The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-04
FIGHTING THE BROOKLYN.
The Wonderful Work in the "Battlo Of
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may gan," said Commodore Schley and speaking loudly to overcome the noise of the frightful guns, the gallant captain of the Brooklyn said with a smile q always do that sir I con- slider it necessary for the esprit de corps' and stepping into the coming tower he called down the tubes: "Tell the men below that the Maria Teresa is running ashore" At the same time Executive Officer Mason rushed to the firing turrets and calls in to the men the same joyful news. It was the Sd of July and the excitement of the first call to battle had hardly subsided on the big cruiser Brooklyn when the fore going incident occurred. Commodore Schley stood upon small temporary bridge running about the coming tower, while Captain Cook spent his time between the interior of the tower, where he directed the machinery or the platform where he could see the enemy.
 Fighting for the honor of America three better prepared and more heavily armored ships of Spain, this splendid type of the American navy was one mass of flame and smoke as she spit out defiance tinged with death with machine-like regularity, and yet but one-third of the entire crew could see the enemy or any part of the fight. In the big turretS, half-naked men worked behind the steel walls with no knowl- edge of how the battle went until they were informed by MT. Mason, and be- low the protective deck fully 300 or more men worked under the glare of electric light, keeping this great engine of destruction mechanically and rapid ly at work. The big turret S-inch guns could not have done their deadly shoot ing even with the trained eyes guiding them had not the men below sent up the ammunition and the Brooklyn could not have kept side by side had it not been for the engineer and fire room force working below the deck like fiends.
 WORKING THE BIG GUNS.
 The men in the turrets of five-inch steel see as little as the men below deck except that once in a while they get a glimpse of the object fired at. When the ships of Spain were sighted coming out on this eventful morning the eight and five-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, a lieuten- ant, is in the hood, his eye to the tele- scope, gets the line of his gun; on the harbor, and awaits the signal. Five thousand yards sings out an orderly in the turret opening and the gun goes up to the proper elevation as the lieuten- ant 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 Com mence firing" comes the. order, and quickly the answer comes. The turret lieutenants hand closes on the electric apparatus and the gun jumps back a foot or more as 110 pounds of explod- ing powder drives 250 pound shell from the muzzle of the great piece at rate of 20S0 feet per second. Then before the roar has ceased the hand of the man in charge of that turret touches the electric lever and the great 700 tons of steel moved quickly and all most 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 to the right elevation once more the nervous fingers close on the electric handle and another 250 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 3d you would have seen picture of activity that would have amazed you Hardly had gun No. 1 belched forth it's defiance to the group of Spanish ships than the five men behind it, until this minute statues Of tnac- tivity, spring into life No. and No. 4 opened the breech, washed off the mushroom and gas check with sponge, oiled the breech plug, extract ed the exploded primer, and saw the vent clear. Mo- seized the long bris- tie sponge wet with water and assisted by No. sponges the gun, lays aside the sponge and seizes the rammer ready to drive home the new charge.
 While they have been working there has appeared at the top of the ammuni- ton hoist new shells and new ammu- milton, and the officer in command of the turret cries load"
 No raises the ammunition corner of the noise and with the assistance of Mo- of the other gun, grasps the ham, dies upon the carriage and swings it to the rear of the gun. The projectile is first on the left, and No. adjusts the primer while No. A. assisted by No. G., rams home the 250 pound projectile.
 Then in quick succession No. 5, No. and No. 6 ram in the two charges of powder in packages of 55 pounds, each done up in serge or muslin and in grains weighing an ounce and quarter each. No. closes the breech, No. 1 again connects the wire and the gun is ready to fire. All this has taken just four minutes and with two guns, the big turret is shooting once every two minutes.
 THE POWDER DIVISION.
 But where are the mysterious hands that send up these death dealing charges to the guns in such ghostlike ways? Down below the water-line of the ship, beneath the protective deck that in too many battles has proved the lid to the steel coffin of hundreds of brave men, is a naked, perspiring crowd of heroes. their eyes effectually closed to the changing scene of battle, but their senses keenly alive to the fact
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