The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-08-18

board the BROOKLYN as :.Coyey'.
Army" and is commanded by the
senior deck officer, DR.. Griffin, with
four or five other officers as asst st
ants, each assistant having charge o.
a section of about forty or fifty men,
the whole division taking charge OF
all magazine holds and all spaces be-
tween decks during action.
At the clang of the alarm for gen
eral quarters the men rushed for
their stations. struggling through a
small steel hatch in the protected
deck. and down a narrow and almost
vertical ladder to the magazines and
shell rooms below. The officer in
charge, DR.. Griffin. hurried to the
cabin for the magazine keys, grabbed
the small leather bag containing
them, from the hand of the marine
orderly on duty at the door of the
captains cabin, and rushed after his
men, distributing the keys as rapidly
as possible to those already standing
at the boX-like tops OF the magazines.
the bolts Of which had already been
| loosencd. The ammunition whips
were quickly laid out, and the men
standing with their hands on a small
lever, ready to turn on the current
of the electric hoists as soon as the
matches were off. When everything
was seen to be clear the endless
chains of the hoists start with the
whir of the motor and roll their loads
Of rapid-iire ammunition to the decks
| above, where men are stationed to
receive it. Down the chute of the
S-lnch gun turret, as an accOmpani-
ment to the deep rumble OF the tur-
ret as it slowly swings from admid-
ships to the port or starboard, comes
the command, Full charges, COM
mon shot" from the officer in charge
Of the turret, and the answer quickly
goes back, AYE, aye, SIR and as
response to lower tone of voice,
"Quick lads, lively now.' up comes
the long powder tanks and heavy
230-pOund shell to the base of the
turret. There the shell was quickly
seized in the tongs by two stalwart
apprentices, raised and rammed home
in the car; the tops of the long cop
per powder tanks taken off and the
powder, in two sections, placed in
the other compartments Of the car,
the signal given and both cars
quickly raised to the breech Of the
turret guns and are sent back, al
most as quickly, emptied.
All this preparation OF getting
ready occupied a space of four min
utes' time, after all the men went be-
low and the matches were secured.
The heat varies in this steel cage
from 12O to l46 degrees Fahrenheit,
and quick causes the men to strip
to the waist and settle down to their
work in an air-tight box filled with
sweltering humanity, bIindly obey
ing orders, with unq uestioning obed-
fence and alacrity, not knowing the
cause of the alarm, whether target
practice, bombardment. the Spanish
fleet or a false alarm.
Suddenly the report of the first
gun was heard. followed in quick
succession by another, and the bat
tie was on. Down the hoists and
chutes comes the powder smoke to
add to the already high temperature
of the handling room, followed by
the hot saltpetrc water from the
sponSing of the guns, making the
decks slippery and burning blisters
on the barebacks of the men under
meath, who, cropping and choking,
feeling their way through the dense
smoke, go silently and obediently
about their work with but one thought
and aim in view, to keep those con-
tinually empty ears and hoists filled
with powder and projectiles, not
knowing how the battle is raging
until cheer is finally heard from
deck, their spirits brighten and an
old salt will eNclaim: Il guess they
must have hit 'em that time" Then
he goes up and spits on a large shell
for good luck, yell is heard, '.Armor-
piercing. quick!' and the shells are
quickly changed, he takes an old oily
rag and rubs the cap Of the projec-
tile, saying: 'That'll make 'er bite
BETTER and the young boy of the
new navy. who has been in the navy
as many months as the old salt has
years, eXclaims to his shipmates.
"Ah, what's he givin' us?''
That was the routine of the han
ding room on the Sd of July, except
that once in while the rush was
broken by carelessly handled shell
dropping. One came down in the
forward handling room, when Han
cock had charge the day of the bat
tie. There was the low rumble as it
dropped'the forty feet. '.Stand clear.'
shouts Hancock, but the command is
suPerfluous, for if the shell had ex-
ploded no man in the place would
ever have seen daylight again. 1t
didn't explode, and as the handlers
gasped in their temporarily departed
breath, prayer went up to Heaven,
and many uncomplimentarv ad-
lectlves to the fellows in the turret
between them and Heaven.
SOME OTHER HEROES
There were other heroes that day,
men who never see the battle, but do
the work that keeps everything in
the ships IN motion and take risk
greater than commodore or captain.
When the Eizcaya had been sunk and
beached that day Captain Cook. hav-
ing been ordered by Commodore
Schley to cease firing. called the men
from the handling rooms and the
turret to take a breath of air while
the chase of the Colon went on. But
the battle was on the men not visi-
bic. Down beneath the protected
decks, informed only of the glories of
that days fighting by Captain Cooks
bulletin, through the speaking tube.
men worked in a pit below the water
IN temperature of over 100 degrees.
From the tunnels the black smoke
pouring forth told the stokers and
coal-passers and iremen were work
ing like tiend> to give the ship more
momentum so thai the foo un,,lL ha