The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-03-28

cannon. A man with a lead line il
placed at the well, and during the fight
will make frequent sOundings, 10 dis
cover If the vessel is injured below the
water line. The hose squad is placed
in charge of the fire apparatus. ready
for instant service. Chemical fire ex-
tinguishers are used on all the United
States warships now and hand gren-
AIDES are placed in every quarter Of the
ship. Every pTecautiOn is taken 70 Sc
cure the instant stamping out Of fire
should il start in or near the maya
zines.
Down in the sick bay the head sur
geOn, or "bull doctor" has been direct
ing the laying out of cots. instruments
and bandages. One hatchway. as near
amidships as possible. is always open
for the passing down of wounded men.
The surgeon may have no call upon his
services. but the rule in every quarter
OF a battle-ship is BE prepared for the
worst and hope for the best"
When everything is ready the officers
move TO their stations If the ship is
a monitor the battle matches are clos
ed and the men at last hear the final
command. for which they have been
impatiently Multiplication"
At that command the doors Of the
magazines are opened, and the men.
who form the different chains Of scut-
ties, begin to pass the cartridge cases
up to the deck. The delivery Of am
munitiOn is in charge Of the gunner
In modern naval fortunes the gunner
is not. as many landlubbers suppose.
the man who fires the cannon He is a
warrant officer and his position is a
most responsible one in time Of action.
for he must see 10 the prompt and
steady delivery of cartridges. shells
and projectiles to all the guns The
chief gunner takes his position on the
berth deck. where he can note the
progress of the work: his chief assist
ant is below the main magazine sup
erintending the handing out OF powder.
and a quarter gunner is in charge OF
each Of the other magazines and Of the
delivery on deck.
The charges are passed up from the
magazines in wooden cases. which are
painted black, with the size Of caliber
and charge painted in large white let
tiers on the side. They are passed out
Of the magazine TO a man who sends
them up TO the lower deck. Then they
are passed through a slit in the mag
azine screen-a heavy canvas curtain
which is intended to prevent the pos
siility Of sparks reaching to the pow
der stores. From this screen carriers
take the boxes to the nearest powder
,cuttle, where they are passed up to
the gun deck and thence 10 the cannon
themselves. For moving ammunition
various. mechanical appliances. includ-
ing electricity. have come into use.
though the work is still done by hand
on some of the vessels
Il believe in the hand lift for ammu-
milton" says Rear Admiral Henry Err
ben, because if you depend on cleo
tricity the cutting OF breaking Of a
wire knocks you out, but il a man is
cut in two you can put another in his
place"
A crew Of sixteen men is required 70
man each Of the big guns. such as the
12-inch and 13-inCh cannon Of the Iowa
and Indiana. They are divided into
leaders, spongers. shellmen. hand
spikemen. sidetacklemen. intacklemen
and porttacklemen. and are under the
direction Of a first and second gun cap
tain. There is also a powderman. who
delivers the charge 10 the gun. a fire.
man and a wreck clearer.
The firing of pivot or turret gun re-
quires ten separate commands. Most
of these explain themselves. They are
as follows.
1. Silence, Cast loose and proviIs.
2 Run in
g. Shift pivot
T. Serve. vent and sponge!
g. Load
S. Run out,
:. Prime,
s. Point.
9. Ready. fire.
10. Shift and secure
If the ship is under way the man
with the range finder is kept busy call
ing of the distance of the euemy'S ship
or whatever the target may be As
each new distance is announced the
gun is adjusted To that range. At the
order 10 Point" No 1 of the gun crew
adjusts the sights 70 his satisfaction.
while all others stand back from the
gun. Then at the order Ready" ha
takes a final look. draws his lanyard
and quickly repeats Fire.
In firing at a ship the target is al
ways the wateTline. Though the COM
putting instruments now used are III
great value. the only way To get the
exact range now, rs formerly. is To SEE
whether the first shot falls short OF
over. and 70 move her up a notch or
let her down as the case may require.
The firing Of this first shot releases
the pent-up tension OF the prepara-
.'~h is succeeded by a fever Of
work The lines of powder carriers
and runner boys move steadily back
and forward. the men in the turrets
are soon blackened by the powder and
smoke until they look more like devils
than human beings. but they work on
as coolly as the engineers far below, IN
mindful of shots that crash about
them. All the splendid discipline and
training Of years makes itself felt in
these few moments Of fighting as the
sailor boys drive their ship manfully
on. still eager TO know the issue Of the
conflict.