The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1912-11-22

with no more respect for them than If
they mad been sponges. and pushes
them steadily home behind the projec-
tile. and. having done it's deadly bust
ness. retires again out of the way to be
ready for another cycle of the same OPP
er;ltiOnS
Half a turn of the wheel. and the
breech block swings home with sigh
and click. Right gun loaded. SIR"
Now you wait in suspense. and voice
$500 yards. The gun layer in his quiet
corner has all this time never taken his
eye from the glass. He turns one
wheel. and the whole turret swings
round over the ships quarter; he turns
another. and with little hiss and sigh
Of imprisoned water the whole mighty
tonnage Of the gun. sweetly balanced
on its trunnions. rises and tilts itself
to the push Of the hydraulic press.
The range Is decreasing by some thir-
ty yards q second. since the target is
a ship approaching us at a speed equal
to our own-6fteen knots-and as the
falling ranges are given the gun metal
wheel il turned an eighth or a quarter
of an inch. and the muzzle Of the gun
sinks down little as gently as fail
ing leaf. The sights are reported ''on.'
the gun laid. and the word we have all
been waiting for is sharply given
"Firer' The gun layer pulls trigger
no bigger than that Of a pistol and
The projectile was a dummy one
made Of wood covered with leather.
and there was no cordite in the car
tridges. II it had been otherwise the
pictures that adorned the commanders
room. the mirrors and toilet accesso-
ries on the cabin tables and the va
rious elegant adornments Ut the cap
tain's suit would unless they had been
previously packed away have come
crashing down from their places. and
the navigating commander, who hap
pened at the time to be explaining to
an unwilling listener on the quarter
deck by what skill and foresight he
had avoided setting the ships stern on
to the breakwater at Portland. would
have been blown OF the deck.
These things were unnecessary. for
! quite understood. The click and 81.
lence that followed the word "Fire!'
were quite eloquent enough to me Of
all the SCATTERING damnation they rep
resented-a projectile weighing $50
pounds hurting to its mark at the
rate of almost a thousand yards a sec.
ond.
But we In the turret would have
known nothing. for before it had reach
ed the target the breech block would
have opened to the screech Of the air
blast which cleans out the burning
fragments of cordite in the breech. tine
hammer would have shot in with its
mop and out again. the ammunition
hoist would have come Gathering and
screaming up. another projectile would
have rolled into the tray with another
two hundredweight of death packed
behind it, the hammer would have
pushed 1t home with kick. the block
would have swung to again. the great
gun would have been sighted and
swung in the air. again the word would
have been given. and again the frag.
ment of concentrated power that men
had toiled in factories and drawing Of
fees. in laboratories and foundries to
perfect would have been sent wingine
through the sea air to spend itself in
destruction.
And only one man In the turret would
have seen Its fate: only he with his
eye to the telescope. who had seen the
hull of that ship in the distance cover
ing the threadlike cross on his glass
as he pulled the trigger. would see and
guess when the distant target would
burst into yellow smoke what work
had been done.-London Standard.