Arizona republican., 1898-08-14


 deck informed of any advantage we nay gain,' said Commodore Schley, and speaking loudly to overcome the noise of the frightful guns. the gallant captain of the Brooklyn said with smile, "I always do that, sir, consider 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 rushes tc the firing tur- rets 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 suDsided on the big cruiser Brooklyn when the foregoing incident occurred Commodore Schley stood up on a small temporary bridge running about the coming tower, while Captain Cook spent his time betwen the inter for 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 heav- fly armored ships of Spain, this splen- did 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 en- zine of destruction mechanically and rapidly at work. The big turret S-inch guns could not have done their deadly shooting 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.
 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 glimpse of the object fired at When the ships of Spain were sighted coming out on this eventful morning the eight and five-irch 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 lieutenant, is in the hood, his eve to the telescope, 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 lieutenant in the hood orders the elevating gear turned. The number one man at the guns connects the elec- tric wire to the primer with the hoods hand firing apparatus and all is wait ing. Commence firing" comes the or der and quickly the answer comes. The turret lieutenant's hand closes on the electric apparatus and the gun jumps back a foot or more as no pounds of exploding powder drives a 250 pound shell from the muZzle of the great piece at rate of 2,0S0 feet per second Then before the roar has ceased the hand of the man in charge of that tur- ret touched the electric lever and the great zoo tons of steel moved quickly and almost noiselessly around until the mother gun of the twins was in the
 
 Slowly the muzZle comes up to the right elevation, once more the nervous fingers close On the electric handle and another 25O pounds of steel shoots away on it's death errand. Then if you could have looked in this particular tulret on that memorable and glorious morning of July Sd, you would have seen picture of activity that would
  number one belched forth it's defiance to the group of Spanish ships. than the five men behind it, until this minute statues of inactivity. sprang into life. Mo- and No. opened the breach washed off the mushroom and gas check with a sponge, oiled the breech plug, extracted the exploded primer, and saw the vent clear. No. 4 seizes the long bristle sponge wet with water and assisted by No. 3 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 ammu- hilton hoist new shells and new am- intuition, and the officer in command of the turret cries load"
 No. raises the ammunition corner or the hoist and with the assistance of No. of the other gun, grasps the handles upon the carriage and swings it to the rear of the gun The proiectile is first on the left, and No adjusts the primer while No assisted by No. 6 rams home the 250 pound projectile.
 Then in quick succession No ,, No. 4 and No. 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 a quar- ter each. No. 2 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 one every two minutes.
 But where are the mysterious hands that send up these death-dealing charges to the guns in such ghost-like way? Down below the water line of the