Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-22

in real war makes them scatter about
the deadly shrapnel they contain.
In the other tests the guns are turned
10 point out across the bay and real
shells are fired then. That is to test
the time fuses You can set them TO
explode anywhere from 1 to 21 seconds.
and they time them with stop watch.
Say they want to see N r given kind OF
she'll viii explode in 10 seconds after
leaving the nuzzle. Well, they set It at
lO and aim It out at a point In the sky
above the horizon.
n they aimed 1t at a point below the
horizon; that Is to say, have 1t explode
against the background OF the dark
water. they could not see as we'll when it
went off So they project It against
the sky and start the stop-watch when
the gun is fired and snap it when the
shell bursts In air out there over the bay
AS II there were German trench there.
II the watch marks 10 seconds, all right,
that was a good shell, and all the others
in that set at Bethlehem must be good,
too, So ship 'em ON to Kitchener.
"DANGER-KEEP OFF"
That's what the occasional native visi.
tors like best: that fireworks business
over the bay; and any one can stand near
enough to 1t on the sand dunes outside
the barbed-Wire stoCkade to see the whole
thing. This barbed-wire affair Starts a
the water at the southern end of the
long narrow strip OF the company's beach
reservation, which is at most 100 yards
wide. At this end are couple OF lmpro-
vised testing shops. little more than big
shanties, manned by dozen or so eni-
ployes, who snooze about between tides
killing time. For tides-that is. high
tides-are the signals for work with the
guns.
The stockade runs from the water,
about 30 yards from the nearest gun, and
. NN.y III. a. -.
and on UP the beach for a couple OF hum
dred yards Then the 60-foot poles with
the red flags take up the story for the
rest OF the four miles of the strip. All
along outside the fence and the flags are
signs:
DANGER.
Target Range-keep OFF Beach.
Warning Firing will be con-
Quoted during clear weather IA hours
before and after high tide. Red flags
hosted indicates firing. a salutinE
gun will be fired 10 minutes before
firing starts.
BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY.
OF course, there are lots of other signs
Private Property-Keep Out" pan
Eer-Powder Magazine" this over little
cube OF a building near the guns; Warn
ing-No Smoking"
FISHING CREEK OBJECTS.
Nobody objects: in fact. Cape May
rather likes the idea of the target range
and is surprised that nobody had thought
OF prving into its mysteries in all the l2
weeks 1t has been in existence since Jan
uarY 2S-nobody except the inhabitants of
Fishing Creek, which is a small village at
the northern end of the range
The men of Fishing Creek used to OBJ
tain the privilege, or take 1t, of plowinE
the waters along the shore of the bay
now leased by the company, for king
crabs and clans, and they made a good
thing out OF It all season. beginning early
and ending late. But when the company
got the shore rights from the owners the
king crabbers and cammers had to watch
their step. They could go out with the
grasp the elusive king crab Caught for
his shell and the good fertilizer it makes
when broken up and the clam only when
the guns weren't being fired, and they
say they do not have enough chance at
the shore TO make n good living any
more.
Besides being directly ahead of the
guns. they hear them, decidedly, even il
Cape May folk do not, and they object 10
the noise and the loss, but they have no
redress,
But they are In no danger OF being
struck by shell. and that's comfort;
and there is no danger for passing ships
in the firing into the bay, either, for
there Is no channel for vessels within
nine miles of the shore. and they never
fire anywhere near that far out.