davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

coming to them .ntermlttent.y from
the range finding overs and 10y
a graphic process determine with
great nicely the distance off OF the
stcaming foe. The plotting table OF
board where the information from the
observers is applied is IA big semi
circular affair-the curved edge being
graduated 10 fractions of a degree.
while the straight edge or diameter
represents on "A definite scale the
length of the la>e line bctwe II the
two spottcr towers. Al each end OF
this base line is IA pivoted ruler one
is called the primary and the other
the sccondary-Corrcsponding To the
II finding station with which it,
operator IL in touch by telephone.
Here is what follows:
The soldiers AT tho primary and
secondary piyot,d rulers or AIMS bring
the free ends toward n another in
accordance with the separate angles
tol"ph ned t. them, a third nan
OF crates another ruler ca led the gun
ann, which measures the distance or
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15
S%eaplanes and Torpedo
Boats Constantly Pa
troll, Only Other Craft
Being Fishermen

tcrcst description. Although the water
froZe as II broke alb ard, things were
not too bad until they were off the
Wash. Then" said the officer who
told the story-he was one of the
lIeutonlnts in command-"we all
thought that We were done. There
was such a frightful sea on tina, | had
Ia lash myself to the bridge rails and
pray that they wouldn't be washed
away.
Al the n # tWcnty-fOur hours of
this purgatory the iintilla intact IN,
into Grimsby. where they had t. beat
the ice away from the anchor before
II could he let go. At last the well
rattle of the chain through the
ha~wseho,e was heard.
We did not notice anything more
of particular interest until we began
t. approach the IA of Holland, when
somebody suggested that smoke We
see "A long way off To the south
east must Ice rising from somewhere
near Ic"hrugge. W. would all have
liked very much To have believed this
was the case, hut somehow our imagi-
nations We're not nimhlc enough to aC-
cept the cNp.anat on.
We were moving along at about
half speed somcw here of M~iddlchurg.
where the big firms Of English hook
makers, or commission agents" carry
ON, or used To carry on, their Illegal
business before the war, when a pom
pous looking little Dutch Government
tug came alongside, and a Dutch naval
officer climbed aboard to look over our
ships papers and To see that We were
not smuggling in a British army corps
To outf'ank the Germans.
Al the dock there was a further
examination Of papers and baggage.
and We We're then more or less free
TO roam all Europe If We were ncu-
trails, or at least the Netherlands II
we were British or other allies.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15
Coast Artillery Arm of the Service Still
Pronounced Wofully Deficient
in Trained Men

projectiles weigh from 800 to l,ooo
pounds and are charged with from
thirty to sixty pounds Of high a.
plosive!
For the disappearing guns the
modus oIerandi differs in some parti.
culars. The time of fight OF the Shot
is far shorter than in the case OF the
mortar shell, the powder charge Is not
varied TO suit different ranges. and he
state OF the atmosphere is not a de-
Gliding factor. Therefore. corrections
are more easily made, for the rife.
when it does fire. is pointed righ. at
its target. The principal concern q
the battery commander is to know the
range. and this Is telephoned and re-
produced by the t~elautoCraph at the
firing stations.
The battery commander also follows
the enemy ship with a telescope range
finder that employs a short vertical
instead OF II horizontal base This
serves as n check and at each gun
there is a telescope sight which
is functloncd independent OF tho
weapon-the operator looking over
the parapet and following continually
the moving quarry. by swinging his
telescope horizontally he causes The
lateral angle to be indicated at the
gun station below, and there Tire train
er swings h weapon in unison and
the elevator raises the muzzle agree.
ably to Instructions from the range
finders.
When the rifles have been loaded
and the momcn for action arrives
these great war dogs rise upon their
steel launches and thrust their muz-
zlcs above the heavy parap,ts of con-
crete. Instantly there is "A thunder
Gus boom-the speeding projeCtiles are
on their murderous MISSION. Before
the thin veil of smoke has been swept
aside the guns have sunk behind
J cover, and but for The momentary
! flashing of their muzzles there is
nothing to show the spoilers on the
hostile craft where the attacking guns
lie.
The fire control system employed at
our coast defence stations il eX-
trcmely flexible and wlthal capable
Of meeting the needs OF the hour even
though parts of il he totally destroyed.
Indeed II Is said that should all Of
the regular range finders lie put OUT
of service there are still emergency
range finders that can hc called upor
To do reasonably accurate work.
These are placed an one flank of
every battery and are much like the
separate range finders that We now
see mounted on top Of the turrets of
our dr%eadnough,s. These are self
contained affairs about y or Q feet
! lonr u,l ~ n,n,tp., ,<a,,,I,y 80
the climax of the opticians art.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

AZ last We spotted something on the
horizon. Was /, a {, rman or "A British
fleet? There was a wild scramble for
marine glasses, telescopes and even
opera glasses. We We're going to get
some excitement after all. But in a
few minutes and before we could as
certain the nationality of the craft a
haze blotted out everything from view.
This "a a pretty business. Suppos-
ing h "A we were To b. trapped and
summarized by a German patrol. We
all had cold shivers up and down our
backs. Why didn't the captain turn
back? What was the use of necdlessly
running into danger? And yet the
captain seemed to he cool and imp r
turhed.
We were just about to make up our
minds that the best thing to de would
he to adjust lifehclts around our mid
dies when the sun burst forth and dis
pcrscd the haze. And then to our utter
amazcment and half disappointment
we found ourselves in the midst of a
fleet OF fishing vessels that, judging
fr IN the large "Y" painted on their
m%ainsails, hailed from Yarmouth, made
famous by the humble hlOater and the
German bombardment.
Well, this didn't look as though there
could he much truth in the oft re-
peatcd boast of Admiral Won Tirpitz
that he was constantly sweeping the
North Sea, from the Orkneys to the
Straits of Dover, and that he was to-
tally unable to find n trace OF am en-
envy ship. Away in the offIng we no.
ticed that a destroyer was Watching
the fishermen as a hen does her chicks.
An hour later and the fishing fleet
was left far astern. by this time the
sea seemed to he absolutely deserted
save for a few sportive porpoises that
raced with us about half a mile off
h port beam. Not q hattleship, sub
marine, Zeppelin or aeroplane was In
sight. Feeling very disappointed We
obcyed the call of the stewards bugler
and went down tn lunch, the menu for
which, We all noted, invited us to par
take of several varieties of fresh fish
after We had whetted u appetites
with Bismarck herring.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15
Twelve inch disappearing gun and its emplacemen. at
Fort Wright.
Method of Pointing Heavy Guns From
Concealed Emplacements Now
Reduced to Exact Science

by observers decided whether or not
hits would have been made had a
floating object been inside that zone.
There was considerable room for err
ror on the part of the observers. and
the u pointer. lacked the satisfaction
OF seeirg the result Of his work-in-
deed. it was sometimes days before
he knew whether or not the umpires
had credited him with a score or a
miss.
Then came a change in the manner
Of training. and 1t soon proved that
the soldiers of the coast artiller,'
needed only decent encouragement to
show their skin. A real target was
substituted for the imaginary one.
This was a rectangular affair sixty
feet wide and thirty feet high. COW
cred with "A net or screen attached
10 masts supported 10y a float or raft.
This material target eliminated all un-
certainty by enabling hits to he
counted by actual holes made in the
screen. II was no longer a process
of determining scores 10y observing
splashcs and bothcring with mathe-
matical calculations.
As a matter Of record, the army
gun pointers near New York. with
10 inch disappearing rifles. have been
able To fire four shots in Il total
elapsed time Of less i>an one minute.
and these were concentrated upon n
target four miles away being lowed
AT the ate of something over five
miles an hour All four shots struck
the target and actually passed
through a %rectangle "a feet high by
SO feet long. At $500 yards the
same Calibre guns at Fortress Mon
roe scored six hits out of six shots
AT a moving target. The total elapsed
time Of the firing was slightly over
w minutes. the batteries scoring IA
hits per u per minute.
The science OF surveying has made
these achievements possible. even
til uCh. as has been said. the guns and
mortars must be trained and elevated
by men who can not see their targets.
II is a well known theorem in plane
geometry that the length OF the two
sides OF a triangle may he found II
the length of the base and the de-
gree of the two ang,es formed by the
sides n question with this base are
known. In the case OF the coast
artillery problem the distant ship of
the foe is at the remote tip Of the
imaginary triangle. and the known
base Is the span between two observ-
ing or range finding stations. This
interval may he a mile or more and.
within some limits, the longer the
better for acCura
Many have seen from afar at u
coast defence stations what seemed
to he big bird boxes mounted upon
towering tubular supports n Network
Of steel. There are always two OF
them, and Officially they are known
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

as the primary and secondary range
stations. In each OF them. in time
of service, there are at least two men.
one turns by means Of a ~dclica,cly
graduated mechanism "A powerful tele-
scope from right TO let, and his func-
ton is to keep the moving target con-
tinua,ly at the point of Intersection
OF two cross hairs in the field of his
instrument. His companion reads of
At prescribed Intervals the angle made
BY the telescope with the permanent
base and the far away Zoe.
The Same thing is being done al
the other range station at the OPP
posite end of the base. \. time bell
rings at each Of these stations every
twenty seconds, and ut the third
stroke the man reading the angular
scale telephocs that measurement t.
the plotting located where the
enemy cann.t see it and itself IN
telephone communication with each
gun or mortar division.
In the plotting room a group Of
men make use Of the information
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

fnt we got our reward early in the
AFTERNOON. Away ON the horizon to
the northwest We detected smoke-a
lot of II. We guessed that this time
We were certainly going to run into
some warships. Away above the smoke.
and much nearer to us, we could dis
Germ three giant seaplanes heading for
us. In about fifteen minutes they
We're near enough TO swOop down upon
us, evidently to see whether we were
friend or foe. We hauled up some
iiags, evidently "A p~rearranged signal,
and seemingly satisfied with our iden-
tlty and innocent character they left
us as silently and as swiftly as they
al come.
AS the smoke Came nearer we could
see that IL came from a tlotllla of
eleven torpedo boats. They were
iiritishers we were told. As they
crossed our bow, as they did presently.
II was easily seen that high speed is
the note Of the torpedo service; that
weather is no bar TO its activities;
that tn he washed down fore and aft
as the boats crash into a head sea, or
10 snip II green first ON one side and
then on the other. must he the regular
routine of these small craft when they
run in front Of the wind when there
Is anything like a sea.
These, the patrol fiotll,as. are in
deed and in truth the Wards of the
Outer March, Qucsting, doubling
turning, strung u like a flight of
~scabirds, ohedient to the call of their
Leaders tlaN. ri,,u a,,l ,,,,,1 H. 49,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

resting in q half awash condition.
Instead of yacht gigs bobbing TO and
from the pleasure craft are noisy
naval steam pinnaces keeping up an
unccasing communication between the
fleet and the shore.
An Admiralty pilot had charge of
our ship, and AS an additional pre-
caution we were shown the way IN
through the mine fields by a superan-
nuatcd torpedo boat Right In the mid
die OF where We imagined n of these
Mn iiolds was laid out to keep the
German | boats away was moOrcd
the training ship Ganges, whose rig
ginS and decks were swarming with
the boys who will form the next
generation Of British sailors.
As we passed LandSuard Fort at
the mouth of the estuary and were
signalling to somebody or other
about something or Other-it must
have been rather important Judging
from h Commotion on the bridge
two huge seaplanes appeared In the
sky from the direction Of FeliXstowc,
where there Is a station of the Royal
Naval Air Service, The aNiators
Circled around our ship once or twice.
and then headed ont to sea.
II was "A ticklish job getting out of
Harw!Ch harhOr. Our cours reminded
me of the snake dance after a Yale
Harvard football game. We ~zigzagged
from II side Of the estuary to the
other, turned in our W length, crossed
our OWL wake and went fun sp ed
ahead and full speed as,ern" half a
dozen times before we got clear, We
could not see the mines, but were
given to und rstand that the water
was filled with them, and that not
more than n dozen Admiralty pilots
knew the secret of the way in and out.
For the first hour and until we had
got VII out of sight of land not a
thing happened to relieve the tension
under which we were all laboring- and
! suppose every one of us felt that he
was really doing a very plucky thing
To cross this sheet of water on which
both the English and the Germans
have threatened to blow each other of
the earth the first time they met.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

mites heaped upon a poor, unsuspect-
ing passenger about to embark at
Parkeston Quay, Harwich, for liol-
land.
Under. | suppose. the all embracing
scope of the defence II the realm act
the traveller has not only to turn
his baggage inside out. but is In adj
dition hustled into a draughty i'm
provised examination room" and there
compelled 10 strip down to his union
suit in order to prove, ne doubt, that
he has no heavy ordnance or other
contraband destined for the enemy
concea.ed about his person.
There was more bother when We got
aboard, for the vessel was not per-
mitted to sail until we had been shown
by the first officer how to put OF a
lifebelt. The whole harbor was heavily
mined, we were Informed, and even
II VT were not blown to smithereeus
by a friendly mine" We might meet
with less consideration later on at
the hands of the commander of a
German submarine.
There was plenty to see AS we
slowly steamed down the harbor.
Harwich Is one of the bases Of the
Mosquito Fleet That is, within its
well protected anchoraGe-for the
Notifications of the place have been
vastly strengthened during the last
ten years-fiOtillas of 40 knot de-
stroyers. light cruisers, submarines
and seaplancs, whose chief work Is to
patrol the North Sea, operate,
War hnS y,r,,,yht ,,us ,pg
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

fifth point ahead and in line with the
four other dots. This is his predicted
point" where the enemy vessel should
be aminute later. In this interval of
time II is Necessary for the men in
the plotting room to do a number of
things necessary to make Il possible
for h weapons to score a hit. The
mere range is lot enough To- know.
Let us assume that the foe is to he
attacked by means Of mortars Ind
that the protectiles are to soar thou
sands Of feet into the air upon their
long flight that may take the better
part Of two minutes before |plunging
upon the vulnerable decks Of the hos
tile d~readnousht.
II is needful to know how long the
shells will he in the air at that range;
how far the target will move during
the fight Of the missiles. how much
h path of the proicctiles will be in
nuenced by drift due to their own ro-
tatinn and the effect of the prevailing
wind; the exact powder charge that
will be needed to propel the shells
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15
Eighth Coast Defence Mtilerymen plotting targets in the charrooma at Fort Wright

range Of the TX of this triangle. At
The word Of command from the range
officer the observers at the two tele-
SCOPES bring these powerful instru-
nIents To- bear in unison upon a chosen
part Of the remote ship. At the order
Take the scale readers telephone
the figures 10 the operators at the
p,otting board. In "A few seconds the
man In charge there has placed on a
large sheet ~ paper n dot At the point
v ere the twp straight edges meet and
las marked this pencillcd point No. !.
Again. twenty seconds later, another
DIT l. made where the shifting straigh;
cGLCs meet, ana tn Is numbered =.
similarly positions are thus recorded
for No. 8 ana No. !, ana il the dis
tarce between these dots Is uniform
tlt plottcrs know that the target is
moving N a steady speed and the path
of the dots gives a visible trace Of
the direction in VIII oh the foe is ad-
vancinG. As yet one of the weapons
has been pointed, nor. If mortars are
- he used. eve been ,Oadcd.
The plotter marks upon his paper a
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

this being determined by the range
and the state of the atmosphere. and
finally. how much ahead the mortars
must he aimed in order to allow for
these factors. These complications are
due to the method Of indirect fire en-
ployed. and in this particular the NOR
tars are not so as the big
rifles and. therefore, are more difficult
TO handle in order to insure good re-
suits. The fina point set in the plot
ting room is No. 6 and two minutes
further along than No. 8. the pre-
dicted point" the latter being verified
by the angles given by the observers
at the spotter stations when the yes
sal is duly reported at the proper
moment.
All of this has taken longer To de-
scribe h actual performance calls
FOR, becaus the error factors which
have been just mentioned are tabulat, d
and are quickly worked out graphically
by means of cunningly devised appa-
ratus. 1t must be evident that in an
interval of four minutes a big ship
10000 or $1,000 yards off would not get
measurably closer. and once tn proper
range is found and the mortars loaded
the shifting range is quickly verified
and the guns set accordingly.
The men in. the towers and those in
h plotting room are at work ali the
Will. At definite intervals the in.
structlons are sent by telepaone from
the Plotting room To each battery or
mortar pit. and lest these vocal direc-
tons lie misunderstood the figures and
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

blh N'u SNt any Aiillk VI
the German or English fleet" These
and other similar questions have |
been ask d a hundred times by my
friends who knew that ] had made the
short sea trip through the mine fields
from Harwich to the Hook Of Holland
during war time.
To be truthful | mus, admit that
saw neither Admiral J~el.icoe's grand
feet nor the high sea fleet OF Admiral
Won Tirpitz sweeping ma jestically
across the face OF that very inhos-
pitabie looking stretch e cold, gray,
troubled water, But | did learn a
lot of what an amazing number of
interesting naval details are necessary
for England to hold the command OF
the sea. And the so-called war zone,
So fer as ! could see. was most de-
cidedly swept clear OF every vestigc
Of German shipping, either of a war
Ike or peaceful nature.
II must lac almost as easy to break
ut OF Pcntonville Jail as it Is for
an unauthorized traveller to leave the
shores of England for the Continent
these troubled times. BEFORE the steam.
ship company would even sell me a
ticket ! was obliged 10 show my pass
port, vised by the Consulate-Genera,
OF the Netherlands. American tour
lists returning from Europe have
grnmbled and growled for years at
the impolite inq~uisitiveness OF the
United States customs collectors. These
New York dock formalities are digni-
fed and gracious acts Of courtesy "a
compared to the third degree indig-
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15
Mere Embarkation for
Continent Proves Eek.
acting Experience and
Mines Add to Anxiety
ny }. HERBERT DVCKwORTH.

w THAT does the North Sea
w the war zone-look like?"
did you see anything Of
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

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Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-12-08
BANNER READER
WRITES FROM WEST
ABOUT COUNTRY
FRANK G.. STOCKING, WHO FOR
MERLY LIVED IN MICHIGAN,
LIKES CALIFORNIA
Morgan Hill,
Nov. 80, 1915.

Nov. 80, 1915.
Editor Bedding Banner:
In the Banner of November "a, |
noticed a piece of poetry entitled,
"Old Michigan" telling of boy who
once went away, but was longing for
Michigan. There were a good many
boys went away. | was one of them,
but | have never longed to come back,
perhaps it was because / came to
California. Michigan is all right,
but when one is set down in the gar
den of Eden, | think he would be
foolish to want to get out. | will
send you a few verses to show you
how | feel about California:
Since | came to California
Some twenty years or more,
| have seen the summers shining
from the mountain to the
shore.
| have seen the falls advancing in
pleasant dreamy line,
And have felt the breath of spring
time like draught of cheering
wine.
/ have seen the flowers blooming
and have never missed them
here.
| have heard the warblers singing
through the long and happy
year.
And earth has smiled with bios
SONS, the air has thrilled with
sound;
But | haven't seen winter in the
long year round,
Since / came to California, back
yonder in the east,
When a blizzard somes to freeze them
ten times a year at least,
| used to dream Of heaven, and l
filled it full of flowers,
And thought the birds were singing
through the happy, happy
hours,
And there was ne'er winter I've
found my heaven here,
Where the flowers hear the songsters
through an ever-smiling year,
And whether it is heaven or not;
why here's my creed, you see,
Right here in California it is good
enough for me.
Since | came to California, like a
vision l recall,
How the winters used to linger just
to greet the coming fall,
There was but breath of summer
between the autumn and the
spring,
And frozen ears and noses were very
common thing,
Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-12-08
Doomed to Die
Horse Given up To Die By
Doctors Saved By Sim
pie Remedy

Many Michigan people have found
that the European war has raised the
value of livestock - particularly
horses. Therefore, it is now more
necessary than ever to keep domestic
animals in Al shape. To do this, a
bully liniment to use is the same kind
that George Wells of Syracuse, n. Y.
used. He says: "And the only medi-
cine used on the foot after the horse
had been given up to die by the veter-
mary surgeon, was Hanford's Balsam
of Myrrh. This horse, which the
doctor said should be killed after it
had run a nail in its foot, lived to do
many more hours of labor"