and their blue
trousers are rolled up out of the way of
their bare feet As they take their regt,-
lar positions and stand ma,iorIsss and ST.
lent tie second order comes, In all d.
visions and all gun. the same:
Cast loose and provide
Now action begins again. and IL Is q
good thing, for il keeps the men busy,
with no tine to stand still and speculate
about the fearful. possibilities or the des-
perate combat about 70 begin. In re-
Spouse TO the command every gun is freed
at once from the fastenings which bound
II Down immovabie while the ship was
cruising. Helpless under the grip Of the
stout steel clamps, now Il shakes Of its
shackies and rises 10 face the grim work
before IL. This is 10 east loose" But
that is only part OF the order and a
small part, TOO. Every man in every gun
crew has certain particular things TO
provide" One sees that one accessory
OF the gun l. in place. another another.
and so on clear through the crew. Every
little detail is thus carefully looked out
Tor. and In doing this work the crew is
occupied during the few minutes when
the tension OF waiting Is at its worst.
For it's when the ship is ready and the
command TO fire does not come that the
greatest strain on the nerves OF the men
comes
Now the Oregon dashing along toward
her enemy, approaches a range where the
captain thinks he can afford TO open with
his forward pair of Is-;nch rifles The
senior officer In the turret has been watch
ing the enemy through the slots in the
hood and keeping his gun trained on him.
AT the order .cast loose and provide"
his crew have done a lot of work There
are six of them for each gun. and each
has manifold duties. They are numbered
from l to g. and the first four have had
most careful training in pointing the
guns They are proficient marksmen and
/ L. captain OF the crew: the others will
succeed to the command of the gun in
order. as the captain Is wounded or taken
ont of The action for any cause As they
take their stations. 1 stands BY the hy-
dral,jic rammer tina, is used i'm loading
the gun: 2 and z are called plugmen and
spongers. and stand on the platform at
the breach Of the gun: 4 is the Altman.
and operates the hydraulic ammunition
hoist that lifts the great projectiles and
their powder charges up from the maya
zine deck. ) is the return lever man. He
operates the machinery that runs the gun
in and out of the turret as II is loaded
and fired. and is the trainer who works
the training lever.
"Casf loose and proyide'' means an i'm
mense amount Of work 10 these men. but
so sxnert are ,hsy at It's performance
that in action they will kean their giant
rife hurting its tremendous proiectiles at
tho enemyss ship once every three min
utes After thew have east loose their
riae they beafn 10 provide One con-
meets the s.ectric smoke fan In the tur-
~, ana starts II going. No smoke must
hinder the work of the crew after the
s,gh, begins He tests the hydmuiic
loading rammer and makes sure IL viii
work Then he prpnarps the electric FIR
Ing wire and gets the prirners and firing
annara,ns ready. . gets the hose and the
spouges ready for washing out the big
ri,a after fire. 8 turns on the lights In
the turret and fills the gun tub with fresh
water. tests the ammunition hoist:
tries the guns working motive power. and
q satisfies himself that the training gear
ia in working order Tn. gnpner's mate
nj ina, division provides box of spare
aceessories and a tool box
u,,ar,,n,rs hai,v ..nraxidea., Tho nex.
,>or,,,.ra sor ,he mo, In tha his turrat is
..onar breach :, > and 2 ,esnond ard the
hrae.h AIMS. - ,,ovaa back and ont nj
tho v,,r
rher ..snonee., is the order turns on
al. hose . Washes out tho ShelI space NJ
M ein and |, helps. : cleans the face 81
~ b-scch nus, ana than With . nlaces
,he 1os,,ns trav which eu,des The sbeJ
ara ,,owdsr cb.reos fro,,, no rarrtaves
OF The ammunition hoist 10 the gun.
While this has been going on the men in
the mauazines below have sunnliad tho
ammunitson IN ,he hoist and now st the
order NJ nm Err, works tho Iever and
the ammunition hoist comes I'D behind
the Gum The gun has been run 10 the
heading nnsi,yor, and sS ready