The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-27

naughts as huge and as powerful as
Engiand's. Then England announced
tnat she would build two of these
mighty ships for every one built by
Germany. The race for naval su-
premacy was in the midst of its
course, with England far in the lead.
Wnen the war began. Won Tirpitz
found he had not built fast enough.
he was forced to let his great ships
remain in idleness at their ,noorings.
Wnlle the English battle fleet patrol
led the North Sea-
In erect, Germany was without a
navy. English ships finally swept
from the seas the scattered German
war vessels that had been caught on
foreign service when hostilities were
declared. German trade by sea was
killed with scarce a blow struck in
lts defense. Men and munitions pour
| ed into England from her colonies
and supplies in immense quantities
were sold to her by every neutral
country. With England mistress of
the seas there was nothing to fear
| from Germany
Then the German "under-sea boat"
came into play. The most violent op-
| pOnent Of Germany's program must
| admit that the German submarines
| nave fulfilled the mission assigned
them. The skill and daring of the
! German sailors who manned these
little craft call for due acknowledge
ment, whether one is inclined to call
their exploits heroic or pira atical. Ger
man submarines, in spite of the great
screen Of light cruisers and torpedo
boat destroyers thrown around the
British Isles, have sunk one merchant
ship after another. Day after day
English owners have heard Of fresh
llosses. in the Channel, in the Irish
Sea, in the North Sea. Naturally
some Of the German raiders have
gone to the bottom, too, but this has
not abated German submarine ac-
tivity. There is no telling when it
will end-perhaps not until the war
ends. England, with characteristic
fortitude, has continued her shipping
business in spite of the lurking sub
marine menace, and has offered re-
wards to British captains who sue
ceed in running down and destroying
the enemy's submarines. But crafty
old Admiral Won Tirpitz, powerless te
meet Englands s dreadnaught navy
ship to ship and gun to gun, has
found a way to vastly lessen thai
navy's effectiveness. England still is
mistress of the seas-but Germany i:
master of the submarine.
Effect of War Zone.
1t was early last February wher
Germany made her historic announ
| zone would be declared around The
British Isles, which. neutral ship!
would enter at their peril. Prior t.
the last day Of January only nine YES
> sells had been sunk in the water
4 around England, from the beginning
r Of the war The first four weeks o
: the submarine blockade saw the los
OF 26 ships, belonging to England
e France, Germany and several neutra
Y nations. Six ships a week sent to th
4 bottom in a comparatively circum
4 scribed area is serious business. Th'
: ruined hulks Of ships worth million
e make a ring of twisted steel arount
Y England, and cargoes worth million
more are strewn over the oceans bot
r tom. These ships nave come to thei
: doom by mine, torpedo and submar
: ine OF late the submarine has bee1
t most in evidence as means Of de
t 'ruction.
i The wonder is, how the German
e submarine raiders manage to elud
3 the patroling English scouts. swif
e cruisers and destroyers capable o
4 express-train speed. The submarine
It slow. It is also blind. The Germa
n type, which is really a "submersible
e rather than a submarine properly SO
il called, steams a great part OF tn
> time on top Of the water. 1t takes
II "submersible" as much as three min
IS utes to sink from view. Yet tim
h after time traWler has come upo
n half a dozen small boats in the Chan
) mel, or the North Sea, or the Iris
" Sea. filed with the refugee crew {
p some British steamship sunk by
"a submarine The story Of the surv
d iyors has been identical in practical
ID every instance. Their ship keeping
wary eye on the sea to detect tn
f. lurking raider, has been steamin
s. along smoothly when the looko,
G. caught a glimpse Of what appeare
,e to be a stumpy black mast cuttin
I'd the waves nearby. A shout Of war;
s. ing, the jangling of bell IN the eI
y. CINE room frantic effort to slew tf
v. great ship out of her course, and ;
of the same instant a long black bu1
ed rising from the sea. The coming tov
n er is opened, and dapper your
ne German officer with megaphor
IN pops out and demands that the Bri