The Washington herald., 1916-10-09

the destroyers sent 10 sea "04O ~
r,ission of mercy alone. Their decks
we're cleared for action and each COM
nander had strict instructions to deter
,,,,ina that the utmost neutrality had been
maintained. Even late tonight there was
no OFFICIAL word that any Of the attacks
were perpetrated inside the three-mile
limit hut the curious line Of the coast
bera gives rise to the gravest apprehen-
sion.
within Ffve-Mile Radius.
The ships went to the bottom. 1t is be-
,,a,,.d within a radius OF five miles.
II ia believed this circle Of activity CEN
,.rsa tan miles south Of the Nantucket
Lghtship.
From all along the coast came WORD
of mysterious messages being relayed De
tween the French and British WarshlPs
rushing to this vicinity. None mas gwen
an inkling Of her whereabouts, but WIN
in twenty-four hours q GORDON OF oattle
gray steel will be thrown ABOUT tne
waters for miles up and down the coast
These patrolling vessels, scattered De-
tween Trinidad and Halifax. have been
conyersinE on the waters OF Nara gan
sett Bay since they were apprised oy
wireless yesterday OF the U-6Ss auda-
cious appearance.
Late this afternoon a lookout in the
tower of the United States coast guard
station at Prices Neck saw what he De-
Heved to be the pilot Of the approaching
feet. The vessel was Identified as the
French cruiser Conde.
This information was Immediately con-
veyed by Capt. Chauncey Kenyon, com
manding the station. to the commanding
admirals. They decided however tn4t
the destroyer fotilla needed no re-en-
forcements at the present time. The
largest United States naval vessel in the
haroor now is the scout cruiser Birm-
ingham, flagship of the destroyer flotilla-
Despite the boast Of Capt. Rose that the
us had fuel and provisions aboard to
last for a three-months' cruise, local sub
marine officers believe the vessel was
ready to descend upon her prey and then
make a quick dash for home.
When the news OF the intercepting OF
the Kansan had been conveyed to him,
Admiral knight went directly to his office
in the War College. He remained there
all forenoon.
we work all the time" was his
answer to the newspaper men, who sug-
gested that 1t was unusual that he
should be at his desk on Sunday instead
of remaining at home. Sundays and
holidays are all the same to u.s." he
added.
Ordered to Sea.
Without recalling the men on shore
Admiral Gleaves ordered the Fifth, Sixth
and Seventh divisions to sea. Lying In
long gray line at the wharf just oppo-
site the landing and in the lee OF the
Goat Neck torpedo station, men were
seen running to and fro along the decks
all set on getting away as quickly as
possible In ten minutes black smoke
was belching from their tunnels. In ex-
actly twenty minutes after Admiral
Gleayes had given his order the de-
stroyer Jarvis slipped her cables and slid
into the inner harbor Lieut.. L. P. Da-
vid was in charge. For the first hundred
feet she drolled lazily along, but quickly
picked up speed and was soon racing for
the break in the land that leads to
the Atlantic.
At intervals Of a minute or two the
other destroyers followed in her wake.
First came the Drayton, commanded by
Lieut. D. w. Bagley AS this vanished
the Ericsson, flagship of the Sixth divi-
sion, broke away and headed for the
ocean under the guidance of Lieut.. Com
mander w. S. Muller.
Others to go were the o'Brien, Lieut..
Commander c. e. Courtney; the Penham
Lieut. Commander ]. B. Gay; the Cassin
Lieut.. Commander w. N. Vernon; the
Balch, Lieut.. Commander David Hanra-
han; the Mccall, Lieut.. Commander L. NJ.
Stewart; the Porter, Lieut.. Commander
w. K Workman; the Tanning, Lieut..
Commander c. NJ. Austin; the Paulding,
Lieut.. Commander Douglas Howard; the
Winslow, Lieut.. Commander n. e. Mich
OILS; the Aylwin, Lieut.. Commander John
c, Fremont; the Cushing, Lieut.. Com
mander e. A. Kittinger; the Cummins,
Lieut.. Commander @. f. Beal and Con-
yngham, Lieut.. Commander Alfred w.
johnson.
The mother ship-the last to get away
sailed out of the harbor at o'clock this
afternoon Each of the destroyers is
capable of making thirty knots an hour,
and It was thought they reached the
scene about o'clock.
Trouble Not Expected.
Rear Admiral Gleaves would not admit
he had sent such an imposing force in
expectation of trouble.
1--WE want it made plain" he said, shat
the destroyer divisions are sent out to
save life. That is the duty of every
sailor, in the navy and out We'd send
help Just as IL a submarine did not even
figure In the matter"
He was asked pointedly why so many
destroyers were sent out
There are two reasons and two only
he replied. THE first is that indications
are the weather Is very thick of Nam
tucl<et Shoals and that the problem is to
be more or less one of searching. The
other is that thought 1t would be good
practice for the officers and crew.
As the Melville the mother shin wa g