The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-01-07
NO NEWS FROM
BRITISH NAVY
OFFICERS AND MEN KEEP THE
LID DOWN TIGHT AND THERE
rs NO LEAK
Movements Of ships known Only q
Aomlrsity-No Information
Given Out.

LONDON. Jan. Give retired Of
f.cers sat in one OF the service clubs
the other day. Each had a son in
the navy. Four of them admitted
they did not have the most remote
the most rudimentary-idea where
their sons might be. The fifth re-
tired officer showed some modest
pride.
Il know where my son is" said he.
y got a letter from him last week.
He said he saw a tern during hi>
watch on deck"
Maybe II wasn't a tern. Perhaps
IL was some other sort OF seafowi.
That doesn't matter. The whole pur-
pose OF this narrative is TO call atten-
ton 10 one OF the most wonderful
achievements OF the British navy dur
ing the present war.
II has individually and collectively
kept its mouth shut. Nothing has
leaked from the British ships or the
British dockyards. There isn't a man
In England. outside OF the admiralty
offices. who knows where any given
ship was yesterday or is today or will
be tomorrow. Wonderful things have
happened. There have been TRACE
dies and acts of incredible heroism,
and days upon days of grim endur-
ance. And the navy hasn't told.
You see.' said the retired officer,
my son and I are amateur ornitholo-
gists. We spent his last leave in the
North sea studying bird life. He can
not write me, OF course. where his
ship has been. The censor would not
pass the letter II he did. But when
he tells me that for a week past he
has been watching gannets fy- over
the ship. I know where he is as well
as though he had given the place a
name
That is the only leak OF information
from the navy that has come to light,
and that isn't leak enough to hurt
The Audacious was torpedoed of
Tough swiftly. and went down, as all
the world outside of England knows.
All England knows. too, In spite OF
the censorship. because gossip has
travelled the length of the island by
word Of mouth. One man wrote to a
friend not long ago:
Send me the American papers con-
tanning the story of the torpedoing OF
the Audacious. My son was an pfficer
on board her. | know he is safe. be-
cause we have heard from him since
the disaster occurred. But he did not
refer TO the AFFAIR in his letter"
rhinf Other ships Were Sunk.
In consequence OF the excessive close
Hppedness, all England believes that
other ships have been sunk by the
Germans. and the loss concealed. No
one knows. That is the worst OF II.
No one knows where the English feet
Is now. OF how many ships are watch
ing OF Heligoland. or what has happen
ed TO them Not long ago a German
hospital ship was seized by the Eng
Outrage" said lots OF People Why
Is this permitted by the admiralty? A
Red Cross ship should be immune"
This was the answer OF the admiralty:
manner"
for awhile. and then forgot IT, with
bombs dropping from aeroplanes and
seacoast towns being shelled by war
ships, England had other things 10 think
OF. Only recently has the explanation
come. from sources quite outside the
admiralty or the navy. 1t Is charged
chock-a-biock with mines. She was try
ing TO place them in the channel in the
path Of shipping.
The unpleasant thing about this er-
whether to believe IL or not Official
statements by any one OF the bellig-
erents are usually worthy OF credencs.
The trouble with them IL that what
they do not say II always more inter
esting and important than what they do
say. But this story OF a Red Cross
stamp. II may DO true-and It may
not be.
I'm write you tomorrow" said
young naval officer. Perhaps the letter
will not reach you for a week or two
But you will surely get it,"
A. o'clock that morning he had re-
esived orders 20 proceed"-somewher
stay on shore. Therefore the date Tor
his marriage had been set two weeks
ahead. At 3 o'clock that morning he was
hustling for "A special license. and In
other ways trying TO cut the net of red
tape which surrounds many simple acts
In England. At o'clock he was mar
rled. He sat down TO a quiet wedding
dinner at Princes and at 5 O'Clock said
goodbye 20 his bride.
III write Tomorrow said he
What Delay Meant 70 Hsr
light weeks have passed since that
heard word. From a rose-and-snow.
rounded. merry beauty she has become
a haggard. worn. frightened woman. Her
approaches her. she fears each conner
may be the bearer OF bad news Tomor-
row she may read his name in that
papers or she may get letter from
him. In which his silence will be ex-
ouasd ~ the all-inclusive phrase.
service reasons"
The navy knows. in a general sort Of
q way, what particular variety OF sheol
the men on guard In the North sea are
living through. Boats were taken from
the ships at the first word Of war The
wooden furnishings were stripped away
For days the North sea was cluttered
with bohbinE pianos and mahogany
chairs and the thousand and one ar ar.
ticles that make nan-of-War life endur-
able. For four months the men have
been living IN steel boxes. In the most
abuminable climate In the world
You can't put on enough clothes 10
keep warm. said n retired officer. The
raw wind cuts you like q knife The
North sea e. half FOX and half zero"
Add 90 that the strain under which
the men live. n an enemv's tnrpeto
gets home. they must all die That is
hardly an c1aEEerntiou so waraffp
carries boats. and tho admiralty order H.
that ~ one ship 81 "puncturedH fhe
0fha-a nearby must flee H. h. , .,tfr,g