Imperial Valley press., 1915-03-25

in the height Of winter Is no chld
job, as the following account by 4
British naval officer shows:
"You will proceed at once to --
and will sweep the area marked
on the accompanying chart
In some such wise ran the order
which sent us hammering into the
head seas of a lively channel on BIZ.
terly cold Sunday morning at 4
o'clock. Probably few of us on the
staggering trawler at that hour re
Elected that the duty of sweeping
that given area had been imposed
uoon Us by discovery made in the
Far East when Japan and Russia
entered upon costly tests of modern
naval fighting equipment to the benc
'it of keanly interested spectators.
That discovery was the offensive value
&C the submarine mine.
Despite the great lead in results
obtained by Japan in the initial stage
of the war. it was found at the final
balance that whilst Russia had lost
- wa"ShinS nv Japanese mines. her
belated activity III the use of mines
had deprived Japan of 10 warships.
The MINES had done almost as much
harm to the respective navies as the
ships had been able. to infliet upon
each other. .
1T takes a tight vessel to survive
the welter and smother of the wa
ters which can rise so quickly IN the
vicinity of the banks. Our trawlev
Is ore of the best of her staunch type
and she reeled along wonderfully on
that Sunday morning. Somewhere in
the darkness to starboard there
showed through the whirling snow the
lights of another vessel running on
the same course as ourselves, anu at
the same speed apparently.
The dawn came IN and showed hCV
to be kin TO US. and the signals at
once made II clear that in her we be
held our sweeping partner. There
arises a curious respect for him. He
must know quite we'll over there that
at any moment the plurging bows
may meet IT a time. and there would
be a vacancy at his end Of the drag
tackle ard vacancies in little sheihnCs
IN the isles.
Our partner on tins particular e.
nedltion was an cid friend and knew
his work Arrived At the anpoiut.
d area the little vessels ran close m
and the gear was linked IN L v-nS
smart work even for traWlerS. The
trawl'ug skipUer Is never called upon
to acknowledge letters of thanks from
grateful passengers recovering FROM
great ard groundlesS scare. but he
can handle his ship with the best Of
the men who write after their name
the Beard of Trade extra" The
irking I'D of the GEAR marked the
opouing q. the DAYS WORK. IRE htt!.
nicely in the teeth of the wind. and
St9rtei eff. The whole operation was
carried through with scarcely = word
uttered. ard the long days work was
under Way. Hour after hour. in rain.
hail or SNOW. smooth sea or storm
sea- careful drag Is kept n the
cleaning.
Ii the months Of winter the mine
sweepers rave carried on their work
under conditions q great severity.
They must have kent the sea as mine
SweeperS when as teawlerS thev would
have lied 10 the shelter of their har
borS. Ii there have been frozen feet
IN the trenches, there have been frozen
fingers on the seas.
In some cases the bluff bows thar
smashed into the seas found the mines.
and there were vacancies ar the ends
Of the drag tackle. We had some IN
dicat.oa Of the experiences which
tIawlerS have undergone in their
splendid work. Fifteen hours of
drenchlaS and buffetinc were our
portion that day. The vessel. with
the pull OF the tackle and the drive
Of the engines keeping her like q hall
&c rock, was never clear Of sweep
no seas. Thui. slap. crash and
swish of the seas as they came over
her bows and SwIrled along the deck.
never ceased all day.
When the snow passed there was 4
glimpse of sunshine Then the wind
backed against the sun" and came
down on Us IN wild gusts. icy cold. As
the afternoon wore the cold increased.
and Just before nighuau a straree
lul occurred which lst in a biting
frost
The hardy fellows on board were
still and numb before the day wa
done ana when the gear was slipped
2nd shiprei nobody was sorry wher
the dr.upiDg little ship TUNED an
pitched happily homeward.