The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-01-04

sumo we may DE considered as having
won in this first move"
"How SOP Intercepted the com
mander eagerly.
"The Midget has certainly blown up
one of their very biggest battlcships,"
replied the other, taking the glass down
from his eyes as he spoke. But, upon
the other hand, their destroyers have
undoubtedly made short work of her
before she could get away"
Both men were silent for time.
"GOod" calculated the captain at
last in particularly mild hammered
and satisfied tone. Unless | am great
ly mistaken the make ready signal
is going up on the flagship"
"Aye, aye, sir" reported the grizzled
old quartermaster. ''There it is"
"Clear ship for actionw beloved the
captain.
At these few words, passed on by
the boatswain and his mates from deck
to deck and from division to division
to the preliminary overture of their
shrill whistles, the men swarmed like
working bees all over the huge fighting
machine. The Rhode Island, in com
mon with the rest of the fleet, was
stripped down to her metal skin, ready
to grapple with the foe. Down in her
bowels the whole force of engineers
and firemen We're hard at it, the smoke
belched from out the towering stacks
steam escaping from the safety valves
showed that even the boilers We're u
sharer in the general excitement Of the
situation.
Sound general quarters!'
To the call of bugle and rattle of
drum every single soul on board, even
including Obadiah Todds, the worker
on cloth and buttons, went to the par
ticular station assigned them. Officers
and men entered the big turrets, man
ned guns of the secondary battery,
clambered up into the fighting tops or
Joined the powder division below
decks. The engineers and firemcn had
their own special lines Of effort to fol
low out. Not single idler could be
found among the hundreds who com
posed the crew of the big fighting ship.
or what purely commercial or munic-
ipal institution could such thing be
said?
Cast loose and provide" eXultantly
cried the commander, for even such
things as micrOmeter scales and cubes
Of smokeless powder have not been
sufficient to destroy the ancient lust OF
battle when the breath of the enemy
Is in the air.
With this third and final order, before
commencing action the crew stripped
to the waist and went seriously to
work. The huge shackles and clamps
which hold the big masses Of metal
rigid in seaway were thrown off and
each gun duly loaded with the particu
lar variety of ammunition for which it
had an appetite. This latter fodder was
already being delivered from the mag
azines below by the perspiring and
blasphemOus powder division.
Up in the armOr inclosed coming
tower Of the Rhode Island sat Lieu
tenant BereSfOrd, surrounded with
speaking tubes, push buttons and vari-
GUS other more or less intricate signal
ing apparatus. With him was Lieuten-
ant Mortimer. Both men had unlighted
cigars tightly clinched between their
fnath and tho 90 nj oil had lin
en- collar and necktie, ut the same time
carefully buttoning up his uniform
coat.
I'VE ought to fetch in between those
two biggest fellows" remarked the
younger officer in a peculiarly sweet
tone Of voice. ''The one on the star
board Is just about our size, but the
other ship looks rather larger"
$50 she is" assented the skipper
grimly. According to reports, she must
be first class battleship. although they
have nominally rated her as Il second
She Is one-third again our tonnage and
throws very nearly twice the weight OF
br0adside metal.
did you notice that Todds, the mas
ter tailor, had put on his bullet proof
coat" observed Mortimer, with a
broad grin.
NO" laughed Beresford. "Where Is
his stationT'
AT ole Of the secondary gun tubs"
replied Mortimer.
Continued next week