The Winslow mail., 1898-08-27
NERVE IN THE NAVY.
There Are Up Gowards. Among
Uncle. Sans Seamen.
No Pals. Faces or Signs of Fear When
They Get Ready fpr. Action But
Everyone Is EageEsfprs
Es- the Battle.

Befnre the beginning: of hostilities
WITH. spain, when the ships. company
Vas drilled. in prAparing the Slip for
action, the men all took their stations
promptly. and. each part. of the ma
ehinery of the great engine of war was
Quickly manned, and in very few min
htes everything was ready for action
To an onlooker the quickness and pre-
cisi6n, 9th, which. each man took his
Station seemed marvellous. If these
same people could see the actions of
the same men when general quarters"
IL sounded, and there is reason to be-
Iiev9 an engagement. is imminent, they
would; scarcely beliete their eyes Now
enthusiasm and spirit dominate every
thing. Each man knows that on the
Way his work is done depends in a
measure the outcome of the conflict.
When everything is made ready, am
munition hoisted, guns Ioadeds and
manned, there: comes, period of sus-
peEse, a, calm before the storm, so to
shsaH. Looking around the decks no
sign of fear can be discovered; there
are no pale or anxious faces to be seen,
nobody seems to be thinking of home;
seery Thought is for the, present Here
and there the 'jackies''. are cracking
iohas;;. the men, al tlhe. guns that, will be
engaged seem the. most contented of
all; their compapicHs on the unen-
gagged. side look, sorr65yful; in compari-
sou. and many q, little oath is dropped
About hard luck by them.
: A period of expectancy now ensues.
The nerves assume state of tension,
which. is. relieved as soon as the gun is
fred.T. The. erew now settle down to
work. The first few shells from the
enemy cause comment; when a puff of
Smoke from an opponents gun is seen
there'afe some th9t; stop momentarily
and watch for the destination of the
Shell, and feel relieved when they see
O column of water rise out of the sea.
When the first shell whizzes overhead
almost everybody can be seen to duck.
This. is entirely q, reflex act, and is no
sign of fears Soon ali thought of the
enemy's shells passes away, and the
men at the guns have eyes for their
6wI, shells only. TLey know that the
best defense. is a well-directed fire.
Each shot from the guns IS pated. and
when the range is accurately deter
mined. the Yankee craftsmanship be-
eotnes evident
9 At Santiago. the shnQting from the
New, York was. wonderful in its ac-
euracy. shell after SHE'LL being dropped
exactly in the right spot, and the gun
hers and. others. sent up a shout each
time "a. cloud com mposeos ofguns and
dusty Dons arose out of a Spanish bat
terry. The excitement OF action for
those who can see what is going on dis
pels any flsGSS9qs fllsG kiTiaitl thatmay have
sxialads fse''N
Below the decks, down In the engine
and fire rooms, in the coal bunkers and
ma gaines, there are many men work
ingtfsaWdt, sesing nothing and hearing
only the reports. of the guns and en-
plodi9g, Shells If The engagement be
With a ship, they cannot tell at what
moment torpedo will come crashing
in through the vessels side, or if the
ship be entering harbor, at what in
Stsnt the ships BOTTOM. %ili be. blown
Upward by mine. These are the peo-
pie whose nerves are put to a strong
test. But they never murmur, and so
iRf' no man in the Amsrican. navy has
given in to fear.
The action over, ard the enemy's for
tifications reduced, there is an air of
satisiAet tioni visible everywhere. Men
cad be heard discussing the different
shots and talking about the. target
practice, and wdRderiflg when they
will get some more. When secure"
IS saanded and retreat" has gone, the
men go about their duties as if moth
ing had happened. Looking around,
they. eal be seen writing, playing
cards, reading and sleeping quietly
One of the best examples of the
pluck and nerve. i4 the, American
squadFqn was made manifest when
crew was wanted by Hobson to take
the Merrimac into the harbor at San
tiago and sink her in the channel. The
fate of the men who were, 10 go on
fhee expedition seemed to be sealed, as
the chances Oh getting through alive
apparently were very slim. There was
no call for volunteers; none was need
Sds fof as soon as it became known
that the Merrimac was to go in on its
perilous trip, practically all of the off,
9ers and men in the 1eet:volunteered,
and many. were the disappointments
when the seven heroes were chosen.
: The war, so far as the navy is con-
cerned, has been devoid of many of its
saaposed horrors, ard although the
men have Been on the larger ships for
six months without getting ashore,
there are few, if any. who would go
homs if they had the chance before the
Anal battle is fought.-Medical News.
4 as q. -