The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-08-11
JUST BEFORE A
BIG BAT TLEAT SEA

: A fleet of six gray battleships is
steaming rapidly in calm sea. Far
ahead of the fleet can be distinguish
ed the bulls and slender 1nasts Of sew
eral cruisers, writes Lieutenant
Charles GIeig in the Chicago "Chron-
icle.H These are the scouts, the "eyes"
of the fleet, upon which the admiral
Irelies for news of the enemies move
4 ments. Other cruisers, out Of sight
! of the battle fleet, are securing the
& sea upon some prearranged plan. Let
us, however, confine our. attention to
the battle fleet. The six great armor
l clads are all of one type, forming
homogeneous squadron. Each is of
$4,000 tons displacement, of equal
! speed, and carries similar guns. To
the eyes OF the landsman they are
/ like half a dozen dried peas, and
their similarity is accumulated by the
gray paint that covers them from
truck to water line They are formed
in two divisions, not as yet in order
of battle. The two leading ships each
| flies an admiraTs flag The divisions
| are six cables apart G,200 yards),
but the space between each unit is
but 400 yards, and this interval, you
Will notice, is maintained with an ac-
curacy wen by. constant practice.
Little smoke issues from the tall,
gray tunnels. In the smooth sea the
heavy. ships have no perceDtible mo-
ton, though you can see they are
making progress by the white foam
at the bows and by the broad ribbon
of foam churned up by the twin
screws of each vessel.
Presently a red and white answer
ing" pennant steams from the mast |
head Of the flagship. One of the
scouts is signaling. She begins TO
close with squadron. One perceives
that other and more distant cruisers
are also steaming back to the fleet
We guess the reason long before our
heen-eyed sisnalman can distinguish
the message. The enemy has been
sighted some twenty miles to the
eastward. Such is the welcome news.
At once the flagship runs up the sig
nal: Prepare for action; form the
order of battle" For in these days Of
fast steaming 20 miles interval at
fords but comfortable breathing
space, unless the enemy decides to
run away. If he is bearing down up
on US we may be within range of him
in a quarter Of an hour. Such, it
seems. is his design, SO our ships must
form at once into single line.
Let us note what preparations are
being made for the coming battle.
The game has been rehearsed often
often, indeed, that we can
hardy realize that this is at last the
zeal thing, the grim reality. Take ]
any ship at random. The same prep
arations are being made in all. Seven s
hundred men are going about their !
ordinary business. Suddenly a bu
gle blares out the familiar call to |
general quarters and ere the harsh {
notes have died away every man be- i
Some make toward the great bar +
oettes, where the 12-inch guns are t
nugly sheltered, some for the armored V
easements isolating the 6-inch weap-
ms; others run to the light, quick ]
irers, mounted upon the superstruct- +
ire. Others, again, and these mostly
batantS (if any such can be 90
4 ship of war;, hurry below to the t
bedrooms and magazines.
The great shells for the barbette h
uns are being placed on hydraulic
fits. A lever is pressed and up they c
o. In another moment they have, b
cached the breech of the gun. \ Il
unner closes the heavy mechanism
the breech with one hand. Run Ii
ut" orders the officer of the turret b
mother lever does. the business. The d
weapons glide smoothly
l1tward. their long necks projecting n
as the barbette is trained. CT
dozen men and one officer COM fc
lete the crew of this pair of heavy
unS. The officer stands upon a lit CO
e iron platform, peering above the p;
lrret, with a voice tube at his ear. r
he captain of the turret is peerinS
the cisrhr sc