Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1912-01-12
The Battle of the North Atlantic.

THE Prince Karl Albert had
made profound impression
upon Bert. He was quite the
n most terrifying person Bert had
ever encountered. He filed the Small
ways soul with passionate dread and
antipathy.> For long time Bert sat
alone in Kurt's cabin, doing nothing
and not venturing even to open the
door lest he should be by that much
nearer that appalling presence.
So 1t came about that he was proba-
bly, the last person on board to hear
the news that wireless telegraphy was
bringing to the airship in throbs and
fragments of a great naval battle in
progress in mid-Atlantic.
He learned 1t at last from Kurt.
Kurt came in with general air of
ignoring Bert, but muttering to him.
self in English nevertheless. STU
pendous" Bert heard him say
Here" he said, "get off this locker"
And he proceeded to rout out two
books and case Of maps. He spread
them on the folding table and stood re-
garding them. For a time his Ger
manic discipline struggled with his
English informally and his natural
hndliness and talkativeness and at
last lost
They're at 1t, Smallways," he said.
"At what, sir?" said Bert, broken and
respectful.
Fighting! The American north At
lantic squadron and pretty nearly the
whole of our fleet. Our Eiserne Kreuz
has had a gruellng and is sinking,
and their Miles Standish-she's one
OF their biggest-has sunk with all
hands. Torpedoes, I suppose. She
was bigger ship than the Karl der
Crosse, but five or six years older.
Gods 1 wish we could see 1t, Small
ways; square fight in blue water.
guns or nothing, and all of 'em steam
ing ahead"
He spread his maps, he had to talk,
and SO he delivered lecture on the
naval situation to Bert.
Here 1t is" he said, latitude 80
degrees 80 minutes north: longitude
30 degrees 80 minutes west. It's q
good day of US anyhow, and they're
all going southwest by south at full
pelt as hard as they can go. We
shan't see bit Of it, worse luck!
Not sniff we shan't get!"
The naval situation In the north At
lantic at that time was a peculiar one.
The United States was by far the
stronger Of the two powers upon the
sea, but the bulk Of the American
feet was still in the Pacific. 1t was
in the direction Of Asia that war had
been most feared, for the situation be-
tween Asiatic and white had become
unusually violent and dangerous, and
the japanese government had shown
itself quite unprecedentedly difficult.
The German attack, therefore, found
half the American strength at Manila
and what was called the second feet
strung across the Pacific in wireless
contact between the Asiatic station
and San Francisco. The north At
landc squadron was the sole Ameri-
can force on her eastern shore 1t
was returning from friendly visit to
France and Spain and was pumping
oil fuel from tenders In mid Atlantic
for most CT its ships were steamships
when the International situation be-
came acute. 1t was made up Of four
battleships and five armored cruisers
ranking almost with battleships. not
one Of which was Of q later date than
1913. The Americans had indeed
grown 80 accustomed to the idea that
Great Britain could be trusted to keep
the peace Of the Atlantic that a naval
attack on the eastern seaboard found
them unprepared even In their imagi-
nations. But long before the declara-
t1on Of war-indeed. on Whitmonday
tho whole German dset Of eight
cen hattieshipa, with q dotilla Of fuel
tenders and converted liners contain
Ing stores to b. used In support Of the
atr dset had passed through the