The Meeker herald., 1915-03-27
N 4 laval F!eAT
Vital Work Is Done In the Con-
troll Room Of the Vessel.
THE HEART OF THE WARsHIP.

Through This etss, Cell. pssp uRdsr
the Deck. ths csmwsnss~ In ths
csnnins Tower 10 In rs~sh With
: Gvsry Psrssn and Event IN Beard.
When wafship sails into action her
heart pulses and throbs a. eager for
the fray ~ the hearts Of any Of her
crew. Yes. warship has q heart.
The heart OF warship u the control
room. deep down under the deck. stu
ated aft. usually abaft the second
funnel.
Even on big fighting ships the heart
= small. Generally It b only ten fest
by six. and In almost noise proof and
eerily quiet 1t il really stssi vault.
entered BY door not unlike the door
Of burglar proof safe.
From door to ceiling the walls sre
lined with diais, wires. gauges. electric
bells. speaking tubes. switches and a
great amount Of other apparatus which
keeps the commander In constant touch
with every corner Of the SHIP. II b
the most wonderful and the most fear
full room ON earth or sea.
II b fortress within q fortress, q
steel cell within the steel walls Of the
A9hting engine.
To be In the control room during &C.
i've service IL to feel like being In a
vault with the door locked on the out
side. This little compartment. which
visitors seldom see. will keep alive ~
long ~ thers b living soul on board
able to hear and answer q call.
1t b through the control room that
the commander issues his instructions.
observes and notes how the battle \
going. calls the gun crews from place
to place. directs the engineers. steers
the whole fabric and supervises every
thing. II submarine h seen In any
direction Il ID through the control room
that 1t n reported.
speaks. Submarine on the port bow.
sir. two leagues OF" In an instant
the answer thrills the gun crows:
= Ware submarine ON the port bow:
snsmy's craft. Readyr' The gunners
have bssn ready for some time. and
when the chief gunner has ''laid'' the
gun to bib satisfaction bang goes .
message the ensmy will mot forest II II
hits him.
n gun has to cease Ore the order
comes through the control room. II
IT, snsmy lands q she'll On deck Of
anywhere In Tie warship the doctoss
an notiisa that thsy ars wante0 1t
that spot utmost - eooa ~ thu msa,
1ave fAllea. n the gan crow are dad
II = from ths heart Of ths ship that ths
order b given noe fresh men TO oil
their places.
Though the captain himself y In The
coming tower above. he knows through
The ofScsr In the control room Just
what has happened to his ship and the
extent Of the damage. and II tbs cap
tain b killed in the coming tower q
on the bridge the chief o@cer In the
control room goes up 1t once to take
his place.
There are generally about six men
II this little throbbins heart Of the bat
tieship. including operators and Junior
o1lcefa.
The chief odlcer gives directioas b
the torpedo opsrators. the gunnefs, The
ssarchlight manipulators and the on.
GERS in charge Of the fighting masts. II
such are part Of the ships equipment.
But. besides all this. there are thou.
sand and one things to attend to dur
ing an eugaKement.
Every order has to b. givea at IN
instant's notice; given distinctly. nrm-
u. without the slightest hesitation OF
furry. 1t b only In the control room
that one learns what the phrase sds-
votion to duty" really means.
Everything goes with automatic pre-
cision In the heart Of . warship. and
- It n the most vital spot on board
special care h taken to preserve Il
from harm.
Think Of the steady nerves required
Of those men. cooped up In this small
room when tho shells are flying around
aud the hull ID being battered BY the
enemy's guns. A wrong signal might
mean disaster. but the organisation b
% near perfection that mistakes are
practically unknown.
There Ia no rest for the odicess In
Tie control room during q eight. They
must stay At the ships heart tele-
graphing and telephoning to every
part Of the vessel. without taking no
tic Of the wreckage that b being
heaped mp on every hand. They know
that when the men in tur-et No. ~
tapr~f Nh Naan. n rnnlv m thar
signals something serious has hap
pened.
They know that even when the con-
ming tower has been smashed BY shot
aud shell and the bridge has been
swept away they must stick to their
switches % long N there h an oficef
alive to direct operations. Not until
49, ahln n hlnyEn nm ne uuand ara