Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1912-01-20

German battleships outnumber the
Americans two to one, but they were
more heavily armed and more modern
in construction, seven of them having
high explosive engines built of Char
lottenburg steel and all carrying Char
lo+tenburg steel guns.
The fleets came into contact ON
Wednesday before any actual declara-
tion of war. The Americans had strung
out in the modern fashion at distances
of thirty miles or so and We're steam
ing to keep themselves between the
Germans and either the eastern states
or Panama. because, vital as it was to
defend the seaboard cities, and partic-
| ularly New York, it was still more
vital to save the canal from any attack
that might prevent the return of the
| main fleet from the Pacific. No doubt.
| said Kurt, this was now making rec
| ordS across that ocean, unless the
| japanese have had the same idea as
| the Germans" 1t was obviously be-
yond human possibility that the Ameri-
can north Atlantic fleet could hope to
meet and defeat the German; but. on
| the other hand, with luck it might
| fight a delaying action and infiict such
| damage as to greatly weaken the at
tack upon the coast defenseS. Its duty,
indeed, was not victory, but devotion,
| the severest task in the world. Mean
while the submarine defenses of New
York. Panama and the other more vital
points could be put in some sort OF
order.
This was the naval situation, and un-
til Wednesday in Whit week it was
the only situation the American people
had realized. 1t was then they heard
for the first time of the real scale of
the Dornhof Aeronautic park and the
possibility of an attack coming upon
them not only by sea, but by the air.
But it is curious that SO discredited
were the newspapers of that period
that a large majority of New Workers,
! for example, did not believe the most
copious and circumstantial accounts of
the German air fleet until 1t was ac-
tually in sight of New York.
Hurts talk was half soliloquy. He
stood with a map on MercatOr's pro-
lection before him, swaying to the
swinging of the ship and talking OF
guns and tonnage, of ships and their
build and powers and speed, of stra-
tegic points and bases of operation. A
certain shyness that reduced him to
the status of a listener at the officers
table no longer silenced him.
Bert stood by, saying very little. but
watching Hurts finger on the map
They've been saying things like this
| in the papers for a long Time" he re
marked. Fancy it coming real!"
, Kurt had detailed knowledge of the
| Miles Standish "She used to be {
crack ship for gunnery-held the rec
ord. / wonder If we beat her shooting
| or how? I wish was in it. wonder
, which of our ships beat her Maybe
she got a shell in her engines. It's
) running fight, 1 wonder what the Bar
i barossa is doing" he went on She:
: my old ship. Not first rater, but goot
: stuff. 1 bet she's got shot or tw,
t home by now If old Schneider's up t.
D. form Just think of it There the,
2 are whacking away at each other
: great guns going, shells exploding
s magazines bursting, ironwork fyini
: about like straw in gale, all we'v
T been dreaming of for years, I sup
S pose we shall fly right away to New
t York-just as though it wasn't any
n thing at ALL I suppose we shall recko
d we aren't wanted down there. It's N
t more than a covering fight on our side
D All those tenders and storeships O
Il ours are going on southwest by Yves
d to New York to make floating depc
l. for u.s. See.- He dabbed his forefinge
l. on the map Here we are. Our trail
y OF stores goes there, our battleships e
t bow the Americans out of our wa
Il there
4 When Bert went down to the men
le mess room to get his evening ratio
10 hardly any one took notice Of him e.
" cept Just to point him out for an Il