The Holbrook news., 1911-10-20
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for the greater part of the year sim ply as a clubhouse. His turns at watch or at the guns in sub-calibre
 fire are few and far between. He now and then turns out for a parade, marches badly because he has had far too little drill, and with small member ship and too little encouragement for practice and training does not get far on in his feeble and intermittent ef- forts to become sailorman of pos sible value when the crucial time real ly comes.
 It was to arouse interest and stimu- late real in the work of the coming year that the battle recently fought was proposed and undertaken. There have been war games before for the naval militia on the lakes, and in small way in the manoeuvers in New England two years ago. This year it entire force of naval militia on the Atlantic coast.
 Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus and Commander E. W. Eberle were in com mand, and under orders from the de partment both fleets. were to abandon the use of their wireless systems for the period of the battle"
 It was not the intention that the bat tleship fleet should be required to get in without being observed, as was the case once or twice in the noted series of manoeuvers in the summer of 1902, with the fleet un fer command of Rear Admiral Higginson.
 As the contest was to be a purely naval one the defense was to make no use of points of observation by land even if any advantage were to be had by such means. With the dis use of wireless, therefore, the strug- gle on the part of the home fleet was dependent mainly on vigilance and speed in communication.
 For a moment such as that imposed on Admiral Osterhaus a light fog and a dark morning were to be desired. From his rendezvous at Nantucket Shoals he had before him the simple business of getting to sea far enough to escape observation, be out of the lane of ocean steamships, and avoid lIclCSS lCdhS lO 1O1 P1dAS- I1S was not to divide his fleet, but to make the grand attack in force and, if pos sible, so adroity as to steal a march on his enemy and overpower him at the weakest point in the battle plan. To guard a coast line 450 miles long is no small task, but Admiral Higgin- son in 1902, did it so well that when, on the morning. of August 23, in light fog, Pillsbury's fleet came slowly up of Salem, Higginson's fleet was there isharp-eyed and ready to give fight.
 By the rules of the game these ma neuvers will always have great value fir any future discussion of the de- fense of New York from attack by a fleet entering, or trying to enter, the east end of Long Island Sound. That entrance naturally well protected by the configuration of the tw0 coast lines on the north, and south with the strong coast artillery fortiflca- tions and the submarine mine system that has been established throughout the whole region, would never be an inviting one to an enemy's feet But the battle this time of large fleet of torpedo boats and submarines demon strates the value of this system of de- fense in any war where we might be forced to divide the battleship fleet or to divert it from the North Atlantic.
 It is to be kept in mind that the United States is a transcontinental country and that we are open to at- tack from two sides of the continent There can be no telling whence our next war may come. nor what forces may be lined up against us An al Iiance between an Oriental foe and some European power would suggest a divided attack. one fleet approaching the Pacific coast, and another the At lantic. Such an attack in any force would make necessary just such sit uation as has been so well illustrated in the recent manoeuvres.
 Any means of concealment and com munication was permitted to the fleets. The enemy came on with all lights out except the hooded tail lights and the trailing electric lights by which those to the rear kept in touch with those in front The usual practice is to use sub-calibre guns for stimulating the fire of battle, but this time blank shells were used and the battle thus assumed the character of the real thing.