The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-26
HOW THE TURKS GIVE BATTLE ID THE FLEET
 .OF ALLIED WARSH|PS
Vivid Picture of Fighting of the Forts and How the Big Guns Are Man
 ipulated

Ghanak Kalessi, March 23.-(Corres- ponenee of the Associated Press) Ut takes courage of the highest order to handle guns in fort under lombard ment. owing to the fact that the fire of the allies fleet in nearly all cases has been at long range. the Turks who man the forts of the Dardanelles here abouts often have had to let a wither- ing canonading go over them for hours before firing back. The fact that their opponent had things more or less his own way, produced a strain which only could be eased with the order to open fire.
 A heavy coast battery in action pre- sents magnificent spectacle. The ships of the antagonist have come W ith- in range. Observation officers have kept their eyes close to range finders and telescopes. Terse commands call the men to their stations An almost frenzied rush for the gun follows Hero a man ties a wad of cotton over his mouth and nose, another stuffs his ears with the same material Com mands are heard: Pieces number so and so. ready for fire?''
 One of the men on the floor of the emplacement wheels a large shell 70 the foot of the ammunition hoist. It is carried into position and a man on the platform seizes 1t and slams it into the chamber From the left a man produces a large can of fixed ammu- nition"--enough high explosive to blow up every body in the emplace l. ment.
 Nobody Minds Shell
 shell from the enemy explodes nearby. Nobody seems to care The can of explosive follows the shell into the recesses of the gun. The block slams home. The shell and charge handlers step aside
 The distance to the target--the war ship--is repeated The long barrel elevates itself as if 1t were d sentient thing, describing at the same time q slight sweep sideways. Then the barrel stops
 The man on the platform as yet is Tot satisfied. He again turns his levers There is another slight movement Of the barre1--also impereeptiple to the eye. Then, as if shot almost, the man jumps aside.
 'Fire" comes the command. The man yanks lanyard. Out of the long barrel bursts a sheet of flame in fraction of a second enveloped in Cloud of reddish smoke. and out of this smoke rises majestically the projec tile--a projectile like those which sank the Bremen hattleship Bouvet and pier Iced the steel sides Of the British battleships Irresistible and Ocean, But more often the shell falls wide of the mark now short, now too far. Then men meanwhile again have lowered the Iiece. After the flash the deafening roar and again the breathless expectancy as +f, hot xll aft q, rt,an I1,rt |, time everybody is oblivlous of the dan gers from the enemy's shells. The ques- ton uppcrmost is, 'Will this shell get them?s
 It did. From the deck of a vessel rises an ugly mass of flame and black smoke. Through the battery reverberates noise from human thrcats-a shout, a cry of wild, superhuman joy
 It Is a moment that has no equal in the gamut of sensations of the man of normal life. Here men expect to be killed and wish to kill; here men thirst for blood because others are doing the same thing. What matter if the next moment be the last: The sole desire is to inflict destruc- tion on the enemy.
 An enemys shell hit the traverse in froot of the piece-an intense flash, an air wave hotter than the breath of a steel furnace. an avalanche of foul vapor, a crash that seems to rock the earth and then q HONil0e, SnIlehlile- WdllnS. W illsl- ling chorus of shell fragments fills the air. Tn a second the mass which has arisen from the earth work descends Await Their Fate The men await fate. Then come the soft thuds of falling earth-little clods and big clods. A wave of sand falls. The men on the platform wipe the dirt from their eyes, and some the blood. or, of them lies on the stone floor--dead, or unconscious. Four strong hands carry him to case mate where surgeon is in waiting.
 On the platform of the gun man is manipulating the handles that swing the piece-up and down and sideways It is intact. The officer on the observation post leans over to watch the maneuver; he puts questionable gun is all right. Again the shell is hoisted up. slammed home and joined by the explosive. Again the sharp calling of orders. the sighting, the roar of the explosion. the flight of the projectie and the eager demands for the result-a hit. or a miss And when all is over the men sit down to catch their breath. physically and men, tally. They come to remember that they are still alive and that they will be obliged to do it all over again.