The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-27

scramble for the ships boats. The
captain, with his sextant and ships
papers, is made welcome in the
cranped quarters Of the submarine.
mat Is the last of his ship. No prize
crews-no taking of the captive mer-
chantman in tow
Sinking OF the Ships.
The Germans may take one of sew
eTai methods of sending their victim
10 the bottom. 1t may be d bomb
placed aboard the doomed ship bv a
boarding officer and fired with a slow
fuse, whieh he sets alight with shot
from his revolver. Or il NAV be
nole blown under the water line by a
lew Well-piaced shots from the sub
marines rapid-fire gun Or il NAV be
torpedo, discharged from the sub
merged TUBE of the raider The tor
pedo Is the least likely means how
ever, because torpedoes cost as much
20 bulld as fine automobile. But II
the British captain refuses to sur
render. and tries to show his heels to
the raider, he is certain TO see a faint
White line of bubbles speeding after
| hlm-the trial Of the torpedo seeking
! MS SHIPS Vltals. 1t moves at the rate
| or 4O miles an hour. and his is a swift
and handy ship indeed if he succeeds
In d1stancing or lodging it.
| One or two British captains have
won fame and cash by sinking their
submarine adversaries The subna-
rine is slow and unwieidly, especially
II running aWash, and its steel skin
is thin. The sharp prov Of a speed
ing merchant ship, though it Stru ck
the submarine only a glancing blow
would tear through the little craft as
though it were made of wet paper
But it's a dangerous trick to try more
| likely to cost the lives of the crew of
n q n I ma haY of hn c,11a
Irine.
lost in English waters in that first
month after the blockade was de-
clared. The first Of these was
rammed and sunk by d Britis mer-
chant ship off Beachy Head. The
others also were sunk in the English
Channel, but by torpedoboat destroy
ers. One of the destroyed sub
marines is believed to have carried
down with it the famous Lieutenan,
Weddegen, hero of the first German
submarine exploit. Another, it is
known, was the famous German
raider U.s. She was caught of
Dover early in March by flotilla o1
,. destroyers. The destroyer is the
natural enemy of the submarine be
ing far swifter, far more mobile
. and much better armed England
has a fine fleet of these destroyers
: and they have given better service il
many ways since the war began tha,
most other naval craft costing ma n,
times as much money to build The,
hunt in packs. and bring a Submarin
to bay precisely as a pack Of well
trained hounds would hunt and harr-
a wild boar
The End of One Raider
+ A dozen Of these swift destroyer
8 sighted and surrounded the unluck
9 us" The Germans had no time t
submerge and escape under the keel
of their foe. The "U-8'' was runnin
awash-a fair target for the rapid
n fire guns OF the darting, singing de
: Stroyers. The German tried to sc
+ away by running and lodging.
e was useless The submarine wa
S pierced time and again, and only tn
0 wonderful reserve buOyancy which
: characteristic of the German sub
S mersibles kept her afloat. Her fgh
e was over, and her young commando
f and his crew clambered to the slip
IS perry deck from the battered connin
|, tower. The destroyers, their wor
i done, sent out their dinghies
Q rescue the crew The Germans. wit
: cork life Jackets strapped aToun
e them, clung to the sloping deck await
s ing rescue. AS the boats came the
d threw away their life belts, whic
S floated away on the choppy Channe
: swell. Every man was saved-an
r lodged in Dover Castle One of tn
: problems, by the way, confronting tn
n British authorities at present is hO'
: to treat the captive crews Of sut
marines. Are they honorable adve1
n saries, entitled to the usual amenitie
e at the hands of their captors--or ju:
t plain pirates?
f There are various ways recoI:
is mended to captains Of merchant We:
n sells for the. avoidance Of the en-.
- mys subarines. One, which has bee
J., used effectively, is to "stoke up an
e hide the ship in a cloud of smoke
a just as the cutie fish makes the wat
! inky in the presence of an enem
le Another is to pusue an irreguls
N course, to make it more difficult fl
J. the submarine to shoot it's torped
u straight to the mark. AS long as tf
IF twin periscopes of the submarine al
a not in a straight line-which ind
Gates that the crafts bow torpeG