The Dolores star. [volume] (Dolores, Montezuma County, Colo.) 1901-current, 1915-10-01
BRAvEsT OF BRAVE
Nine Sweeper Risks Life Every
Time He Puts to Sea.
Work 10 Never Mentioned Because In.
formation Would % Valuable to
Ensmy-AIWays Engaged In
Feeior0 Hope.

Liverpool.-ln comparison with IL
population. Liverpool has given more
soldiers. sailors and war workers TO
the nation than any other part of the
empire.
The bravest Of them all are the
mino-sweepers. The mine-sweeper
earns. but hs does not get, Victoria
cruss every voyage. He IL always
engaged in forlorn hope. work 10
dangerous that II 10 . wonder he re-
turns safely to his home % often. It
10 not alone in the Irish seas that he
10 risking his life 20 that ships may
PASS to and fro in safety; in the North
ssa, no longer the German ocean: in
the Dardanelles. In the English chan
mel and the Arabian rivers and Per-
stan gulf. you will nnd Liverpool sail
ors engaged In the perilous task OF
mine-sweeping. and 20 rendering cas-
Ter. one cannot say easy. the work Of
suT submarines. destroyers. cruisers
aAa battleships.
At present the British grand feet
u resting In spot unknown even to
the censor. for strange a. II may ap.
pear. there are scores Of kilograms
which pass between the feet and the
admiralty. and messages from our
armies, which reach whitehall with
out the censor passing line Of It, or.
for the matter Of that, even seeing q
word Of It.
These messages record in 20 many
curt words the days doings Of an
arm of the neet. Sometimes the sd.
miralty and the military authorities
consider that It 10 worth while send
ing these messages to the press: more
often than not they don't
One OF the messages seldom pub
lished 10 the work of the mine.sweep-
or. To announce that 20 many mines
had been cleared on such . day in
such an area would be valuable infor
nation to the enemy.
Competent authorities estimate that
Germany has scattered about ten
thousand mines in various waters con.
trolled by the Eritish deet Although
large number of them have un.
doubtedly been laid by trawlers flying
Just thrown into the water at Helgo-
land. at Ostend and at different points
Of tie Baltic. and allowed to drift out
with the tide, In the hope that they
would sink one of the British ships OF
war or ships Of commerce.
In the Baltic alone Denmark. Nor
way and Sweden have picked up hun
dreds OF these mines which have been
washed on their shores unexploded
And yet for her vast expenditure OF
aver Ave million dollars in sea-mires.
Germany has little or nothing to show
beyond the destruction OF a few trawi-
ers and few neutral ships. as In
rare cases where British trading ships
have been sunk by drifting or sta
tionary mines, the damage done has
been of a more or less harmless char
acter. The mine-sweeper. as one Of
the most valuable sections OF the
navy. can claim full credit for this.
Most of the work il clearing the
seas of mines is done by trawlers.
which usually act in pairs. We have
quite {. large fleet Of trawlers and
drifters engaged in this work. which
is one CT the reasons why fish is so
scarce and dear. rhev set out al
night. 30 as to be in their working
area by daylight. then they fish for
mines by a long rope street. he'd be-
tween the two trawlers Proceeding
ct a very gentle pace. they lift the
mine, which is usually about foot
and half or two feet below the sur
face.
Il is TO uncommon thing to lind
half dozen stationary mines brought
10 the surface by one rope. Once in
sight wall-aimed rife shot explodes
them. then the trawlerr proceed with
tkeir work until another shot Is
needed