The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-07-09
ON THE HIGH SEAS.
LIFE ON A TORPEDO BOAT IN
.ya MIDOCEAN.
Vivid Account OF Ine6able Har1shjps on
one of the Naval Cobbleshells In Storm
ON the Atlantlc-S leeping and Eating
Nigh Impossible, e@s

own peculiar weapons. .. E. .... =
The first modern attempt at specially
built torpedo vessel took shape In 1873,
in the Thornycroft yard at Chiswick,
England. In 1896 the greater powers col
lectiVely owned or had projected - no
fewer than 1,2S3 such, craft, the earlier,
among them comparing with the later
ferries compare with ocean grey
hounds. Enormous sums of money and
enormous eXertionS of science stood en-
bodied in this multitude of better pro-
auctions. and the same expenditure has
been lavishly continued inSthe same direc-
ton up to the present time. Yet from
the very beginning O considerable part of
the whole labor has been performed so
to speak, in the dark-s!nce the practical
demonstrations of single battle might
throw out the incest theoretic calcula-
tions, develop unforeseen factors, and put
a new face on what is acknowledged to
be the greatest problem confronting mar
1tlme builders, engineers, and officers Of
the day. The periodic naval maneuvers
of the powers, although giving due prom
inence to the torpedo boat practice, have
cast but faint light on the perpexed
points. While peace endured, however
no more effective test was feasible, and
for this reason naval science has long
and eagerly scanned the political horizon
for ''the next great naval war;
What is the most invisible" color?
Dun, nuddy-broWn, SmokC-gray, or gray
and black laid on in unequal patches?
Specialists violently disagree, each dis
putant looking to the high court of war
to establish his opinion. What IS the true
mean of speed that will enable the boat
to do the thing required of her? And how
far should invisibility as represented by
little size be sacrificed to speed, with it's
demands for larger construction? All
these puzzles with many more akin to
them, are to-day hopefully laid between
ourselves and the Spaniards for solution.
The torpedo boat as an engine of war,
Is therefore, something of an unknown
quantity. But her manner of conduct in
cruising times of peace has been often re-
Vealed to us, and we need suffer little
doubt as to the everyday lot Of the men
now detailed to such service with our
Squadrons in the stormy Southern waters.
The matters so awaiting trial by arms
are as numerous as vital The work of
torpedo boat, frail atom that she is, is to
deal secret and sudden destruction not
to give open battle; to creep up on the
enemy unaware by night, to deliver her
fatal blow at close quarters, and then to
glide away into the darkness, an undis-
tinguishable mote before the gunners'
eyes, flying so swiftly as to defy pursuit
Or, lying hidden in the shadow of the bat
tlesh!ps of the fleet, she must keep watch
and ward against enemies like herself,
darling out upon them with, nimbleness
at least equal to theirGown and by her
oASApSCleu ONSlduSHL ucledClQS Ilelr
fearful mission. For these ends. her two
great needs are inv!sibility and speed
and here the moot questions begin.
At midnight the 18th IF June, 1890,
writes Katherine Prentice IN the New
York Post, two English torpedo boats
Nos. 81 and 62, set out from Plymouth
under convoy Of the storeship Tyne, tc
cross the ocean to Halifax. Both boats
rated as first class. both we're built by
the famous Yarrows. and both measured
1875 feet in length by l3,,feeta. greatest
breadth. OF their experiences on the VOy.
age lieutenant, second In command OF
one of the pair. bears witness in Il mar.
rative. fully Endorsed by other torpedo
boat officers.
Daybreak Of the first morning found the
lieutenant and his captain sitting in the
Aingy, dashed omidships on deck. Every
man aboard, excepting only themselves
wac violently sick, and that though the
crew had been picked from the finest sail.
ors in the service. The man at the wheei
could barely stand to his work. the stok-
ers stocked feebly, and only because they
must, while as for the cook, all hands
might starve, but he could not and would
not get breakfast. Yet the two in the
dingy, unsaddened by shadows of events
to come, rather fancied their novel 'ad.
venture
'1ndeed.'' says the Lieutenant" we paid
too little attention to our safety
and in moment we were both flung out
of the dingy. The other man scrambled
to his feet at once, but I was not so
lucky, for I hit the slightly convex deck
as I fell, and in another second was over
board. There were no bulwarks, of
course, to a torpedo boat; only stanch-
Ions, supporting at intervals a wire rope.
Between these stanchions slipped. AS
did flung my hands instinctively and
caught the rope as passed under. Down
went the little snip. down. down. till the
sea dubbed up around my shoulders, and
I wondered if could hold on if the water
went over my head. BY the strain on
my hands knew 1t was nos possible, but
quickly the boat rolled back again, and
in another moment the skipper and the
man at the wheel had hauled me on
beard
There was little nothing to do by
way Of recreation in the hours off watch.
Coming towers, the chart table, the
dingy, ETC.. ETC., SO numbered the dingy
deck rs to leave no room for promenad-
ing-and exercise, otherwise sufficiently
debarred by the outrageous pitching and
rolling of the vessel. Nor were the quar-
tees below much more comfortable. Ven
tilators were generally kept shut because
OF the great wash of waves over the
whole craft, and although enough water
leaked down to keep the spare clothes
In the lockers continually soaked, the
air was so close that under other cir
ea1mstances a man would not have tried
20 sieer. in it. These men, however, bat
tered and exhausted by each four hours
of work, soon learned to turn in at every
opportunity, packing themselves into
their berths with boards, pillows, ETC.,
holding tight to any firm object within
reach, and contriyinG to sleep in spite OF
everything.
II was bedfellow with the filter one
night" says the lieutenant. 1T carried
away and came bouncing down upon me
maning me think for moment that II
was the funnel at least The difficulty
was what to do with it, for everything
4 in the little cabin was on the move. So
concluded it had better stay where 1t
was, and, clasping it in my arms, slept
mfortably enough until I was routed
out for my watch on deck.
washing, too, was tremendous husi-
ness, for though we had. small bath
slowed on deck under the chart table
the hatchways wece much too narrow ia
adm it of its coming belOW-and a. wash
Rand basin rugged in the cabin, the boat
rolled so that the water was flung out as
sccn as 1t was poured IT.. Consequently,
am afraid we were sriuy with coal dust
al crusted with salt most Of the time.
"Our food, too, was difficulty. AS q
rule we lived on hem, sardiEes and timed
soups, for most Of the time the weather
was so rough that It was as much as we
could do to get little water boiled. We
had a table about eighreen inches wide in
the cabin, but 1t was no good having Il
laid, for nothing would stay on It.. The
~. usual plan, wasafor- one man to hold. tbs
sardine tin while the other picked out
sardines by their tail. an !'a! tra e.