The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-17
SEEING LIFE O]
 4 BIG IR0N CLAD HarJ Work in he Piping lineS
 of Peace RAW MAN IN GUN TURRtl On Peaceful cruls. There Is No Letup In the Rigor of Training-Load-
 ing a ThIrteen-inch
,,on Harvev in uarper,s Weekly.

The average civilian has but hay i idea of the life and work of the officers l and men of our navy in times Of peace There Is a more or less common belier 1 that a cruise is but another term for I long holiday As a matter of fact, the injunction Tn time of peace prepare for war" is the keynote of life In the navy, and from the beginning to the end of peaceful cruise there is no let up In the rigor of training that prepares men and ships for war. When moving from place to place the vessels of a fleet usually steam in column, the distance between i them being about 400 yards. This sounds easy, but in stormy weather, or in case of accident to one or more ships 1t be- l comes very difficult, even dangerous, es- pecially at night But for the constant 1 training which fits officers and men alike to meet every emergency 1t is safe to say that many vessels would be run down every year.
 Unless one has lived for a time with fleet he cannot realize what 1t means 1 to keep thirty or forty ships, steaming 1 at ten knots. in line and position day and night in all kinds of weather A ship may earn the reputation of being always in position. but let the officers and crew be changed and this same craft, for a time at least. will probably be out of position oftener than any other in llle fleet; for ship Is almost human in it's oddities of behavior, aud some little time must elapse before the captain comes to know his ship"
 Sometimes the fleet steams in divisions ] as though in expectation of a meeting with an enemy. Far In advance are the l destroyers. then come the fast cruisers l followed In turn by the battleship divi- sion, with the monitors, colliers and supply ships bringing up the rear. Again | the fleet is maneuvered as though in action Such maneuvers are not without danger, for as the ships pass and repass 1 often within short hailing distance, the slightest mistake in handling a ship or mishap to the steering gear Is ex- tremely likely to result in collision. 1ne tension at such times is almost as se- we're as when the fleet is actually en- gagged in battle.
 A great deal of time is given to target practice. both with the big guns at sea and with small arms shore ranges. The range at sea is laid off in the form of an equilateral triangle. usually 150O yards on a side for the biz guns and 1000 yards for guns under six Inches. The targets are anchored at the apex and the other angles are marked by flag buoys. The targets for guns of six inches and over Is 16x2 feet, and for smaller the base of the yiangle and begins firing at a given signal. Only one ship at a time is on the range and only one gun is used at time. A time limit is set, for the test is for rapidity of fire as well as for accuracy.
 Even In favorable weather 1t requires about a week for battleship to finish E.x.~ .tx frNfa the thirteen-inch turret guns down to the Colts automatics. is used in turn. This practice Is afforded to every gun pointer and gun crew. When the larger guns down to the six-pounder. In fact-are tc be fired, the men stuff plugs of cotton in their ears and keep their mouths open otherwise their eardrums would very like ly be put out Of commission by the con- cussion, which Is very severe.
 When a Big Gun Is Fired.
 To see a thirteen-inch gun loaded and fired is a sight not to be forgotten The projectile is thirteen inches in diameter about three feet in length, and weighs HOO pounds The powder charge for tar get practice Is 250 pounds The cost foI each shot is about $500. When all is ready on the range, the signal sirer sounds, there Is a blinding flash, roai like thunder, and jarring shock; ther
 
 for all the world like a fast expres: rounding a sharp curve. The projectil' Is visible almost from the time 1t leave the gun; you see 1t rip through the tar get and strike the water beyond. throwing up column of liquid many feet high The shell slxlps much like the flat stone skipper of our boyhood, and again { column of water shoots up two miles o more farther out. to be repeated tim' and again The shell in its flight can b' watched without the aid of a glass fol eight miles or more In clear weather. During the recent target practice of Pensacola. Ensign Daniels of the Ala bama. with the thirteen-inch gun. mad eight hits out of ten shots. and the nintl erazed the rope at the side This nearll eouals the worlds record. held by tn Wisconsin. of ten hits out of eleven shot within the time limit of five minutes, an' was made under adverse conditions. l is worthy of note that Ensign Danleis na risen from the ranks; In fact. he was Il the handling room of the Wisconsin whel the record for rapidity and accuracy O fire was made.
 The sensations of green man m thirteen-inch gun turret cannot well D
 described or imagined. Ton must p
 there to realize them. You Will De scare
 blue-as every one before you has been and you will not be accounted cowar' for shaking down to your boots and try
 ing to remember some of your perhap long-forgotten prayers It Is common experience. You climb through the ntttl trap door. just large enough to admit on
 man at time. and you make up you
 mind to keep as near as possible to tn
 exit: but the officer In charge says
 ''Please move over here' and to you horror you find yourself on the wroni side of the gun.
 Everyone around you is cool as GU cumber: there Is no danger; they tell you- , then perhaps. will recount how the mar back killed so many men on such ant such ship last target practice or now gun recoiled too far and killed mai just about where you are standing. Ihel you avow that If ever you get out aliv you will never again venture into tur 7 ret The ship Is steaming at ten knots ant } rolling some: in few seconds the gun : will be fired The seconds are hours
 weeks days and you wish your knee
 would not tremb1e so. or that you hat : something to hold fast to. If you are t be killed, why don't they get 1t over 3 But you gradually come 70 realize tha
 you are the only one who Is shaking a There stands Ensign Daniels, say at tn a telephone as calm as though he were or dering something good to drink. You hea ' him telling his men in the handling room ! below to be ready to worK quickly 10 n they are out for a record; then ne turn s to the gun pointers with final instruc n tions. Then you hear the siren, and tn
 officers Ready. loadv'
 : Up comes the hoist with a big pro1ectile a Irr o htu n