The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-04-18

racer who is to be out the next day
for the supreme contest of the year;
you can understand why some of the
officers refuse to shave themselves
until target practice is all over and
they begin to look as if they were
training to be pirates, bad and bold:
every naval hoodoo is avoided; you can
see why the men go over every part of
the mechanism of the guns, oiling, rub
bling, shining, testing parts until you
wonder whether the gun itself is not
in a state of agitation and the MOLE
cules which the experts gravely as
sert are always in a state of motion.
are not racing back and forth and say
ing contemptuous things to one an
other.
Why some of these men never allow
themselves out of sight of their gun
lest something may happen to it. They
pat the guns with their hands and
whisper pet names to them, and tell
them to do their best, and if Lney win
why they'll put ribbons on them and
point them out to everyone. And. In
deed, more than one CUNT would he
telling to say which ones-did wear
ribbon decorations and did receive en-
braces from a victorious crew. after
the shooting was over.
Just before the shooting begins y
calm, stiffness comes over the shin.
MeA steady themselves with a supreme
effort to keep cool; the ship ceases to
e dangerously near a madhouse.
everyone girds up his loins and spits
ON this hands, metaprorically speaking.
and the spirit of do or die takes nos
session of the ship, and, as the guns 90
Dang, bang, and boom, boom, you'd
think these officers and men had dona
nothing else ali their lives but shoot
on projectiles and it was as much q
matter of course with them as getting
their breakfasts. All hands are now
smiling and good cheer pervades every
compartment, and its That's fine.
Bill!' Hit 'em again!' Sock it to
emf Soak 'er!' You're dom greaty'
Never mind, that's only one missy'
Bully boy!' and the like.
But it is time to shoot. Every one
now is calm and eager to begin. The
bosn and three launches and two boats,
crews go out and put up the first tar
gets. The ship gets under way and
steams about slowly until she gets the
proper Roadway of a predetermined
speed. The men at the targets set them
up and steam away to a buoy a quar-
ter of mile from the target. Slowly
the ship swings out and comes on the
range, just grazing the buoys that
mark the path. The men are at the
guns. The outward buoy is passed and
then the ship approaches the first buoy
where the firing is to begin. The exact
range of that point is known. The ele-
walton of the gun is known, as is also
the detection. You know the sights
nave to be right on the target, but the
gun itself has to be aimed a little to
one side, so as to account for the side
movement of the projectile, due to the
ships motion, as it flies through the
air. What is called fire control de-
termines just how much the gun must
be elevated and how much it must be
DETECTED at certain instant There is
man at the gun who turns little
wheels and adjusts gauges, and he gets
word from some one else just what TO
do and when to do it. Never mind how
this is communicated to him.
Meantime one man has been train
ing the gun sideways and another has
been raising or lowering it, indepen-
IDENTIFY of the man who has been set
ting the DETECTION and fixing the
range. When the cross-wires in the
gun-pointer's telescope are right on
the bullseye and it is time to fire he
pulls trigger and the electrical APP
paratus sends lightning impulse into
the powder, there is roar, a thin
cloud of smoke from the primer, flash
and you look for the splash to see if il
is hit.
,. "As the ship proceeds along the base
/ of the triangle the detection and range
| have to be changed constantly. The
| change is greatest at the ends of the
= run. Along about the center, whe1
you are just opposite the target, the
!, changes are s light, but it is just a:
hard to hit the target. All these
, changes are matters of fractions OF
/, seconds. 1t is not deliberate work, but
! it is done carefully and there is where
, the element of training comes in.
/ "The first roar Of a gun sends a thrill
{ through the ship. The man who has
r fired it is nervous. If it's a miss NJ
3 steadies himself at once. Rare is Il
/ that the second shot is a miss Tht
| gun-shy part of that mans career il
over. He is now as cool as if he were
t whistling Yankee Doodle. Bang and
, crack go his shots. Perhaps the gases
oh l, &, 10