The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-04

"7tt7tH4 i s4httiia w -t!le r portable
o%i,ets;c iisi,, would be deemed dan
ser,r-. 50 tina, the mnaazinc men
w"itin i.tyc to .rppc for ii and take
pil lhcir nervous curiosity as to what
mi4 ht be happening to their .hip or
ilect 10 wondering.
The cNccr would have M advantage
Whatever pNcr the enlisted man in the
matter ni greater safety in a modern
naval engagement. The sword carry
in. men with the ranrc-lndrrs were
lpppcd of with complete impartiality
IN the lalu fight. An officer in com
lnand nl II gun has even bit the worst
OF the chance in comparison with the
men handling the gun, for in order to
get Il line on the enemy he must ne
cessnrily expose himself to the enc
my scientific rapid-fi r play, while
the gunncrs have the protection Of the
oun shields and barbcttcs. Even the
commanding officer is no better as a
wal risk than the humblcst mess at
tendant in a fight. His station on
modern ships will generally be in his
ship coming tower, and, well as
coming towers on ships of war of to-
lay are protected, eminent naval au-
tllorilic- haven't much faith in their
invulncrability. Coming towers are
necessarily in exposed spots al
most always away forward. beneath
where the bridge ought To be, but isn't
when the ship j. cleared for action
and g%unncrs Of the enemy are natural
~ expected 10 do what they eau to-
warl >cmdin. the commanding officer
Of an antagnni-tic slip into the ucxt
world before his time.
The man in the LuukcrS. viz. the
humble coal passcr. is likely t" have a
dismal. unsatisfactory time of it dur
ing the progress OF q fight. lie sees
absolutely nothing, but what he doe,
not see Is more than atoncd for by
What he hears. Any man who has
ever listened to the information of great
guns during target practice from the
shelter Of Il half empty coal bunker is
likely to remember the twenty times
ampliiicd laundering that threatens
to rip his car drums in twain. Theo-
retically, the coal passcr is supposed
to shovel buckets full Of coal and
trundlc them along the trollcys in the
mellow light of many lG-candlc incan-
descent lights, and as IL matter Of fact
all modern ships coal bunkcrs are
lighted. But the writer, who has
crawled through the bunkers Of many
q modern man-of-war. American and
foreign, has found that standing cleo
trio bunker lamps rarely illuminate.
The glass around the wires is smashed
in the process of coaling ship, and, Of
course the lamps do not work. Naval
constructors are still trying to find
some scheme to illuminate bunkers.
The coal passer, standing his watch in
the bunker of a ship in action, then,
has the additional gloom Of darkness
to fight, unless he violates a rigid reg
~ulation by carrying an open light into
his bunker. He does not know when
al armor-pierciDg shell is going to
pass directly through the bunker he is
working in, and altogether his station
in a fight is not a desirable one. Nor
has the fireman or the water tender a
very cheerful station. Both Of these
members of the black gang, of course,
are in the boiler rooms, and they have
pcrpetnally before them the possibility
OF a great shell ripping its way through
a boiler, thus insuring them n death
By scalding. The oileris another man
of the black gang who has Il title to
feel nervous when his ship is fighting
for he is always more or less tangled
up in the machinery, apparently en-
dcavoring TO see how near he can APP
proach death without actually compass
Sing his own, and in the event Of a
shot dropping through The deck and
among the intertwisted masses Of ma
chinery, he is liable to be torn to
pieces by the same, tracing Wild as
the engineers call it, ever if he is not
done for by the explosion.
'1Tfihc suft spot" as au old gunner
mate put it., sis about FIVE fathoms be-
meath her, in = diving suit"