Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-03-31
TOM BOWLING AT THE GUN.
the Rolling Vessels In the Ma
Mia Fight.

Look at him as he stands. lock string
IN hand. behind his gun, his legs wide
apart as he balances himself on the
unsteady deck, his eyes fixed on the
sights of his gun and on the enemy,
whom he sees through the narrow aper-
ture of the gun port He knows that
his gun is all right. and the powder
and the shell and the fuse, and that,
years ago, the necessary steps were
taken which placed this terrible weap
On in his hand to-day. so fashioned that
iif he fires it right the shot will hit the
mark. But the rolling of the ship from
side to side throws the line of his gun
sights high up against the sky, and
then down into the sea; and, as no ship
steers exactly straight. the line of sight
moves irregularly to the right and left:
so that his sights appear to be descrtb-
Ting irregular curves, now against the
background of the sky, and now
against the background of the sea-
An average roll may be said to be about
seven degrees on each side, or II de-
grees from one side to the other. The
average time of making this roll is
about seven seconds, making the time
of rolling one degree about half sec
ond.
Suppose now that Tom Bowling is fir
ing at an average ship, say 20 feet high,
about $500 yards away. If he fires at
the middle of the target, as he should
do, this gives him margin on each
side of ten feet, which subtends an an
gle at Tom Bowling's eye of about one
twelfth of a degree; so that Bowling
must appreciate the fact that his sights
are on" and do everything required
to fire the gun in one-twenty-fourth of
second, or else he will miss the target
Now, no man living can be depended on
for such rapid thought and nerve &C
ton, even under the best conditions OF
quiet and calmness; that is. he cannot
be depended to do it every time.
Much can be done by a good gun cap
tain, however, by watching for
smooth time, and firing little before
the sights bear. No one knows this
better than Tom Bowling. So he
braces his feet on the unsteady deck.
every nerve stretched to its utmost ten
sion. He sees that the gun is pointing
little to the right of the enemy's ship.
''Left!" he orders; and the gun trainers
work their training levers. or, if in 4
turret, start the turning engine so as
to turn the gun to the left. Meanwhile,
as the line of sight gradually is APP
preaching the target from the right,
At is also rising and falling with the
rolling of the ship. Tom Bowling sees
that the next time the sights rise to
the level of the target the trainers will
have got the gun trained in the proper
direction. He braces himself for a
quick pull of his lock string; ard then
wave strikes the ship on the starboard
bow, or the helm is shifted a little. and
away goes the line of sight far off to the
left, before the sights get up. Right"
orders Bowling instantly; and the gun
trainers work the gun back to the right
quickly, but cautiously, for much de-
ponds upon them now. WELT" Right"
"Left!" etc, come the orders in quick
succession, as Tom Bowling and his
trainers work the gun. Suddenly the
line of sight strikes the target; there is
a CLEAN in BowliDg's eye, a quick pull
of his arm, q tremendous noise, a
sitting cloud of smoke, and in comes
the gun as if it were a projectile itself,
and were going clear across the ship
and out the other side; but it quickly,
yet gently, slows, then stops, controlled
perfectly by the hydraulic climber; and
Immediately it runs out again, and is
ready to be loaded and fired once more.
In an instant the second captain has
unlocked and thrown open the breech;
quick hands wash off the powder resi-
due from breechlock and bore, and then
shove in the shell and powder. The
second captain closes and locks the
breech with heavy clang. puts in a
new primer, and reports the gun ready.
'Left!" cries Tom Bowling; and the
same succession of actions is roper
formed.
If anybody could have gone from
ship to ship of the United States feet
during the eventful hours between five
and half-past seven on that beautiful
Sunday morning, he would have seen
about so Tom Bowlings all doing the
same things and in the same way. He
would have seen so guns crews all
eagerly. yet coolly, working their
guns, and he would have seen each di-
vision OF guns, and each turret. under
the charge of an officer responsible for
it.-Lieut. Bradley a. Fiske, in Cen
fury.
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